Of all the recent changes in men's wardrobes − which have been shaken up by the rise of sportswear, the increasing influence of fashion trends and the normalization of wearing Crocs − the most striking has undoubtedly been the transformation of the suit. As the world of work has changed, the suit has lost its central place in our closets. Wearing a suit, if once perfectly unremarkable, has now become a deliberate, committed and even, it seems, political act.
One only has to look at the far right of France's political leadership to see a particular fondness for the suit. Three years after Marine Le Pen required Rassemblement National MPs to wear suits and ties at the Assemblée Nationale – in contrast to the left-wing La France Insoumise members' rejection of such attire – the party leader, Jordan Bardella, has taken to wearing carefully tailored suits: often double-breasted, sometimes with pinstripes, always with soft shoulders, topped off with a flourish bordering on dandyism.
In a similar vein, and with an equally distinctive style, Vincent Bolloré's 24-hour news channel, CNews, features a steady parade of commentators − especially during debates on so-called "woke" dangers − who are dressed in colorful suits with neatly knotted ties and accessorized with pocket squares. Leading the trend, Pascal Praud regularly appears in suits that are white, pink, checkered or boldly pinstriped.
While we are hardly in a position to fault anyone for enjoying dressing well, the scale of the trend, which has also been visible on social media and on so-called "sartorial" accounts, invites a small clarification. Wearing a suit should not be mistaken for anything other than an aesthetic choice, for while a well-dressed Frenchman might, at a stretch, claim to embody his country's elegance (and even then: Bardella's fine suits are made in China), he can make no claim to represent its purported values.
For the sake of clarity, let us state the obvious: Neither a man's outfit, nor his taste or financial means to dress himself, determines his true worth. One thing is clear: A man wearing a flawless suit, tie and pocket square is not inherently better than a man in a tracksuit and Crocs. That's right − even Crocs.
Translation of an original article published in French on lemonde.fr; the publisher may only be liable for the French version.