Summer is almost over.
Gentlemen, please put your pants and ties back on unless it's Friday and you're taking part in the Spirit of the North Healthcare Foundation's September Casual fundraising campaign.
Both male and political observers have commented on the dress of female leaders, from Hillary Clinton's pant suits to Christy Clark's jogging attire.
Men in important positions seem to get a free pass because women don't want to sound like they're nagging and men don't like to be seen to notice how other men dress.
How men dress is important, however, because it conveys both power and status. Jackets, ties and dress shoes suggest men who take themselves and their positions seriously. They are as much uniforms as coveralls or steel-toed work boots. For powerful and important men who don't want to be portrayed that way, that formal uniform has to be customized to suit the audience.
Prince George North MLA Mike Morris and Cariboo Prince George MLA Todd Doherty have both mastered the code and its regional dialects. In Victoria and Ottawa, it's business suits all the way but at home in their ridings, it's blue jeans, boots and blazers.
They are hardly unique in this regard. Rural MLAs and MPs across Canada make the same dress code adjustments. In the U.S., a glance at Donald Trump's attire informs the viewer of where he's campaigning at that moment.
If he's in a suit, he's in a major metropolitan area. If he's ditched the tie, he's in a rural centre. If he's put on the Make America Great Again ball cap with the trucker's bend in the bill, he's in the sticks.
Making the fashion adjustment is a sign of respect to the norms of that community and doing so is a common requirement for men in many cultures. Men visiting a Jewish temple, for example, are expected to put a yarmulke on their head, regardless of their religious affiliation.
In more social settings, it is also a claim to be one with the people of that area. The ball cap on Trump's head looks as ridiculous as the plaid shirts did on Gordon Campbell when he first ventured out into the Interior 20 years ago as the new leader of the B.C. Liberals.
Like the cowboys say, that's all hat and no cattle. A man has to earn that look but unless it's a wedding, a funeral or a court date, a man in a suit and tie in rural Canada or the United States is an outsider, a carpetbagger, a city slicker or a pretentious ass, take your pick. That's why Trump puts on the ball cap but keeps both the blazer and the open dress shirt with the visible cuff links.
Urban centres surrounded by rural communities, like Prince George, are problematic because both styles apply to men, depending on the circumstance and even the time of year.
Unlike women, professional men get to take the summer off even while they're at work. The ties (and sometimes the razors) can be put away, the top button can be left open and golf shirts and short-sleeved dress shirts are allowed until Labour Day.
But not always.
When Doherty joined Veterans Affair Minister Kent Hehr to lay a wreath at the Prince George Cenotaph on Monday, he wore a dark suit and tie. That was probably the first time he had dressed like that in his home riding in months, but the occasion demanded it. The best way for any man to be taken seriously and to show the serious of the situation is to put on a suit, do up a tie and polish those shoes.
Prince George has reached the point in its evolution where most professional men on most working days should wear a tie.
If Prince George wants to compare itself to Kelowna, Kamloops and Nanaimo, the male decision makers in both the public and private sectors need to project that Prince George is not Mackenzie or Burns Lake or Quesnel or McBride by conducting their affairs in formal business attire. Furthermore, they should welcome important visitors to Prince George wearing suits, to show respect to those visiting dignitaries but also to project the city's urban sophistication and sensibility.
When in doubt on event protocol, Prince George men in positions of authority should reach for the tie rack because leadership, respect and modernity require looking the part.
Save the jeans for the weekend or the fundraisers.
-- Managing editor Neil Godbout
