How to stop overdressing

[GaiusM]

There is a degree of truth in that. The same goes for being 'fat', or 'skinny' or any visible characteristic. "Majority rule" is a rather questionable expression but one gets the point.
The question then is: do you always/sometimes/rarely/never care what the majority, in a given situation, thinks?

The only overdressing I would worry about is under one of these conditions:
> you are among people with very limited means and your clothes are extravagantly opulent/visibly quite expensive. [this would essentially never apply in a place of work in the first world, unless your clothes are made of gold and diamonds or something]
> you are participating in an activity which cannot be safely performed in formal/ or elegant clothing.
> you belong to an organisation that proscribes/discourages elegant clothing. [which, if at all possible, one might want to avoid - because why would you want to associate with people who tell you how to dress?]

These criteria exclude the beach

 

[Harwid]

Most people dress so poorly these days it seems the majority would think people who care about what they wear are always overdressed. I am not talking about wearing a suit to a casual function.

I expect to be the best dressed person almost everywhere I go even if I am wearing jeans or chinos. I figure that is true of most people here. Others have no idea how much people on this spend on shoes.

Jeff

 

[Concordia]

Suits used to be the norm in part because of thrift. Small budgets, small closets. A work suit for the week, Sunday best for church, and an old one for the garden.
Now, clothes are so available cheaply that nobody has to take care calling their (few) shots.

 

[Concordia]

Nowadays, we also have those who imagine they succeed on merit and not connections. So no more with the college tie or father’s grey suit. T-shirts and leggings advertise one’s focus on work and willingness to say FU to an imaginary establishment. Which is itself a signal of wealth.

 

[ppk]

The question then is: do you always/sometimes/rarely/never care what the majority, in a given situation, thinks?

This 👆🏽

If I'm in a situation where I specifically don't want to standout, I dress to fit in. Other situations, I want express my sartorial capability for whatever reason, it doesn't matter to me if I stand out.

 

[Harwid]

Nowadays, we also have those who imagine they succeed on merit and not connections. So no more with the college tie or father’s grey suit. T-shirts and leggings advertise one’s focus on work and willingness to say FU to an imaginary establishment. Which is itself a signal of wealth.

Funny and ridiculous.

I dress for myself, not others.

Jeff

 

[Skeem1]

I’m curious to know if any igents work in tech and still dress semi/formally. I’d love to see that! I know a lot of lawyers and finance guys here just wear suits and look great but tech is different haha.

 

[ppk]

I’m curious to know if any igents work in tech and still dress semi/formally. I’d love to see that! I know a lot of lawyers and finance guys here just wear suits and look great but tech is different haha.

I do. Recently, because of the weather, I've been dressing casually. I'll start the more formal fits soon. Usually I wear suits a couple of times a week, sport coats a couple of times and casual for the rest.

I got a lot of comments when I first started (about a year ago). Now folks just know that's my style.

 

[Skeem1]

I do. Recently, because of the weather, I've been dressing casually. I'll start the more formal fits soon. Usually I wear suits a couple of times a week, sport coats a couple of times and casual for the rest.

I got a lot of comments when I first started (about a year ago). Now folks just know that's my style.

Sir, you are what I aspire lol. This is great! In a world of pataguccis and arcteryx, you’d definitely stand out in the good way. Do you have photos of your fits, would love to see!

 

[Concordia]

Silicon Valley is quite tribal in its rejection of ties.

I’m curious to know if any igents work in tech and still dress semi/formally. I’d love to see that! I know a lot of lawyers and finance guys here just wear suits and look great but tech is different haha.

@Andy57 seems to have ignored peer pressure more than most.

 

[ppk]

Sir, you are what I aspire lol. This is great! In a world of pataguccis and arcteryx, you’d definitely stand out in the good way. Do you have photos of your fits, would love to see!

Yup. Check out the HOF What Are You Wearing Right Now Part IV thread.

However, I'm still a newbie and make lots of mistakes. There are others on that thread who you should study.

 

[ppk]

Silicon Valley is quite tribal in its rejection of ties.

Andy57 seems to have ignored peer pressure more than most.

@Andy57 is a legend. @Skeem1 his Instagram handle is styleafter50.

 

[Lord Flashheart]

I’m curious to know if any igents work in tech and still dress semi/formally. I’d love to see that! I know a lot of lawyers and finance guys here just wear suits and look great but tech is different haha.

Yes - esp. when I'm due into a meeting with more senior types and out dress them, puts them slightly on the back foot which is always beneficial.

 

[imatlas]

There are times when you have to read the room, and times when you can tell the room to fu(k right off if they don’t like it.

I’m in tech, and I “dress up” more than most, but I’ve definitely found myself in situations where my desire to suit myself has gotten in the way. I’m in a sales adjacent role and when I am in front of a customer I never want to be more than a notch or two above them in the formality of my dress. Just like I wouldn’t show up to a bar on a random day wearing a tux, I won’t wear a suit and tie if I’m meeting with a bunch of techies, unless one of them has “Chief” in their title, and even then I’ll keep it chill.

 

[MethusalehHoneysuckle]

I’m curious to know if any igents work in tech and still dress semi/formally. I’d love to see that! I know a lot of lawyers and finance guys here just wear suits and look great but tech is different haha.

I've read this thread from start to finish, and I have to say it's been a wild ride.

There's some fascinating bitter disagreement over whether someone can be overdressed vs is overdressed, etc.

I would argue that context is king here and no two situations are alike.

On that note, for context, I'm a software engineer.

I'm also at a point in my career where there's not much more left to go in terms of career progression unless I want to pivot hard into management which I don't. I'm also one of the top engineers at my company and have spent the last couple decades cultivating a network of other engineers from previous jobs who hold a similarly high opinion of me.

I'm not pointing this out to puff my chest, but to emphasize some context that I have standing within my profession that may be atypical to other people's situations. I can absolutely hold a zero ***** attitude on certain things that someone more junior in their career or in a different industry may not be able to carry.

As far as engineers are concerned: most dress like refugees on a good day. No one would broadly refer to software engineers as a demographic with strong style sense in general, never mind even dipping a toe into the sartorial waters.

I'm known as the engineer who wears suits to work. I get many comments about how I dress, both complimentary and backhandedly critical. I do stand out among my peers for not looking like I just got back from a soup kitchen and not because I was volunteering. I'd say most of the feedback I get is complimentary or inquisitive, while some amounts to snide remarks of "he's just trying to make us look bad" or "looks like someone takes their job a little to seriously", etc. To the dissenters, my feedback has been "I don't care how you dress and didn't ask for your feedback how I dress."

On the flip side, I've embarked on a reeducation program on style with some of my fellow engineers that seems to have sparked modest interest. Most of my suits are RTW, but they're Kiton, Brioni, Isaia, Tom Ford, and Attolini. My love affair with all of these marks has to do with the passion that came from the families that started these brands ages ago (ok, not with Tom Ford, but I think their suits are works of art and Zegna who makes them has been around ages) and how they had such passion for how a suit should be made. Engineers can be some of the most fiery people on the planet: holding intricate convictions and contrarian beliefs about how their artifacts should be created. When I have this conversation, I suggest to my colleagues that this same level of purpose and rigor can be found in the realm of formal wear; that some of these families are the equivalent of garment engineers who pioneered both conflicting and complimentary designs in their industry. I have a deep respect for people who take the burden of creating to new levels and push envelopes, and it led to an admiration for something I never realized I cared so much about before.

All this aside, I've had some spicy exchanges earlier in my career that would have made me think twice. I've had two different managers tell me that if I had worn a suit to my interview they wouldn't have hired me. Early on in my career this scared the hell out of me. Now if I was to hear that I'd just tell them I'll take one of the other half dozen offers I have and that I hope we never work together.

One last point to make as a bit of shift in tone: I think the type of suit or sportcoat you wear to work can move the needle on this.

I have suits that are solid color but also have several that are more splashy and unconventional. I think if you're consistently wearing solids that are blues, browns and grays you might come across as being in the wrong industry rather than showing a preference of style. I think if you rock bolder styles alongside traditional, like some glenplaids, windowpanes, or houndstooths with a bit of a pop of color it comes across as more of an expression of yourself which changes the narrative.