Business attire what happened?

[BillSWPA]

"I do see jeans as acceptable business attire."

This statement is entirely business dependent.

In my business, jeans are never acceptable business attire.

My most recent interview with a patent examiner was by video. He wore a T-shirt. I was in a suit and tie, which would not have changed even if I knew what the examiner would wear.

[jh9]

What's the new thing, from Succession, "quiet wealth" or something like that? The rich aren't dressing like hobos now, they're dressing in very understated, simple clothes that just happen to cost hundreds of dollars. the "succession hat" alone is like a plain ball cap that costs $500 or something?

"Money talks, wealth whispers" is an old saying, predating the show by a while. Mark Zuckerberg is an example of the "understated, simple clothes" wardrobe and he's been doing that forever.

If there's a shift, it's probably just that people with money follow fashion trends same as most others. Hard to fault them for it. Humans don't have peacock feathers so something has to act as a surrogate.

[camsdaddy]

I had a guy who was the VP of a local semi trailer manufacturer invite me to "come see him" on day. We had discussed business and he asked me to come up and see what they do. I was there early in the morning took the tour, we went to both locations. I met with the shop foreman, many of the employees, the sales manager and finally the owner. I never heard back from him. I went in wearing slacks a pressed shirt and nicer shoes. I honestly feel as if I was over dressed and maybe I didn't match the dress for the venue or position. I told my wife the owner was in khakis and a 3 button shirt and everyone else was similar. I wonder if one could be over dressed?

My grandfather always said if you have real money you dont have to look like it

[rob_s]

"Money talks, wealth whispers" is an old saying, predating the show by a while. Mark Zuckerberg is an example of the "understated, simple clothes" wardrobe and he's been doing that forever.

If there's a shift, it's probably just that people with money follow fashion trends same as most others. Hard to fault them for it. Humans don't have peacock feathers so something has to act as a surrogate.

I love that Mark Zuckerberg is your example of “for a while”.

[ragnar_d]

I had a guy who was the VP of a local semi trailer manufacturer invite me to "come see him" on day. We had discussed business and he asked me to come up and see what they do. I was there early in the morning took the tour, we went to both locations. I met with the shop foreman, many of the employees, the sales manager and finally the owner. I never heard back from him. I went in wearing slacks a pressed shirt and nicer shoes. I honestly feel as if I was over dressed and maybe I didn't match the dress for the venue or position. I told my wife the owner was in khakis and a 3 button shirt and everyone else was similar. I wonder if one could be over dressed?

My grandfather always said if you have real money you dont have to look like it

Funny enough, I had a similar experience recently. I interviewed for a position at a company that made heavy industrial equipment, all told it was 2-3 rounds of in person interviews. Everyone I interviewed with (from the guy who'd I'd be working with on the team all the way up to the President of the company) was in slacks or jeans and a company polo or button down. Me going off of what I've done for the last 15 years anytime I had an interview, I was in a suit/tie or sport coat/slacks/tie for all of the interviews. The VP that I would be under even commented, "Guess we should have told you that we're pretty casual around here." And I get that, a lot of those guys spend as much time (or more sometimes) on the floor or going over the equipment with customers than they do in the office. I know what I was on the floor or test range every day, I was definitely more likely to be in "functional" attire than my best.

Don't necessarily regret it though. Funny that I've been following The Suited Shootist and a few other pages trying to get better with my style of dress and evolve away from the jeans/cargo pants and polo shirts that are ubiquitous in engineering offices now only to potentially end up right back in it.

[camsdaddy]

Funny enough, I had a similar experience recently. I interviewed for a position at a company that made heavy industrial equipment, all told it was 2-3 rounds of in person interviews. Everyone I interviewed with (from the guy who'd I'd be working with on the team all the way up to the President of the company) was in slacks or jeans and a company polo or button down. Me going off of what I've done for the last 15 years anytime I had an interview, I was in a suit/tie or sport coat/slacks/tie for all of the interviews. The VP that I would be under even commented, "Guess we should have told you that we're pretty casual around here." And I get that, a lot of those guys spend as much time (or more sometimes) on the floor or going over the equipment with customers than they do in the office. I know what I was on the floor or test range every day, I was definitely more likely to be in "functional" attire than my best.

Don't necessarily regret it though. Funny that I've been following The Suited Shootist and a few other pages trying to get better with my style of dress and evolve away from the jeans/cargo pants and polo shirts that are ubiquitous in engineering offices now only to potentially end up right back in it.

If I hit the lottery tomorrow my dress would not change. I’m good wearing khakis from tractor supply and a button up shirt from a local retailer. I wear the same thing seven days a week. On the weekends and after hours I’m generally untucked.

[BillSWPA]

Funny enough, I had a similar experience recently. I interviewed for a position at a company that made heavy industrial equipment, all told it was 2-3 rounds of in person interviews. Everyone I interviewed with (from the guy who'd I'd be working with on the team all the way up to the President of the company) was in slacks or jeans and a company polo or button down. Me going off of what I've done for the last 15 years anytime I had an interview, I was in a suit/tie or sport coat/slacks/tie for all of the interviews. The VP that I would be under even commented, "Guess we should have told you that we're pretty casual around here." And I get that, a lot of those guys spend as much time (or more sometimes) on the floor or going over the equipment with customers than they do in the office. I know what I was on the floor or test range every day, I was definitely more likely to be in "functional" attire than my best.

Don't necessarily regret it though. Funny that I've been following The Suited Shootist and a few other pages trying to get better with my style of dress and evolve away from the jeans/cargo pants and polo shirts that are ubiquitous in engineering offices now only to potentially end up right back in it.

It is easy to explain that you can be quite happy conforming to casual on the job when you showed up to the interview in a suit. It is not so easy to explain that you can conform to company standards when you showed up for the interview too casually dressed. If they don’t understand that, I would wonder what else they would not understand after the job was accepted.

[Chuck Whitlock]

Having now spent five years watching young attorneys and cops come in and out of the federal courthouse, I'm convinced I should have started a consulting firm teaching men how to wear a suit.

“To paraphrase, appearances don't matter, performance does.”

I would beg to differ.

From officer safety to advocacy in the courtroom- appearances ABSOLUTELY MATTER.

I observe attorneys from time to time. Some would look a whole lot better if they'd just get their pants hemmed properly.

Then there is this one young lawyer who dressed really sharp....until you got down to his beat-to-shit leather loafers with no socks.

"I do see jeans as acceptable business attire."

This statement is entirely business dependent.

In my business, jeans are never acceptable business attire.

My normal work attire is dress shirt/tie/jeans/cowboy boots + hat. I can slip on a dark grey sport coat and go to District Court. I understand that in some AO's the jeans would be verboten.

I went to county court once in Nebraska in nice jeans, dress shirt, jacket, and polished boots. Looked like a million bucks when most others had on shorts, flip-flops, and holey t-shirts.

[Alembic]

I guess I over estimated the depth of this conversation.
Of course appearances are how we make snap judgments of the people we interact with.

I thought we might discuss how to move beyond simple generizations, stereotypes and self astem propped up by materialism.

Once again , I was wrong.

Happy Thursday!

[CSW]

One could remember the proverb, " the cowl does not make the monk".