You Can Never be Overdressed

Today I leave for Cali for Holy Week and I left the house this morning wearing a suit.  My dad saw me and asked me why I was wearing a suit and if I was going to change before the flight.  If you have traveled with me, you know that I like to go on flights as dressy as possible, suit and tie are the max - I'm not wearing a tux.  

It all started when I used to fly standby (buddy passes) and the rules were that we had to wear slacks and a collared shirt.  This was something I had to do when flying Continental and there were times when I ended up wearing a suit and I noticed a difference.  The difference was in service and also the treatment and respect people were giving me.  It was strange but definitely something that I noticed.

It's not a guarantee but I think that being "dressed up" makes it seem that you're more professional and at the same time somewhat "important."  There have been a few times already where my suit has gotten me out of situations or helped me in certain situations when traveling.

One of the rules with traveling standby on a buddy pass that you are not allowed to be upgraded to first class, even though there was the occassional rule bender that would let you.  There was one trip, actually there were three trips where I was wearing the suit and was checking in.  I made it common practice to ask "how's the flight looking" whenever I checked in and would then ask if there was any room in first class.  I would normally get agent who would tell me the rules regarding first class and a buddy pass, but on these occassions the agent looked at me after telling me the rules and made the comment "well you are dressed for first class" and when they handed me the ticket, the seats were in first class.  

Another time I had four friends with me and we were running late to the airport because someone wanted to stop by Goldilocks.  We got to the airport with about 35 minutes before the flight and I dropped them off, then returned the car.  It was alright if they made it on the flight and I got stuck, but when I got back to the airport, there they were sittingo n the sidewalk.  They wouldn't let them check into the flight because there was no checked luggage going into the place within 30 minutes of the flight (this is one reason why I don't check bags in).  The ticket agent had told them that they would have get on the next flight and pay the difference in the price plus a fee.  The total came out to about $400 - $500 for each person.  Here comes Suitman to the rescue!  I went in and talked to the same agent and told them the situation.  He recognized my friends that were outside ... and I waited for him to tell him that there was the $400 per person.  After a few minutes he said that we were all set and I even asked him if there was a fee for the flight differential.  His response to me was "don't worry about it sir, we'll take care of it for you."  

Rushing for a flight, it was only ten minutes before my flight left.  I ran to the terminal and of course there was a long line for the tickets (this was the time where etickets counters didn't exist yet).  I was about to give up and walked off the line to check the next departing flight when a ticket agent came over to me and asked me if I was flying in first class.  I told her that I was not, but she said that she'd help me since it seemed that I was flying first class anyway ... she realized my flight was in ten minutes and escorted me past security all the way to the gate to make sure that I made it in.

So here I am dressed as Suitman again.  Going to the airport and hoping that I will be able to use my powers for good and help those in need.  I don't mind the suit and tie all throughout the flight if it will help in someway or could help if a problem were to come up.  This also works for car rental companies ... as I've gotten many free upgrades and "bonuses" because it was Suitman at the counter.  

We can all be Suitman!  He's inside of us just waiting to come out and use our powers to help us through situations which seem hopeless.  So overdress as you must, and tie that tie, then work your way to first class and past security onto the gate to just make your flight.  

+ mon

The Illusion of Work Attire

I do hope that people at work don't read my blog ... if they do then they'll know some of my secrets!  So this one is being put out there so everyone can benefit from it and maybe you can do it too!

When you have to dress in business clothing there's a whole process that is involved, as some of you know.  The big thing is ironing the clothes - the pants and especially the shirts.  This is mostly for the guys but I think the girls might be able to find this useful as well.  There comes a time in people's professional lives that you just can't and don't want to sit there for hours ironing dress shirts that you just got out of the laundry.  Sure you can take them straight out of the dryer and hang them, but they aren't crisp and they don't have those iron lines on the sleeves and or legs of the pants.  

Dry cleaning you say?  I've been down that road before and although it's a good place to take your dress clothes to be cleaned and ironed, it often gets pricey at about $2.50 a shirt.  So if you buy a $50 shirt and wear it a lot, then you're going to end up paying more for the cleaning and ironing of that shirt in the long run than the actual purchase price.  I know a lot of us aren't that loaded (but I soon will be thanks to Monica!) so we have to find other means.

There have been days where I would have sweatshop type labor since I needed my clothes ironed.  I would pay my niece and/or nephew $20 for all my shirts, there was a good amount of shirts so it was cheaper than the dry cleaning.  The problem with that was they would constantly complain that there were too many shirts, or they didn't get the wrinkles out.

The following rational isn't going to make sense to some people but it did to me at the time I was doing it.  Instead of washing my dress shirts and ironing them, I would just buy new ones and use those for about a week, then they would go into the pile of clothes that need to be washed and ironed.  This only went on for a few weeks as I started to run out of money, and ended up with way more dress shirts than I needed.

So the solution to all of this madness is quite easy.  It's not sitting down on a Sunday aftenoon and ironing all your work clothes, noooo that's the hard way out!  Quite possibly the best solution, but also the hardest.  Well for me it takes me about 5-10 minutes a shirt as I try to get it nice and clean with the iron and the lines on the sleeves, so it takes a while!

Now the results will vary, but it's better when you have the white button down shirts instead of the colored ones.  The reason being is that the colored shirts are remembered moreso than the white ones, and the one shirts have more combinations that can be made.  What combinations is he talking about?

Monday comes and you only have one shirt ironed, luckily it's a white button down shirt that you happened to iron and is clean.  Nice and fresh, so you go into work wearing that and black slacks ... see the pants are not as important because people don't look at your pants as much as they do with the shirt.  

Tuesday shows it's ugly head and you find that no shirts are fresh and clean anymore!  You see that white shirt you wore yesterday, but do you dare wear it again?  Yes you do, but this time you add a nice tie to the mix!  Ahhhh brand new outfit, the white shirt loses focus as it's a common fact that guys have more white shirts than other shirts, so it could just be another white shirt and not the white shirt you wore yesterday.

Halfway there, Wednesday is here.  So now you have the option of keeping the shirt and just changing the tie color, or you can go a little further.  In the colder months, you can add a sweater on top of the white shirt to, again bring out a brand new outfit.  

Thursday comes and there is that white shirt sitting there, make sure there aren't any food stains or odors coming from the shirt, if there is ... then you have to ditch this plan and actually iron another shirt.  But if you're still alright and the shirt looks clean, then add a simple sweater vest to it to jazz it up.  No one will be the wiser and no one will notice that it's the same white shirt since Monday.  Guaranteed!

Friday, almost home free!  Put that clean looking white shirt on one more time, don't put a tie on, don't put a sweater on or a vest even, we're going to go a step up and add a nice suit jacket to the onsamble!  If you want to make the best impression, add a different colored tie too.  See now the white shirt again is forgotten and the only thing people can focus on is you're wearing a suit on a Friday!  Wow you must be a real good employee when you're wearing a suit (and possibly a tie) to the last workday of the week.  Either that or you must be meeting with someone important or you yourself are very important!

You see what we just did here, we were able to pull of wearing the same white button down shirt for a five day work week without having to iron.  It's just like a magician, you need to direct the attention away from the meat of he trick.  So divert the attention away from the white shirt with the sweaters, the ties, the vest and the suit jacket.  Remember the key thing is to keep the shirt stain and odor free, that's the key.  If there is a stain, it will easily be remembered ... "hey Bob, didn't you stop that slice of pizza on yourself yesterday?  That stain looks like it's in the same spot" ... bam your cover is blown!  

There you have it, if you can pull this off, come Friday when you're heading home, you'll feel this sense of accomplishment, just make sure that you wash that shirt well during laundry day because going more than one week will not be good.  It will take David Cooperfield to pull that off and I don't think we're even close to that level.  Don't get overconfident, that's what causes the downfall of most people trying this.  

+ mon