Class war

digitalscream

Jalapeno said:

Ties are becoming less prevalent these days - interview - yes wear one, after that go with the flow.

I tend to wear a tie, but have a sneaky look around the office prior to the interview (I ignore whatever the recruitment bod says). If it's a casual-dress place, the tie comes off...otherwise it stays.

Seems like a good approach to me. Never had an interview where I didn't get offered the job, so I must be doing something right.

fretmeister

I like a good suit.

I've got some off the peg John Lewis items for general office, never going to see the client work, and I've got a couple of bespoke for court.

I got my bespoke ones from a semi retired tailor close to me. Made from scratch for under £800

He's fully retired now so I need to look elsewhere. 

Dopesick

shaunyshaun1234 said:

Dopesick said:

So fucking glad I don't have to wear a suit in my job. In fact I absolutely detest wearing a suit altogether. I even hate turning up every day for work in normal office attire, it's like I'm operating inside the body of a bloody alien (thank fuck for casual Friday). I understand the value of appropriate attire because it makes things more 'neutral; but every job interview I've had has me cautious about how much of a complete knob I look with my tie done up to eleven and my fancy shiny shoes and my lovely smooth shirt and jacket overflowing of swag and oh lah-di-fucking-dah...

Wait..do people really turn up to job interviews in t-shirts?

When I have to suit up for work, I feel a sense of pride in looking smart and actually feel quite good. Not sure if that's right or not.

Oh it's extremely right. Personally I just have never gelled with wearing shirts, jackets or whatever - just feels really uncomfortable. I mean I wouldn't classify myself as a slob but if there's any reason for me to go slightly casual then I'll take it.

Brize

dchwhite said:

Silly question no doubt, but how do you use reflexive pronouns inappropriately?

"Hello sir, I'm just calling yourself today to ask whether you might be interested in the products offered by ourselves? If interested, please get back to myself."

The sort of illiterate twaddle that seems to be endemic in call centres.

cc @Gassage

fretmeister

Dress Down Friday has always annoyed me.

No one ever has any idea about the limits. Sometimes I see smart trousers and a shirt, sometimes (new and clean) jeans and a polo shirt, and then some turning up in their night club pulling outfits ready for an early start in the evening. Some look like they've just dug their allotment over.

I cannot be arsed to think about clothes in the morning. Sticking with the suit and tie is easy.

No one ever got binned for looking too smart.

CabbageCat

I wear a tie most of the time at work. No-one else does. I wear it more often on dress-down Fridays than any other day because I have lots of (elderly, faded) shirts and not many polo shirts (t-shirts frowned upon) and the pickings are generally thinner towards the end of the week.

marantz1300

My wifes freinds say I look like a cop or a gangster in a suite 

Panama_Jack666

marantz1300 said:

My wifes freinds say I look like a cop or a gangster in a suite 

What sort of suite? A leather 3 piece number?

dchwhite

Brize said:

dchwhite said:

Silly question no doubt, but how do you use reflexive pronouns inappropriately?

"Hello sir, I'm just calling yourself today to ask whether you might be interested in the products offered by ourselves? If interested, please get back to myself."

The sort of illiterate twaddle that seems to be endemic in call centres.

cc @Gassage

Appreciate yourself taking the time to advise myself

Brize

dchwhite said:

Appreciate yourself taking the time to advise myself

Yourself is very welcome!

oaf

Panama_Jack666 said:

marantz1300 said:

My wifes freinds say I look like a cop or a gangster in a suite 

What sort of suite? A leather 3 piece number?

Custody suite I reckon...

Snap

fretmeister said:

Dress Down Friday has always annoyed me.

No one ever has any idea about the limits. Sometimes I see smart trousers and a shirt, sometimes (new and clean) jeans and a polo shirt, and then some turning up in their night club pulling outfits ready for an early start in the evening. Some look like they've just dug their allotment over.

I cannot be arsed to think about clothes in the morning. Sticking with the suit and tie is easy.

No one ever got binned for looking too smart.

Dress down Friday is massively patronising - sort of "lets give the little people a day off, let them wear what they want"

bollocks. Just another way to control people. Its like non uniform day on the last day of school term. All firms doing this should pack it in and start treating people like grown ups.

hate it.

And hate the phrase "smart casual", though business casual is worse. More americanism shite from people who can't think to wear anything other than a blue shirt and chinos.

Bidley

Snap said:

fretmeister said:

Dress Down Friday has always annoyed me.

No one ever has any idea about the limits. Sometimes I see smart trousers and a shirt, sometimes (new and clean) jeans and a polo shirt, and then some turning up in their night club pulling outfits ready for an early start in the evening. Some look like they've just dug their allotment over.

I cannot be arsed to think about clothes in the morning. Sticking with the suit and tie is easy.

No one ever got binned for looking too smart.

Dress down Friday is massively patronising - sort of "lets give the little people a day off, let them wear what they want"

bollocks. Just another way to control people. Its like non uniform day on the last day of school term. All firms doing this should pack it in and start treating people like grown ups.

hate it.

My school used to always say (when disciplining students for having shoes in the wrong shade of black) that having strict uniform regulations was "preparing us for adult life".

At Sixth Form we didn't have to wear uniform, and not once in any job I've worked in have I had to wear a uniform.

lloyd

I wore a blue suit and brown shoes to a wedding this summer, I looked cool as fuck. I've always worn black shoes for interviews though.

Brize

Yep, I used to hate dress-down Fridays - I can do smart and I can do scruffy but I struggle with anything in between.

stickyfiddle

We're moving to business casual from Sunday. I thought I was clear on what that meant but actually it's a minefield and mostly seems to mean I need to go and buy more clothes, which is annoying. 

chrispy108

Brize said:

Yep, I used to hate dress-down Fridays - I can do smart and I can do scruffy but I struggle with anything in between.

This! I'd hate to work somewhere that did it. I'd have to go buy polo shirts (horrible things) especially for dressing down, which doesn't seem the point of it....

digitalscream

Well, for the majority of people suits are less comfortable than <other stuff they may wear if given a choice>.

However, it does seem rather sexist to me. Women have a much wider range of clothes which are considered appropriate for both "smart casual" and "business casual", while either of those phrases strikes fear into any man's heart because he has no fucking clue what it means he can wear.

Snap

business bleeding casual - honestly who came up with that? Must have been an american.

I have heard one worse than this - golf casual. FFS, what is that?! Silly kecks and cap? A sun visor?? Tank top? For those of us who don't play golf, we are screwed.

For me the rules are pretty simple:

If you work in the office, wear what you want, but don't take the piss. If you are dealing with a client in the office, put a suit on. If you are visiting a client wear a suit and tie.

Its far easier to dress down from wearing a suit than otherwise> If in doubt wear a suit.

What I really dont like is people wearing a suit, a formal shirt and no tie. It usually looks pretty crap. The only people I see who can carry this look off are Italians in neat suits. Or male models. The rest of us look like bums.

Another bugbear - kecks that are too long. Your suit trolleys should not bunch up over your shoes. Looks scruffy. The average inside leg is 31", yet tons of people buy 34" leg kecks and leave them as is, determined that they are a 34. Likely you aren't.

Christ, I'm off now......

Same goes for fit - get clothes that fit you. So many people don'tknow what size they are, especially when you get older. A mate of mine, a yoof of the 80s, is still in the mindset of oversized jackets so buys them a size to big, and so they look dead scruffy. No mate, you're a 40, not a 42.

stickyfiddle

@Snap, you had me until "suit and shirt without tie" which has been my staple for years. MUCH better than a loose tie or one with a knot too big (phone-selling arsehole) or too small (child who hasn't learned how ties should look). 

Agree on the trouser length thing. We had a conference this week - all but one of our senior partners were wearing trousers too long with scruffy shoes. I understand they're busy people, but these guys are on $1m+ per year; the least they could do is have a wardrobe that looks the part.