Charles Jensen | Writer

I got a new suit last night. “New” is a funny term because my “old” suit is from 1999, the year I graduated from college, and was worn exactly once, to a friend’s wedding in Chicago a year or so later. It no longer fits me because I was 50 pounds lighter then. Also, I never really liked it. It’s double-breasted and it ended up looking like a zoot suit on me. This was before swing came back.

I needed a suit for a few important occasions this summer, one of which is my best friend from college’s wedding in June in Minneapolis. I’m very excited for her, and she kindly asked me to read the Margaret Atwood poem “Habitation” at the wedding. I want to look nice for it. I thought I’d bring a little bit of the desert with me in the shirt and tie.

We don’t wear suits much in Arizona. Things are pretty casual here. I wear a tie to work, but mostly because I like to, not because I have to, and many of you know my propensity for wearing sweater vests.

This has been our fashion discussion for today.