The Pascal’s Wager Of Wearing A Suit

I wear a suit to work most days. I started doing this more since moving to the US. When preparing for my wedding I became much more interested in clothes, and this seems to have coincided with and inspired by the current wave of menswear blogs (and tumblrs and whatevers)Ā focussing on quality, fitĀ and classic style rather than trends and the fashions of the moment.

Judging by the stuff I read, wearing a suit is seen by many as a bit of a statement. “Why are you dressed up, are you in court today?”. “Why are you dressed up? You don’t have to, it’s in the dress code”. I don’t actually get any comments like that, but it does seem to be an issue for many.

Am I making an unconcious SartorialĀ Pascal’s Wager? By wearing a suit, or otherwise dressing up, and claiming to do it because I want to and because I feel good doing it, am I also submitting to the “dress up to get ahead” doctrine? If you have a choice of “dressing well”/”dressing up” or not, in a culture where opinions vary widely about what it says aboutĀ  you, why not just dress up, feel good, and get the (unconfirmed and possible entirely anecdotal) benefits to boot?

It’s not like I wear amazing suitsĀ – I get them from Macy’s and perhaps Nordstrom when I’m feeling flush. That reminds me, I need a navy one to fill a gap.