These days how often does one wear a suit? Every working day, you would say, if you are in a profession, sales or service industry.
You may have a suit with you but are you wearing it all? Where's the coat? By the way potatoes wear jackets and humans wear coats as Dan Quayle reminded us. The coat is hanging on a hook, over the back of your chair or over your arm. The one one place it isn't is on your back.
Central heating, car heaters and airconditioning have created a micro climate where all a body needs is one layer. The shirt.
The point of wearing a suit today is to signal formality, responsibility, proberty and trustworthiness. I am a man of business it states. It is the power of television and the need to conform that forces wiser and older civilisations to adopt the dress of our own so called western democracies.
The present day suit is derived from garments which were primarily made to keep the the incumbent warm and snug. There being a dearth of central heating in the 1800's. As on an almost extinct lizard, certain folds and features can still be seen which hark back to these origins.
The origin of lapels on the coat is that they may be turned over across the body in inclement weather. Thus the original coats had several button holes on the left lapel. The vents at the rear and bottom of the coat are nowadays assumed to be there to allow for excessive size of the wearer's bottom. In fact they are there to enable the riding of a horse with the coat fastened. The buttons on the cuff, vestigial today unless on an expensive bespoke suit, should open to allow the sleeves to be turned back for dirty manual work, like eating.
The suits of the 50s, 60s and 70s were heavyweight, made of 16-20oz wool cloth and included a waistcoat (vest). Like the black robes of the Bedouin these suits acted as a defence against the sun but were very heavy to wear. They never wore out and were uncrushable.
As a young man of twenty I was the first man on the floor of the London Stock Exchange to have coloured linings in suits. This was done as a protest against the stultifying conformity of the time. Very elegant they were too and soon copied by many other young runners or "Blue Buttons" as we were called. The scarlets, greens and blues flashed as we ran to convey important news to our masters.
It was only in the 80's as computer terminals and dealing rooms not floors proliferated that the accepted dress became braces (suspenders) not coats. Suits became lighter in weight and colour and cheaper in price. They also began to be made of petroleum and other chemicals.
Although suit coats are still worn, it is in public, in the street or on entry to an office. Usually the hosts for a meeting will arrive coatless. The ice is broken and the playing field levelled by the visitors removing their coats and by so doing becoming part of the local family.
Now in the mid 90's the majority of restaurants, theatres and even opera houses are laid back enough to accept shirtsleeves as the accepted level of formality. Indeed very grand media folk from advertising, design and broadcasting affect very expensive bright white shirts with buttoned collars and no tie.
The ultra rich and relaxed wear woolie pullies and absolutely no ties even when in a hot air balloon.
So if it is too hot in the home and the office and the car and the restaurant to wear a coat why are we still buying them? Just habit.
Buy lots of super slacks and sexy shirts and push for the demise of that dreaded rag the tie.
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