Did COVID Kill the Suit?

[Huntsman]

Until the great COVID shut in, I thought the suit's continually prophesied demise was a myth: My workplace in a small city mandated business professional attire (shirt/tie for men), and as an attorney I wore a suit most every day and was not out of place. Locally it was not out of the ordinary to see suits at happy hour and at date-spot restaurants. The nearest major city was full of suits by day, and throughout the fancier cocktail bars and other restaurants even on the week ends.

But the advent of Work-From-Home policies and the general trend of making things easier for employees, dress codes, even in hidebound traditional professions like the law, seem to have vanished. Social and enforced dress codes, I think, have become an easy concession for employers to provide and for people to give each other. My workplace went business casual, and because of my industry, wearing a suit now would be out of place. Only the old guard at law firms wear suits when meeting me, the client (I am always in a suit in those situations and receive the mumbled apologies and protestations of surprise from the jacketless). You only rarely see suits in the major cities and a blazer at the best restaurants exists only in memory. I was speaking with a colleague in London over the summer who told me you hardly see suits in the City now. And with the rise of Zoom-based hearings (before state and federal judges), I have seen attorneys show up in a tie and no jacket, which I find astonishing.

I'm honestly surprised at how much pleasure, fun, and confidence it has taken out of my life, but I think the suit is really dead. Your thoughts?

 

[Agent Eternal]

My work doesn't require a formal suit in its dress code but i am eager for the next appropriate event to get the opportunity to wear one.

Lately i started wearing casual suits on my free time. I wore a tan moleskin suit a few nights ago to a stage play and i can't even remember how many compliments i got from the girls in the group i was with. It even started a brief conversation about clothing among us that i feel like it made the other guys in the group somehow uncomfortable as they were underdressed in comparison.

Wearing suits can be really fun and enjoyable now that the majority looks like they are dressed for their sofa. When men disassociate suits with work in their minds i am sure they will rediscover the appearance benefits they give. Until then i will enjoy as much as i can how easy it is to stand out wearing them.

Suits will not die yet.

 

[comrade]

Covid killed the suit only in the sense that it ended its' "life support".
Suit wearing was already in precipitous decline in the decade(s) pre
Covid. This was already a key subject of commentary on Style Forum-
the forum of record, long before the pandemic.

 

[breakaway01]

When men disassociate suits with work in their minds i am sure they will rediscover the appearance benefits they give. Until then i will enjoy as much as i can how easy it is to stand out wearing them.

Agree with this. I am much more likely to wear a suit to celebratory events and to have fun rather than to work.

Although I was in Washington DC last week and the suit seems alive and well there for work, albeit often worn with horrible “dress sneakers”.

 

[Epaulet]

The suit in in a strange place for sure. We're the largest independent account for US-made Hickey Freeman suits, and I actually sold more in 2022 than I did in 2019. But the materials have totally changed.

Back in the day, the majority of our custom suits were ordered in more formal fabrics... wool twills, gabardines, frescos, etc. This year was overwhelmingly seasonal goods (linens, flannels, tweeds) and speciality fabrics like dyed Sashiko. Which gives the impression that -- as you guys suggested -- customers are buying suits more for pleasure and less for necessity.

I think that the suit is dead as a mainstream "requirement" for business attire. The majority of men simply don't care and don't find a need to own one. I'm willing to bet that we see an even sharper drop in cheap OTR suiting options from the likes of Jos. A Bank in the future. But I believe that higher end OTR and custom businesses will continue to thrive.

 

[JFWR]

I honestly do not think the suit will survive as evening wear. The suit has always been kept in demand by work. Now that everyone is wearing pajamas on zoom....it's not gonna be good.

That being said, work from home is seeing push back. Academia is definitely not moving towards a virtual setting at all anymore, for instance.

 

[sam67]

Until the great COVID shut in, I thought the suit's continually prophesied demise was a myth: My workplace in a small city mandated business professional attire (shirt/tie for men), and as an attorney I wore a suit most every day and was not out of place. Locally it was not out of the ordinary to see suits at happy hour and at date-spot restaurants. The nearest major city was full of suits by day, and throughout the fancier cocktail bars and other restaurants even on the week ends.

But the advent of Work-From-Home policies and the general trend of making things easier for employees, dress codes, even in hidebound traditional professions like the law, seem to have vanished. Social and enforced dress codes, I think, have become an easy concession for employers to provide and for people to give each other. My workplace went business casual, and because of my industry, wearing a suit now would be out of place. Only the old guard at law firms wear suits when meeting me, the client (I am always in a suit in those situations and receive the mumbled apologies and protestations of surprise from the jacketless). You only rarely see suits in the major cities and a blazer at the best restaurants exists only in memory. I was speaking with a colleague in London over the summer who told me you hardly see suits in the City now. And with the rise of Zoom-based hearings (before state and federal judges), I have seen attorneys show up in a tie and no jacket, which I find astonishing.

I'm honestly surprised at how much pleasure, fun, and confidence it has taken out of my life, but I think the suit is really dead. Your thoughts?

Not dead. I know I look good and feel good well dressed. Therefore, I don't worry about my look and I concentrate on the job at hand. I politely take no prisoners. My industry does not dress well. I say change it. I am a husband, father, steward, leader, and example. I encourage you to do the same.

 

[acconrad]

What do you plan to wear to weddings and funerals?

 

[TomTom]

I work in the City in London and the suit is alive and well. A lot of people are back in the office and they still wear suits, but a lot, a lot of them sans tie. I wear a suit in my office, we have a business casual dress code, and get nothing but compliments especially from the ladies. I gues women tend to care more about their appearnce, escaily in the office. Most my co workers wear,shirts, no ties some sort of jumper over it, chinos or maybe wool trousers, bad shoes or those uber expensive trainers...

 

[leapyourbar]

Fellow attorney checking in. Office where I work is closed to the public. Honestly, my only reservation in wearing a suit is the unnecessary wear-and-tear I put on them when I could be wearing pretty much anything else to the office. Maybe the suit hasn't died as much as the occasion for one has?

You'd be stunned how many lawyers show up to zoom court without a tie. Truly insane behavior, if you ask me.

 

[TomTom]

Fellow attorney checking in. Office where I work is closed to the public. Honestly, my only reservation in wearing a suit is the unnecessary wear-and-tear I put on them when I could be wearing pretty much anything else to the office. Maybe the suit hasn't died as much as the occasion for one has?

You'd be stunned how many lawyers show up to zoom court without a tie. Truly insane behavior, if you ask me.

Hmmm...Interesting as here in London all the Law firms have been open to the public from about August '21.Also most (90%) of court proceedings here in the Uk are being done in person.

 

[chobochobo]

I haven't worn a suit to work since Feb 2020.

 

[Andy57]

It didn't kill any of my suits.

 

[JFWR]

It didn't kill any of my suits.

Which, to note, are really nice. You've got some killer ones.

 

[JFWR]

I work in the City in London and the suit is alive and well. A lot of people are back in the office and they still wear suits, but a lot, a lot of them sans tie. I wear a suit in my office, we have a business casual dress code, and get nothing but compliments especially from the ladies. I gues women tend to care more about their appearnce, escaily in the office. Most my co workers wear,shirts, no ties some sort of jumper over it, chinos or maybe wool trousers, bad shoes or those uber expensive trainers...

I really don't get the whole "I want to wear a suit for work, but without a tie". I don't see how any suit is enhanced, in the context of work at least, without a tie. Maybe in the context of wearing a suit for going out on the town and clubbing and the like, but when I see a man wearing a suit without a tie, I'm like: Why? Why do you think this makes what you're wearing look -better-? This also holds true of wearing a dress shirt with a sports coat, too, in the context of a professional environment. It reminds me of Mitt Romney and other crappily dressed politicians.

Do some men really find a tie that annoying to wear? Because I have a feeling their shirt collars must be fitting very poorly or they are tying the tie to the point of making it into a noose.