I dislike wearing suits.

It used to be that I could code in my favorite Phish t-shirt wearing sandals. I had a key instead of a badge, and lunch usually meant a few greasy pizzas or clam cakes. In those days, my attire only meant something if there was an off-site or if clients were coming to visit “the shop” (which was a tiny building several miles from the heart of the big city). I could easily bounce back and forth between long and short hair and between full beard and cleaned-shaved. Ahh… those were the days.

Now I work in a major international city for a rather large bank. I code in a suit when I’m not in meetings, wear nice shoes, carry a badge, and eat salads and yogurt for lunch. *sigh*

To be fair, I enjoy the new challenges and the big city. And if wearing a suit on occasion is a consequence, I can live with it. So while a suit is not fully mandatory, I still wear one at times. Here’s why:

  1. It easily puts me in line with the dress code
  2. Dressing is simpler in the morning (although sometimes it takes a couple of tries to get the perfect knot in my tie)
  3. My wife tells me I look great
  4. Dressing down on Friday never felt so good
  5. I look more important than I am
  6. I feel more important than I am
  7. My jacket flaps behind me in the wind when I ride my bike to the train station, which makes me feel like a super hero with a cape

Other than those fantastic reasons, wearing a suit is a real drag.

Some man on a bike wearing a suit in Europe (I do admit, there is something rather Monty Pythonish about wearing a suit on a bike. I bet I look pretty silly to the folks driving past me. But riding my bike gives me more than 30 minutes a day of much-needed exercise, and on top of that, the price of gas here in Europe would blow your mind!)