Suit and tieless. Cool or sloppy?

Ask A Woman: Is a suit & no tie date appropriate?

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Hi Beth:

They say every girl is crazy about a sharp dressed man.  So a well tailored suit is going to be a must.  But what about wearing the suit without a tie?  From the woman’s point of view, does it look cool?  Or… unfinished and sloppy?  I’ve got a cocktail date with a young lady coming up at a pretty nice place.  Just trying to decide what to wear.

Thanks for all the great columns!

– Ryan

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Flattery will get you everywhere.  Wear whatever you want.

-Beth

Just kidding.  Our fearless Dappered leader and my hordes of adoring fans would never let me get away with that.    I love the suit-without-a-tie look.  Especially for a date.  It show you’ve put effort into your attire, and that you care about how you present yourself, but it stops short of being seriously formal.  Sometimes a suit-with-a-tie for a date runs the risk of making you look like you’re 14 and your parents are driving you and your Homecoming date to Applebee’s.

Each passing decade in this country seems to get more and more casual, sometimes to good effect (casual Fridays), sometimes to hideous effect (can someone tell me why people wear pajama bottoms out in public?).  Weddings, funerals, job interviews, court–the suit and tie seems to be relegated to these specific occasions.  Now, I’m not saying don’t wear a tie with your suit if you feel the occasion calls for it.  But don’t fear a suit without a tie; see some of these great examples:

It’s clean, modern, and sharp.  I think there’s something a little…suggestive about it, too.  I see a man in a suit without a tie and I casually wonder if he has just come from a wild tryst where he had to dress in a hurry and fly out the door because he was late and thus couldn’t be bothered to put his tie back on.  I know what you’ve been up to, sir…and I like it.  Wink, wink.

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