Formal dressing @ work... Anyone?

[shreddermon]

Depends on the "dress norm" of the place you work at and/or how often you meet with important clients. If you can get away with it, LandsEnd.com does decent seperates for normal everyday "in office" work. Their dress shirts are pretty good, too. Otherwise, get 3 or 4 nice suits for days when you'll need the "important" stuff. You can find good ties and shoes almost anywhere - Macy's, etc. Comfortable dress shoes are a must for normal "everydays". Zappos is good for this.

If you don't have to, don't overdo it. Lots of places are still converting over to "business casual". So you could blow a lot of money on this, and find it'll all be for naught in just a few months.

[Newc]

Even in a top business environment, visitors will be drawn to the best-dressed person in the room. Yeah you might look and feel like Clark Kent when everyone else is "5-minutes to quitting time", but the upper-ups will see you as stylish while the grunts see you as nerdish.

Scope out the prospective employer for a week - Monday through whenever (their work schedule). See what folks are wearing, and make sure it's the same people, and not "temp of the day". If the same group walks out the door at 5:05PM dressed the same way every day for 4 days straight, that's the code. If they come out on Friday in casual, you know it's Casual Friday. If they're casual every day, and the only guy in a suit gets into the priciest car on the lot, he's a salesman of some sort, because VPs and such have their own parking.


And again, it'd really help to know what the job is.

[BenoA]

And again, it'd really help to know what the job is.

Part of the job will be office work and client on site visit. Company is offering facility management services, I'll be related to Occupational Health & Safety and Environment.

Very interesting up to now everyone. My goal was to stay on classic side, not too flashy. I really need to update my complete wardrobe as I have nothing right now.

From what I could read, 4 suits, a lot of shirts and ties should be a good start.

Not to forget the belt and the shoes...

[atomic charvel guy]

i'll lend you my green shorts if you want, but i'll need them back at some point.

[Trussrod]

i'll lend you my green shorts if you want, but i'll need them back at some point.

Lol.

[Hellbat]

i'll lend you my green shorts if you want, but i'll need them back at some point.

But what if you have unusually tiny balls and his won't fit through the hole in the crotch? Then he's not really getting the full "green short" experience.

[Vass]

If you're selling safety & you're going to be in front of clients, yeah, I stick to my original opinions. Nobody wants to see Mr. Fashion Model cruise in to talk to them about safety. You want Mr. I Am So Serious And You Could Shave With The Crease In My Pants guy.

Good luck man, welcome to the club. In a sick way it really lowers the "what am I wearing to work" stress. Also in the long run it probably ends up saving you money, and next time you have to go to a wedding or funeral or whatever you'll just be able to hit your closet up.

[BenoA]

If you're selling safety & you're going to be in front of clients, yeah, I stick to my original opinions. Nobody wants to see Mr. Fashion Model cruise in to talk to them about safety. You want Mr. I Am So Serious And You Could Shave With The Crease In My Pants guy.

Lol!!! I had to use my dictionary as my english is sometime limited (meaning of "crease")... but you made me laugh!!!

Good luck man, welcome to the club. In a sick way it really lowers the "what am I wearing to work" stress. Also in the long run it probably ends up saving you money, and next time you have to go to a wedding or funeral or whatever you'll just be able to hit your closet up.

Man for the past 8 years... I had no stress of what to wear to work... t-shirt, jeans... even flip flops and shorts during summer time. I would not shave for days...

Now I'm moving on the complete other side of the fence. Formal dressing, nice shoes and will have to shave every morning (I already bough a nice Philips shaver for that!).

I have to admit that my wife really loves that new "me"!!! ha ha ha

[Rsmacker]

Part of the job will be office work and client on site visit. Company is offering facility management services, I'll be related to Occupational Health & Safety and Environment.

You need a boiler suit, steelies, hi-viz vest, safety goggles and a hard hat. Walk round with a clipboard, tutting and breathing in sharply, your colleagues and clients will be overjoyed to see you.

You could be like this man, Keith Lard:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZh_SP32XHg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqYGcGMCwto

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aani-I--zv8

Or, just go for the suave white linen suit, fedora, with one of those ties with a penis graphic - great icebreaker. Probably.

[Vass]

Lol!!! I had to use my dictionary as my english is sometime limited (meaning of "crease")... but you made me laugh!!!



Man for the past 8 years... I had no stress of what to wear to work... t-shirt, jeans... even flip flops and shorts during summer time. I would not shave for days...

Now I'm moving on the complete other side of the fence. Formal dressing, nice shoes and will have to shave every morning (I already bough a nice Philips shaver for that!).

I have to admit that my wife really loves that new "me"!!! ha ha ha

The crease is just the folded "line" down the front of the pants, down the leg....the fold that you'd put in there with an iron.

[BenoA]

The crease is just the folded "line" down the front of the pants, down the leg....the fold that you'd put in there with an iron.

Thanks, that's exactly what my dictionary gave me.

As for you Rsmacker, I can't watch any videos from office... But I bet they are funny.

All "safety" accessories you listed, will be provided by the company anyway... Except may be for the "penis" tie!

[RacerX]

work... t-shirt, jeans... even flip flops and shorts during summer time. I would not shave for days...

Now I'm moving on the complete other side of the fence. Formal dressing, nice shoes and will have to shave every morning
I have to admit that my wife really loves that new "me"!!! ha ha ha

Need before & after pics!

[Shawn Lutz]

get two tux's like they had in dumb and dumber

[atomic charvel guy]

Rupe is on the left, I'm on the right.

[Grandturk]

Here's some experience tips:

- A lot of time you can get away with dress pants, button down shirt and tie. Invest in more slacks then suits and you're covered a lot of the time. IMO - jackets are rarely worn around the office except by guys when they get in and when they leave.

-- You'll definately want one anytime you're speaking in front of your colleagues and any executive meetings.

- For everyday work, Brooks Brothers has great quality and killer non-iron shirts. Obviously there's other brands that are good, but you can't knock BB's American Business Conservative style - its tough to buy something from them that you won't be able to wear next month.

- Stay away from slickster colors - purple ties on purple shirts - i.e. anything Micheal Irvin wears on NFL Countdown

- Two button suit jackets - you only button the top button

- Three button suit jackets - you only button the middle button (see NFL Countdown for what not to do)

- Double breasted jackets - you only button the top left button

- Match your socks to your pants, match your belt to your shoes, match your belt buckle to your jewelry

-- Exception 1 - you may wear pink socks with a pink shirt

-- Exception 2 - you may wear black socks with black shoes only with Navy pants, other wise you only wear black socks with black pants

- Navy pants = black shoes. Don't wear brown shoes with navy pants.

- Brown shows work great with charcoal, greys, etc

- Don't wear Dockers with a tie unless you're selling insurance.

- Don't wear short sleeves with a tie unless your an English beat writer or Andy Sipowicz

- Make sure you suit fits - nothing looks worse than a guy in an ill-fitting suit jacket - actually, too small is better than too big.

- Jos A. Bank is only good if you catch them on a sale. A lot of their clothes are suspect quality wise - I have a saying - no more than $30 for their pants and $20 for their shirts