Trying Times

Sherlock doesn’t wear the suits because he likes the suits. Sherlock wears the suits because he’s an ex-junkie trying to make a career out of helping law enforcement, he’s trying to get people to take him seriously, he’s trying to get people to respect him, to believe him, when he makes a deduction, because if they don’t respect him as an intelligent, competent individual they discount him as a drug addict, as making it up, as lying, as the perpetrator. He is trying, essentially, to run a small business and he needs to look like he’s good at what he does, he needs to look worth paying. Sherlock wears the suits because that’s what a consulting detective would wear, that’s the image his clients expect out of a genius. The suits are only there to sell you on Sherlock the Ruthless Genius who will solve your case by any means.