The thrill of business attire

When we were at the Hilton Head TJ Maxx a few weeks ago, I opted not to buy Ben a cheap-ass dressy outfit—pants, dress shirt, vest, necktie, all for $10—even though he begged for it. First of all, when would he ever wear such a thing? And second, I don't wish to encourage him to whine and cry to get merchandise he wants. He got over the disappointment, but boy, did he cry and cry at TJ Maxx.

This week, because I do tend to spoil Ben, when he asked about "a suit," I checked online and found an $11 shirt-and-tie combo. He selected the white shirt/navy tie combo because, apparently, his fashion adventurousness disappears completely in the menswear world. (Not much in the way of sparkles, purple, or vivid colors to choose from.) The shirt and tie arrived today, packaged just like a grown-up dress shirt but without the straight pins. When we finally extricated the garment from the packaging, cardboard and plastic supports, and clips (why??) and got Ben buttoned into the shirt and velcroed into the tie (yes, it has a velcro closure in the back)—oh! So adorable! He wore it with his shorts and played for a half hour, squatting on the floor amid his toy cars just like any grown man wearing a shirt and tie.

Now that's he's supposed to be going to bed, he came out and asked if he could show his "suit" to Daddy. He's so proud of his "suit."

His name is Ben
He is so cute
He likes formalwear
Check out his suit
Roll call!

I just may dress him in that for my cousin's wedding in a month. A velcro tie is the height of cheesiness, yes, but so precious! And truthfully, I think it's just a matter of time before men's ties go the velcro route. Guy gets to the end of a long day, wants to loosen his tie, and—scrrrrrrtch—he adjusts the velcro strap.