Dashing and Dapper

Clean shirt, new shoes, and I don't know where I am goin' to.
Silk suit, black tie, I don't need a reason why.
They come runnin' just as fast as they can
'Cause every girl's crazy 'bout a sharp dressed man.

Gold watch, diamond ring, I ain't missin' a single thing.
And cufflinks, stick pin, when I step out I'm gonna do you in.
They come runnin' just as fast as they can
'Cause every girl's crazy 'bout a sharp dressed man.

-Sharp-Dressed Man, ZZ Top

Mock interviews were held at school over the lunch break today.

I chose not to partake; I have enough to worry about right now without thinking about interviews. From the feedback I heard, they were mostly beneficial for the kids who haven't ever gone through a professional interview. (Not me.)

Anyway, for those who participated, business dress was required. It was quite interesting to see the boys in class show up in ties and suit coats; it made quite a difference from the usual sweatshirts and jeans we are all prone to wearing. We have quite a few non-traditional students in my section, and thus, we had a few gentlemen who are quite experienced at suit-wearing.

I don't know the exact evolution of male businesswear; though I am a Delta Nu at heart, I did not major in fashion merchandising and could not tell you when exactly the current uniform of jacket and pants, coupled with a long tie and dress shirt, came to become a standard. There are many permutations of style in a man's suit - everything from the width and hem of the pants, to the number of buttons on the jacket, the type of cuffs on the shirt sleeve. Indeed, the suit seems a relatively easy thing to wear - the most common and complicated element is likely the tie. Add a pocket square and French cuffs (complete with cufflinks) and you have just taken the suit up a notch - ready for an evening out after a day at the office.

I will be honest and say that one of my major turn-ons is a well-dressed man. I love the easy jeans-and-sweater days, but when a man is wearing a well-cut pair of trousers and a crisp shirt, I definitely sit up and take notice. Add a perfectly tailored jacket, a coordinating tie and a good pair of shoes (seriously, polished and hard soled, Allen-Edmonds, Johnston & Murphy, Kenneth Cole) and I am in heaven. There is nothing quite like slipping your arms around the waist of a man, underneath a suit jacket - to me, it's intoxicating to feel how his body moves, just a little warmer than usual...like discovering a secret.

This is, of course, to say nothing of a man in a tux...

So today, sitting in class, I had the rather pleasurable experience of seeing a gaggle of my male classmates dressed to the nines. I imagined a few years down the line, when a suit and tie might become a daily uniform for some of them. A few of them looked uncomfortable (notably the younger ones, likely to have worn a suit about six times in their lives thus far). I've never seen a few of them in anything but casual clothing; it almost seems incongruous to see them dressed up. I wonder if it took effort to shine their shoes, or if they needed a girlfriend's (or mother's, or roommate's) help to get the proper knot in their ties. Rather like seeing someone who usually looks like this:



turn himself out like this:




or possibly this:



for the first time.

I think a suit separates the men from the boys, and today's distinction clearly belonged to the true gentlemen in the crowd, those who knew what they were doing and made it look easy from head to toe. A well turned-out man is a thing of beauty.

Trust me when I say that today was a very good day in law school, and it passed entirely too quickly.