Zoot Suit Riot

So I bought a couple of suits yesterday.

The genesis for this idea came over the weekend, when my friend McComas was telling me about a suit sale at S&K Menswear. I currently have just one suit, and it's pretty old--I got it for a dance my sophomore year of high school. I've only worn it a handful of times so it's still in good shape, but I thought it was probably a good idea to replace it while this sale was going on.

You just never know when you're going to need to wear a suit. Hopefully there will be some job interviews in the not-too-distant future. There are always weddings and funerals and who knows what else. If anything like that came up right now, I'd be stuck. Honestly, I don't even know where my old suit is right now. I think it's in my closet at my apartment, but it may be back at my parents' house in Troy. I'm not sure. It'll be a good thing for me to have a couple on hand that I know I can wear if something does come up.

Anyway, McComas told me about this sale, and it just so happens that there's an S&K on Airport Highway, between where I work and everywhere else I might go. I stopped in there yesterday after work to check it out. The deal was two suits for $250, which I thought was pretty good, but I wanted to look at the suits and make sure they were decent quality. They did look good, so I decided to go ahead and go for it. The employees were really helpful--I had two people waiting on me from the moment I walked in the door. They took my sizes and I picked out the suits, and then they helped me to pick out a couple of shirts that would go with either suit and ties that would go with either shirt.

One suit is black with pinstripes; the other is a grayish-blue. I got one bright blue shirt and one yellow/gold one. The pants are being altered right now, so I won't have the suits until next Wednesday. Once I have them, I'm sure I'll take and post some GQ shots to share.

On one hand, I hate this. I'm not exactly fashion conscious, and you might even go so far as to say that I find the entire idea of "fashion etiquette" or a dress code to be stupid and grating. I value comfort above all else, and anytime a tie is involved, rest assured that "comfort" is not the operative word, to say nothing of the sweltering presence of the long-sleeved shirt and jacket. Still, I know that fighting convention is a lost cause, so although it goes against my very nature, I may as well bow my head and go along with the crowd.

That said, I do have to say that a certain part of me doesn't mind at all. Uncomfortable as they may be, I do enjoy the look of a nice suit very much. Were I a wealthy man, I would have a wide selection of them at my disposal, in an array of cuts and colors that would make Deion Sanders and P. Diddy jealous. Since right now my need for them is small, however, I'm more than happy to start more modestly, with suits that I can stick in the back of my closet and forget about until I absolutely need them.