Dress Attire for BB Intern?

Mate, there about already lots of posts about this...

However, here are my 2 cents..... 7 suits! Are you kidding me!?? As long as your current 3 suits are cool, spend some money on white/blue shirts and nice ties and maybe some cufflinks if you haven't got any already, I really don't think you need to go crazy with extra suits, because to be brutally honest, I don't think anyone will notice or care. You're not going to get an offer based on attire! :) As long as you are well presented, no-one is going to pass comment if you rotate 3 suits over 10 weeks (and if anyone does, they are probably an asshole anyway and their opinion should be severely discounted)

You're an intern, you're not supposed to dress like you've just come in from an Armani photo shoot.

Perhaps an extra pair of shoes if you really want to? But if the shoes you have are nice (I assume black) I don't see any reason to get more.

I don't think anyone on WSO is going to advise you to get 7 suits and I think you will deeply regret it at the end of the summer if you have blown a substantial amount of your salary on clothes. I've got 4 nice suits for this summer, and I won't be buying any more.

Perhaps someone who is ex-GS or who currently works there could shed further light on this for you?

i know guys who made it through GS internships with just two suits and one pair of shoes....I would say its more important to buy shirts, even if they are the same style/colour. Most of the time you won't be required to wear your suit jacket. It's probably a good idea to own at least 2/3 pairs of shoes too because it's not nice having to wake up after 3 hours sleep and wear hot shoes....

joefish i agree with you, but I do think it is important that you look the part, esp @ GS. People definitely notice what you wear there and subconsiously or otherwise it will impact their perception of you. I was at GS last summer and during my review one of the comments made was that I was 'always very professional, even in the way I dressed.' The feedback made me realise that people do notice the effort you make to look the part. Another example: An intern turned up one day wearing a black singlet/string top which exposed the shoulders but had a suit trousers on and a jacket with her. An email was sent to our floor that morning by the FSC to remind us of the dress code! Other guys were asked to get their hair cut and were ushered to the barbers the same day. So just look the best you can every day that you are there, and pay attention to details because it matters :)

No one cares how many suits you have - as long as you look presentable! In fact if you come in with a different suit for each day of the week - people will scratch their heads.....Hotshot? or Intern...
You dont want to come across in the wrong light. 3 suits is suffice! Another pair of shoes wouldnt do any harm though - :-)

Good luck and congrats

It would probably be a good idea to get at least 1 more pair of shoes and some cedar trees. You can alternate and put trees in the unworn pair to dry them out and help them maintain their shape. They'll last infinitely longer this way.

http://www.tree-shop.co.uk/products_detail.asp?productheadingID=890

:)

Thanks! I guess I'll just buy some shirts, ties and another pair of shoes. I'll look into those cedar trees as well. I completely forgot about searching for past posts prior. In my defense, I posted a new one to factor in the credit crisis instead of looking at last summer's peaking markets where the extra cash might've meant extra suits ;).

I also keep hearing about how Century 21 has sharp, reasonably-priced attire. I went to Men's Warehouse and blew ~$700 on one whole outfit with a pair of shoes, two shirts with matching ties. I felt like an idiot shortly after. Is Century 21 as good as others say? Any other similar suggestions?

Finally, I'm completely dense when it comes to matching attire, color coordination with clothes, etc. I usually just rely on friends' advice or the staff of the place I'm shopping. Can someone post some link(s) to shed some light so I can figure this out for myself?

Appreciate all the help.

Of course prettyspectacular, I wholly agree that one has to look professional at all times when in the office, but I'm assuming that the OP can already dress smartly, I mean he got the internship. I just think that it is possible to go over-the-top as an intern when it comes to attire and that it shouldn't be priority numero uno. I can imagine at GS there would be extra pressure to look good, but I stand by my assertion that 7 suits would be a bit much.

Haha omg, that's so funny that people were "ushered to the barbers" !!! Classic

Why does it matter that you are at a BB?

Students on this board are very prestige obsessed.

Also if this stuff about GS is true with haircuts etc. thank God I'm not working there. WTF.

Give him a break, he just wants to get an offer, we've all been there :)

p.s. - YellowLime, matching a suit with a shirt is not hard, try out some combos and ask what your friend (especially female) think.

and this is the only Century 21 I know ---> http://www.century21overseas.com/
so I can't help you out on that

I wasn't trying to imply that my internship was more prestigious than anyone elses. From what I've seen, I know that culture between other firms, let alone other tiers, is very different. Given my limited experience, I wasn't sure if that applied to clothing as well (always dressing professionally versus business casual), so I stated it for clarification.

stay clear of shirts that are: pink/black/yellow/checkered/short sleeved

Go for vertical stripes (on your shirt not your suit)

And don't wear white socks

3 suits is fine... in some internships/banks they don't even make you wear suits. Make sure you have enough shirts/pants, because you will have minimal time to do laundry. I would have enough to last at least 2 weeks or so.

2 pairs of shoes are fine as long as you alternate them.

http://www.mergersandinquisitions.com/
Mergers & Inquisitions

Why don't you write an article for "Preparing a wardrobe for an SA and a new FT hire." These threads keep coming up again and again so it would definitely be helpful. Best of all, you wouldn't get certain un-named people telling interns to blow $7k on a fresh brioni or bespoke.

I second that dosk17. An article on preparing an SA attire would be extremely helpful.

damn, I only have two suits. But I'm in trading so how important is attire for me?

any sa that wears cufflinks deserves to be laughed at. the only people i've ever seen rocking the ice were mds

ChelseaFC, were you working at McDonalds?

I like cufflinks. It's nice to be able to throw a little bit of flair into an outfit. No one said it needs to be iced out, but I like elegant understated.

French cuffed shirts are just another shirt.

and yeah, *shoe* trees, not just normal cedar trees!

Oh, and subdued pinks are really nice. I personally can't wear them, but that isn't to say they should be avoided altogether.

Perhaps keep an extra (clean!) shirt at the office in a drawer for the eventual all-nighters where you have to meet with someone important the next day.

Was that girl a fatty? I've worn tanks before at my desk (though not when walking around) and no one has said anything.

********"Babies don't cost money, they MAKE money." - Jerri Blank********

My MD rocks the gold fronts...I hear Blankfein has diamond grills, but I won't believe it until I see it.

Wise words, although in the summer my shirts smell better after an all-nighter than walking a couple blocks and riding the subway to work.

I think you should wear all seven suits at the same time, one on top of the other. You realize you won't be wearing suits to work daily right? Unless you're in london or by "goldman" you mean "lehman."

no, but given that you're from the uk (i suspect), your comments provide further evidence that men here in the states are significantly less gay than our british counterparts. someone correct me if i'm wrong, but wouldn't an intern who came to work wearing cufflinks be ridiculed?

My buddy at GS london is doing an internship there right now, and even on the trading floor he has to wear a suit. I can't say he dresses particularly well, and yet they extanded his internship for another 3 months. Seems like as long as you don't wear polos to work you will be fine.

On another note: READ GQ! Not the print version (the articles suck, and even for a liberal they can get too liberal). Their online website has some articles on how to match shirts and what not. Just don't get too carried away with their stuff, as some of their recommendation are a little too much. At least you will avoid any type of fashion faux-pas, they have simple articles on why you should not wear a white shirt under a dress shirt, or why you should not have a burrito instead of a wallet.
Cufflinks are nice, you don't need to wear the bling...

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Remember, you will always be a salesman, no matter how fancy your title is.
- My ex girlfriend

My buddy at GS london is doing an internship there right now, and even on the trading floor he has to wear a suit. I can't say he dresses particularly well, and yet they extanded his internship for another 3 months. Seems like as long as you don't wear polos to work you will be fine.

On another note: READ GQ! Not the print version (the articles suck, and even for a liberal they can get too liberal). Their online website has some articles on how to match shirts and what not. Just don't get too carried away with their stuff, as some of their recommendation are a little too much. At least you will avoid any type of fashion faux-pas, they have simple articles on why you should not wear a white shirt under a dress shirt, or why you should not have a burrito instead of a wallet.
Cufflinks are nice, you don't need to wear the bling...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Remember, you will always be a salesman, no matter how fancy your title is.
- My ex girlfriend

What about Asia S&T desk??.. do we need a suit?

I only have 1 suit.

I have 3 suits (a navy solid, navy striped, gray/charcoal striped), one pair of shoes (black rockports, nothing spectacular), and 5 nice shirts (two whites, a white striped, two blues).

My bank has made it very clear that A) dress is very important (suits will be worn Monday-Thursday, although you never really have to wear the jacket, but have it just in case) and B) that as a summer, my whole goal is to impress, meaning I need to look sharp all of the time (never get caught without a tie on, even if it's biz-cas, always be clean shaven, hair nicely kept, etc.).

So my question is, with my final bit of cash should I buy a solid charcoal/gray suit, or should I buy a nice pair of shoes? If I buy the pair of shoes, should I buy black or brown? I really would like to buy a brown pair because I already have a black pair (despite them not being top-notch), but would it be more practical for me to buy another black - since brown doesn't go with as many suits?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

brown is more versatile than black. brown goes with anything but black, and I would argue that unless you live in asia, black suits are a no no for business.

With that said, it really depends on the nature of the firm -- black shoes are much more conservative whereas brown is more fashion forward. As an intern you may err on the side of caution.

On the suits -- I think a solid navy and solid charcoal are more or less interchangeable (e.g. conservative, basic, versatile) and these were my first two. Like I mentioned earlier, I think having another pair of shoes to rotate would be a priority, but if you have time to shop around you can stretch your dollar a long way. Shop around on ebay and occasionally you can find a pretty slick deal or two.

which firm is this, lehman?

stupid question: where do you get extra pairs of pants that match your suit jackets? i only have 3 suits also, but i figured i would need extra pants, but don't know where to get them

Qwerty,

Thanks for the info. I'm not a big fan of ebay when buying clothes (I am really picky about fit and prefer to try things on). But I guess I could just go try on some Allen Edmonds or a comparable shoe, see which style fits me the best, then try to find it on ebay. Also, I do like wearing the brown with navy and charcoal, but I have had some older, conservative type folks claim that it wasn't appropriate so I was unsure about having my nice pair of shoes being a limiting pair.

As for my firm, I would prefer not to disclose where I'll be working this summer. However, I find it really odd how much stress they have put on the dress because frankly, the firm just doesn't seem stuffy - at all. Everyone that interviewed me was really down to earth and the MD and VP I know, who opened the door for me, both went to big, non-target party schools for undergrad (but went to top targets for MBA) so I don't get a blue-blood vibe from anyone. Yet, every single person I have talked to about advice for the summer (post-offer) all made a few comments stressing the absolute importance of dress and looking sharp all the time.

Probably next week or thereafter, going to be pretty busy this coming week. I'm also no fashion expert but I'll cover this as well as I can. I was a big minimalist when it came to clothes and it worked out fine.

What's the norm for Analysts in Toronto? From what I gather, most guys don't wear full suits to work. Just dress shirt and pants, maybe a tie...

Am I wrong?

Maybe it's because you looked like a scrub when talking to them?

"What's the norm for Analysts in Toronto? From what I gather, most guys don't wear full suits to work. Just dress shirt and pants, maybe a tie...

Am I wrong?"

In Toronto, I have yet to see any analysts dress up in anything beyond business casual at the office.

actually, i'll be doing an SA stint at morgan stanley in june. its quite likely that i own your soul.

I would think it would be idea to put the money towards more shirts. 5 shirts seems on the low side unless you do not mind doing laundry every single weekend. Even still, what about the really hot, humid days where you don't feel like wearing the same shirt for more than 16 hours? Finally, you said you had two whites so in essence, it would seem as though you only owned 4 shirts.

Just a thought.

On the topic of shirts, what are some good shirt makers outside of brooks brothers and Charles Tyrwhitt.

I'm fairly confident I dressed the banker part for the interview and looked plenty sharp. Pulling off the banker outfit for a day is fairly easy, assembling the wardrobe to ultra conservative standards, without being given an official dress code, is where I struggle. They just stressed it more in the sense of doing everything possible to impress. It was more of a heads up - I got the impression that they had had previous summers who really started slacking on appearance towards the end of the summer.

I've also thought about the idea that it looks like I only own four shirts, but really what else could I buy besides some more various shades of blue (or I guess some blue stripes)? I've been advised against getting any pinks or lavenders so really, after you get a few blues and whites, you're pretty much going to be doubling up after that.

What does everyone think I need: more shirts, pair of high quality shoes, or extra suit?

go with shirts - you won't want to do laundry every week, and as long as you keep your suits pressed and get them dry cleaned, you can still look good even with only 3 suits

given that you dont even have your jacket on much, having a nice set of ties/shirts is probably more important

just my 2 cents, im also a soon to be SA

I found your earlier comment amount US vs UK a little funny, but your over-stated pride at doing an INTERNSHIP at MS is more than a little pathetic

Call me when you make it to MD son

p.s. Arsenal >> Chelsea and everyone in London knows it baby!

hey, haven't read the entire thread ... since i'm not a guy, don't really lfee like it either - but in cse someone hasn't already mentioned it - DON'T get any of the shirts with cuffs and collars in contrasting colors. you're only an intern, people will a) make fun of you b) think you're a huge tool. some guy in my intern class @ GS did this last summer and people never stopped making fun of him allllll summer. stick to normal shirts. but people who have been saying it's important to look presentable at GS are absolutely right. image is a lot there. make sure you fit in or subtly self adjust. keep your shoes shined, also. kids got in trouble for that all the tiome last year.

If you have time to wait, you can get some from Jantzen.

Good call on Jantzen

another idea if you happen to be visiting india/singapore/china etc before your internship- get a bespoke suit for under $30...

I'm sure they'll make you normal shirts too, but the Jantzen website features some of the ugliest goddamned shirts I have ever seen: http://www.jantzentailor.com/thelatestshirtsytle.htm

To the OP, your budget is 40k right?

"Oh - the ladies ever tell you that you look like a fucking optical illusion?"

Jantzen makes them to the customer's specifications. Lately I've been getting mixed reviews, but they've most recently been positive (order times, cuts and specifications met, etc). I think prettyspectacular meant $300, and even then it depends on the tailor. Also, a lot of the times it's just MTM and not bespoke (which can take several fittings).

Huge Arsenal fan here, but if there had to be a stereotype, London bankers support Chelsea.