I am a pretty casual person. I don’t really enjoy dressing up very much. I worked for a big advertising firm just out of college and had to wear a tie every day… and I hated it. And I haven’t worn a tie very much since. Sure, at the occasional wedding or funeral. But that is pretty much it. But a suit? I didn’t really even own a suit (OK, I had one in the closet, but it was from years ago and too embarrassing to wear) until I picked it up from 3 Day Suit Brokers yesterday. So, for day 11, I wore a suit… all day long.

The morning started out normal enough. I got up, did the morning routine, took a shower (not cold), and got dressed. We had a big visitor day event in the BNI networking event that I am in, so I had to bring some signs and other things to the meeting. I thought that was going to be my uncomfortable part for today. Having to make several trips in my suit while carrying loads of stuff. That turned out to be the easy part.

First of all, I would like to apologize to all of my BNI friends. I don’t think it is a coincidence that the day that I wear a suit to our meeting is the day that the air conditioning breaks. It’s my fault. I wanted to be uncomfortable, and I got good and uncomfortable as I sat there in my jacket as I watched the thermostat tick up. 74… 75… 76… 77… 78… 79… 80… 81. It reached 81 degrees!!! Inside. In a room that was pretty cozy with 75ish people in it. I was sweating (more than) a little bit. The event ended up going really well, but it was hot.

At the meeting, I got a ton of comments with things like, “wow, you clean up nice.” Or, “Kurt’s wearing a suit?” Or, “I think this is the nicest that Kurt has looked… ever.” All in good humor, and it did point out the fact that it is really out of the ordinary for me to be in a suit. Several people asked me if the suit was my challenge for the day. I guess I looked uncomfortable. After the event, I picked Zac up from school and got several more comments about being dressed so nicely.

A couple hours later it was time for a date with my beautiful wife. I told her a while ago that I was going to be wearing a suit and asked her where she would like to go. I thought maybe we would go to a nice restaurant. Maybe a show. But, because my wife is funny and awesome, she decided that we should go… miniature golfing. It is times like this that I realize that I picked exactly the right woman to be my wife. We had a blast (it is pretty tough to golf in a suit jacket, by the way) on a round of golf. Then we hit the arcade for a few minutes. I can say without a doubt that today was definitely, by far, the most fun that I have ever had in a suit.

Takeaway from today:

I should dress up more often. I felt good wearing the suit at a business event. I don’t know if it was because I was wearing the suit, or because I am getting something out of this 30-day comfort bomb, but I felt more confident talking to people. I’m not anywhere near wanting to wear a suit every day, but maybe – just maybe – it won’t be too long before I am at least wearing a tie again.