Press Box Attire - College Football

Wrong. But believe what you want. You will always be taken more seriously when you present yourself well, no matter the venue nor how much money you're flashing around.

 

When I worked on the floor of the commodities exchange in New York, the joke was always that someone had to go testify in court when they showed up wearing a sports jacked, or -- God forbid -- a suit.

 

On game day in Oxford, Mississippi, especially early in the season, I'd be one of the hundreds of men my age wearing a seersucker suit.

But I do think age has something to do with it. If I show up for work in a suit - big league, little league, League of Women Voters - no one bats an eye. In fact no one even sees me.

Because coming up on 60, a well-made suit is not only a kind of armor, but an effective camouflage.

That said, there are plenty of really sharp, athletically tailored seersucker suits and jackets - especially 'overdyed' seersucker - being touted by the GQs and Esquires and Gilts and Paul Smiths of the world for younger men.

Maybe a 25-year-old can't wear a suit in the press box. But a 35-year-old certainly can.

I'd also argue that a slob always stands out. Whereas a muted, well-put together suit/tie of modest cut always looks right, but never much draws the eye.

 

The only time I had to wear a suit every day was in the late '80s when I was a Guild official and we had daily meetings with corporate types trying to save UPI and arguing grievances and whatnot. The best thing I can say about wearing suits is they remove a lot of the thinking from getting dressed in the morning. In those days, I had a rotation of 3-4 suits (Brooks Brothers), 3-4 white shirts and 3-4 blue shirts. The suits were blue or gray and the craziest shirt had pinstripes. The other top union officer and I had sort of a competition to see who could find the ugliest street vendor tie we could find in Manhattan and wear it to one of these meetings.

These days, I like to wear a sports coat for the pockets, but I usually dress it down with jeans and casual shoes or sneakers. My office is very casual. I would also note that my former boss was well-known in the industry for wearing blue jeans and his white Chuck Taylors everywhere and he didn't have any trouble being taken seriously.

 

OK.

 

I actually like that I get to wear a tie now in my small office every day. At my former office, you would have come off as a gunner.

 

Wore a lovely Hickey Freeman suit last night to a concert. Black with a fine blue stripe. 2 button, medium weight, double vent. Brooks Brothers shirt, white, oxford, classic collar. Blue/green silk microdot tie. Allen Edmonds Macneil long wings, black.

Felt like a million bucks and thought long and fondly of Frank Ridgeway.

 

I can't escape this mental image. It was a weekly press luncheon with the college basketball coach. We were in a side banquet room at a restaurant just off campus. Nothing fancy, just a regular group of reporters. Just before it started, I looked up and saw the kid from the school paper had just walked in and was standing next to a table. Dammit, the kid is wearing a dress shirt, tie and suit jacket. What the hell?? Then he stepped away from the table and he had on shorts and tennis shoes. I was able to suppress my laughter.
It reminded me of my high school senior photos. They were shot in the summer. We spent all day, every day at the beach. For my photo appointment, I had a dress shirt, tie and suit jacket. That was over swim trunks and flops. Just about everybody did that.

 

Man, y'all must sweat less than I do. Stuff I wear on flights tends to need laundering afterwards. No reason to waste something nice on that.

 

Were you in the mosh pit?

 

Guys wearing flip-flops on an airline flight is not a good look, though. Totally slobbish.