Is the person who wears a suit to be trusted? Do we really know who they are? Anyway, folks, What’s in a Suit?

When did you last wear a suit and how did it make you feel?

Those of us who used to wear a suit every day will remember that we felt smart when our suit was freshly laundered and pressed, when our tie was straight and tidy and when the shirt was clean and colourful. We recall the feeeling of being able to button the suit when it was new and well fitting; I particularly remember looking at my reflection in a store window and pulling in my tummy to look slim!

That gives you a clue as to what happened as time went by and as my suits started to wear; They became rather stretched and sagging at the button holes, at the jacket elbows and the trouser knees. Every six months I had to replace my suit with a similar style and colour if I didn’t want to draw attention to myself.

It was a uniform, with or without my tie, and a disguise that I accepted before going into battle as a consultant, often in workshops with 20 plus attendees. Gradually, I remember being pleased that I didn’t ever worry about what I looked like, only about how I felt and the room climate at the time.

But how did the workshop and meeting attendees view me as a person, did they see through the ‘fancy dress’; did they ever think about the actual person, or did they simply take authority from the disguise itself?

What’s the difference today, seven years on, after working on-line and dressed, as often as not, in pyjamas? Do people think of me in a different light; do they notice me as a person, with passion for my subject, and judge me for what I say and do, more than previously when I wore that suit and tie?

When someone delivers a video presentation, sitting at a home desk, not dressed in a suit, occasionally sipping a glass of water, viewers can either concentrate on the video subject or be distracted by the presenter’s appearance… what do YOU think and feel when you look at a video like this? At least you know why we sometimes dress up! Maybe that answers the burning question, “What’s in a suit?”

Alejandro Jodorowsky presenting his film La Danza de la Realidad. Montreal, 2013 from ketty mora on Vimeo.