Why I Don’t Wear a Suit and Can’t Figure Out Why Anyone Does ! - Mark Cuban

Mark Cuban can’t find a good reason for ‘business suits’. I can’t either.

Mark Cuban via Blog Maverick

Why am I such a suit hater ? I’m not a suit hater, I just could never think of any good reason for any sane person to wear a suit in the first place.

Exactly what purpose does a suit serve ? Why in the world are so many people required to wear a suit to work ? Do the clothes make the man or woman in the western world today ? Does wearing a tie make us work harder or smarter ? Is this a conspiracy by the clothing, fabric or dry cleaning industry to take our money ?

Or are we all just lemmings following a standard we all know makes zero sense, but we follow because we are afraid not to ?

If you are a CEO , are there not better things your employees could spend money on than multiple suits, ties, dress shirts, dress shoes, dress socks, dry cleaning, and all the other associated costs ? Gee, no suits would be the same as giving your employees a tax free raise. Think that might make them happy ? Or do employees consider having to spend money on suits a perk ?

Now I understand some people think wearing a suit provides them with a certain level of stature. It gives them confidence. It helps them feel good about themselves. Well let me be the first to tell you that if you feel like you need a suit to gain that confidence, you got problems. The minute you open your mouth, all those people who might think you have a great suit, forget about the suit and have to deal with the person wearing it.

Is there a reason other than “thats just the way it is” ? Haven’t you looked at someone in a suit, trying to look important and just thought how stupid and out of place it is ? Why do we do this to ourselves ?

I know this all is a crazy rant, but come on now. If you have had to wear a suit to work every day, haven’t you wondered why ? If you are the CEO or in charge of a company, haven’t you wondered yourself why you are making your employees waste all that money and come to work and spend the day in uncomfortable clothing ?

Give your suit wearing employees a raise. Tell them every day is casual day.

I wish I could predict the end of the business suit, but I can’t. It’s a form of class-based distinction, so that the professionals can identity each other and exclude non-professionals. Business suits are designed to be impractical, expensive to maintain, and ritualistic. I mean, what point is there for a tie?