NYT: The Return of the Interview Suit

Times are tough, Bub, so put away those jeans and shape up! Reporter Eric Wilson writes in today's NYT that the suit is back. Arthur Levine, "the suit king of Seventh Avenue," has had sales jump 10 percent and in the financial world "sober suits are making a comeback."

"We are back to a time when every company expected both men and women to wear suits and we didn't have a Casual Friday," said Gloria Mirrione, a managing director of A-L Associates, a financial services placement firm. "They are looking for a sharper style. I recommend a strong suit that says you are collected and ready to work."

Remember the days when women's work wear was basically a man's suit with a skirt? For that we can probably thank John T. Molloy, who advised readers to dress like the boss in his 1975 book Dress for Success. In some ways the style hasn't changed (hello neck tie at Banana Republic). The patterns are just bolder and the accessories more fashion-foward.

But how do you know if you're too forward for your old-fashioned, white-collar office? Check out this chart known as Laver's Law. "James Laver, the famous costume historian and a past Keeper of the Robes at the London Victoria and Albert Museum, was a noted authority on dress and its relationship to society. When you assess any fashion look bear in mind his ideas on the timeline timetable of style."

But, seriously, what would I know? Working from home has its perks, one of which happens to be Monday through Thursday is the new Casual Friday. And right now I'm wearing something Mr. Laver might consider "shameless."