What Is Larry Summers Wearing?

David Leonhardt had an interesting profile of Larry Summers in the NYT yesterday. Leonhardt reckons that Summers could (and probably should) become a Democratic Henry Kissinger, intimately involved in policy decisions despite not having an official government job.

Leonhardt also notes that Summers now has a "lucrative" part-time job at hedge fund DE Shaw – and given that John Edwards made half a million bucks at Fortress Group just for a consulting gig, you can be sure that Summers's remuneration at DE Shaw is well into the seven figures.

So why, in that case, does Summers, in the accompanying photograph (left, by Nigel Parry), seem to be wearing the world's most ill-fitting suit? I can think of five possible explanations:

Summers refuses to admit to himself that he's gained weight, and therefore still buys suits in his old size.
Summers likes to present himself as a classic rumpled forgetful professor, and therefore deliberately buys suits which don't fit.
Summers really is a classic rumpled forgetful professor, and showed up to the NYT photoshoot wearing an old, ill-fitting suit.
Nigel Parry, the photographer, or his stylist, wanted to present Summers as a classic rumpled forgetful professor, and therefore put him in an ill-fitting suit.
Nigel Parry, the photographer, or his stylist, made a mistake, and somehow ended up putting Summers into an ill-fitting suit, but hey, it made for a great photo, because everybody likes to see their former Treasury secretaries looking like Tweedledee occasionally.

Anybody got any better ideas?

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