Ever heard of a million dollar suit? Yeah, me neither. Sounds ridiculous, so it’s a good thing that’s not what I am talking about this week. I don’t watch much TV. Mainly sports, and then two shows. But my two shows…I love them! Million Dollar Listing and Suits. Both shows have two characteristics that keep me glued week in and week out: the main characters are hungry and love to win, and they are impeccably dressed.
So let’s get down to business this week. Suits is about a corporate law firm based in New York City, and the lead character is a high-powered attorney named Harvey Specter. Some of the words that I think of when I think of Harvey are confident, winner, leader, and closer. He loves a good battle and a good negotiation. He may come off as brash on the outside, but deep down he really cares about people. I can relate. I love to do deals, but I also care about my clients and my co-workers, and I love to see all of their successes. And I take it all very seriously, including the way I dress each day. 95% of the time you see Harvey on the show, he is impeccably dressed in a custom suit. He means business, and his presentation conveys that. Dark, custom suit fitted to perfection. White dress shirt with a stiff, tall collar. Dark, thick tie with a nice dimple that hits right at the belt buckle. Black lace-up shoes. Simple, white pocket square. Always clean shaven with a professional haircut. That’s his style, and he has it down perfectly. Every single episode.
I am not required to wear a suit to work. But I like to. It’s like my body armor, and I’m as comfortable in one as I am sweats. With the world having gotten increasingly more casual, I think people appreciate someone in a nice suit. Makes you stand out. But for me, I feel the quality of my work and my professionalism is much higher in a suit than just rolling in wearing some chinos and a button-down. I can’t imagine closing a deal, negotiating a deal, or even having some of the tough conversations I have to have in business casual. Just feels weird. So my go-to is similar to Harvey above. I love the dark suit, white shirt, dark tie, white pocket square, and professional haircut. But I do brown shoes, not black, and I am never clean shaven. Not my style. Always a nice watch. Even in 2017. I know your phone tells you the time, but it’s just not the same.
So the point of this week is to encourage everyone to embrace their own individual style. Harvey has his. I have mine. Hopefully, you have or can develop yours. I wore the “required” black dress shoes for years in my twenties, but every day I wore them I felt off. Turned out it just wasn’t me. So I canned them. Find “you”, and then invest in the best stuff in your style that you can afford. In the current season of Million Dollar Listing New York, there is a new real estate broker named Steve Gold that has joined the show. He is super casual. Long hair. Wears t-shirts, sweaters, skinny jeans, and so on. Yet he closes multi-million dollar deals, and I love his swagger. It took me a week to get used to him, but he is my new fave. Harvey and Steve have completely opposite styles, but they both have style. I read something this week about how no particular style is any better than the next, and I agree 100%. You would have no clue if you saw me on the weekend that I was a banker during the week, and I like it that way. The key is to just have some style, and if you are lacking it now, it can be developed. A little effort, attitude, or swagger added each day is a great start. So is a nice watch or belt (see my Pics and Details page).
I know we are talking about TV shows here, but my hope is that it might inspire you or at least make you think. Do you take your livelihood seriously each day? Are you still hungry? Do you wake up and want to win? As ya’ll know, I believe seriously that a piece of that attitude involves how you present yourself each day. Look better. Feel better. Do a better job. Win. And there ain’t nothing wrong with winning!
Have a great week.-Benj
anything but khakis 