Suit Up

I like suits. My husband has a number of suits as well as myriad shirts and ties for a staggering number of wardrobe combinations. He, like most men, looks good when dressed professionally. A well-dressed man commands respect with his starched shirts, supercreased flat-front slacks, and well-tailored jackets. Why is it then that women's suits are often atrocious?

I can think of a number of reasons to conclude why women's suits may be so horrid:

1. Suits were created for men's bodies, and thus do not look good on women if not properly adapted. (To that end, suits generally also do not look good on women—or men—who are overweight.)
2. Suits, as I have already described, are a symbol of power, and most women do not carry themselves with the confidence it takes to assume that role of power.
3. Despite our cultural reputation, many women do not possess the style sense to piece together an outfit that suits (ha! so punny!) their body type and personal colors. This is not to say that men have this innate ability; the professional fashion deficiency of women may stem from the fact that they are left to their own devices in department stores, whereas men have professional, trained associates to attend to their wardrobe.
4. For our vast love of consumerism, Americans in general lack style. The women's suiting section of a department store will be froth with loud colors, patterns, and textures that ordinarily would be suitable for other types of apparel but are dreadful when applied to the masculine-based suit style. Just today I saw a woman wearing a green plaid suit—the type of plaid designed by a Scotsman with cataracts. I can hardly blame the style-deficient designer, as there was actually a consumer who bought and wore the product...and it's not even Halloween!

We can only hope that in our culture entranced by reality television shows, more programs such as What Not to Wear will reach more and more Americans and teach women how to dress for the workplace.