Well Suited

Last month, Jess and I spent four or five hours one weekend afternoon trekking up and down the avenues of Midtown, trying on suits (or, rather, me trying on suits and she critiquing them) at every department store and boutique we could find.

We were off hunting for a wedding suit for me, something at once sufficiently fun and fashionable for such a big event, yet informal enough for an early-autumn Sunday afternoon.

By the end of the stretch, I still didn’t have a new suit. But I did miss my old ones.

On rare occasion over the past five years, I’ve donned a suit for work purposes. But, when I did, I’d always felt it a step back to my pre-film days, rather than a step forward.

By now, however, Cyan (and by extension me) lives at the wonkiest end of the film world, a place where our pitch to filmmakers includes phrases like ‘real-time web dashboard’ and ‘econometric research-driven screen selection’.

Our latest endeavor, the MovieSTAR Fund, is so dorked out that it’s now patent-pending. (Which, as an aside, makes me exceedingly happy – I’ve always wanted to author a patent.)

So perhaps it’s only natural that our clothing should swing business-ward, too.

It started small – an ‘anti-casual Friday’ policy of donning ties and cufflinks one day a week, with us disclaiming the attire at meetings. But, rather quickly, we discovered that people took us more seriously when it looked like we were taking things seriously ourselves. So we started donning suits on other days we had investor meetings. And, then, even on ones we didn’t.

It’s a bit of a change, especially in a world where calling someone a ‘suit’ is rarely meant as a compliment. But it’s one that seems to be working for us – investors think we look responsible enough to manage their money, filmmakers that we’re competent enough to release their films better than they could themselves.

So, this evening, I’m headed back to Barneys and Saks, fleshing out a wishlist of up-to-date additions to my business wardrobe. I’m not sure exactly what I’m looking for. Except for, still, that wedding suit.

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