Designer clothing as an intern?

Hi all,

Upcoming BB IB intern here, and I just have a quick question about clothing in the office. One of my hobbies is fashion/vintage clothing, and as a result I have a lot of older designer clothing that’s business casual/formal.

As an intern, is it a bad look for me to wear this into the office? For reference, most of my dress pants, khackis, dress shirts, ties are recognizable designer brands (Burberry, Prada, Valentino, Dior, etc.) and I don’t have a lot of non designer office appropriate clothing. I also didn’t pay a ton for these clothes (most of it was found in thrift stores and eBay) but I don’t want to look like a spoiled kid or like I’m trying to outdress anyone at the office.

Do you guys think it would be a good idea to get new clothes for my internship or is it fine to wear what I’ve got already? Any advice/suggestions would be appreciated.

14 Comments
 

nutmegger189:

Not sure how any sort of reasonable office wear could be visibly designer lol...



If you're saying it has a logo or obvious recognisable pattern then that isn't really banking office attire lol 


It’s not loud, but for example I have a pair of Burberry dress pants with the logo on a belt loop (pretty small but visible if someone was looking), classic Hermes ties, and some small left chest logos on knitwear.

 

Let’s see some of these pieces boss, depends on the logo placement

 
Most Helpful

I would avoid anything with a logo or recognizable pattern. If it's a tiny logo that just hangs on the belt loop, up to your discretion - if it's a large fabric patch like you see on high end pants, I would say too much unless you remove the tag. Anything recognizable on knitwear I would also probably avoid. There is just no upside to walking around coated in high end logos.

The other question is if your dress pants are normally tailored - if they are baggy / fashion styled, skip it. My team had a hire who walked around in baggy, fashion-type pants and everyone talked about it behind his back.

Interns don't wear ties except for the first day of training, first day on the desk and final intern presentation, so bring your favorite non-flashy tie and then leave the rest at home. People WILL think you're a hardass if you insist on wearing a tie all summer.

I would plan to invest a bit in a few pairs of "normal" pants and dress shirts honestly, wardrobe is the absolute wrong way to stand out. 

 

Don’t wear anything with visible logos or something obnoxious like that Burberry plaid print. The Valentino logo is very gaudy too, avoid wearing that as well. Like someone else mentioned, as long as the pants are tailored to be office style on not casual street style, you’ll be fine. I wear designer clothes like The Row, Max Mara, Akris, Brunello, Ferragamo RTW (clothes not their obvious shoes) etc.  to the office all the time, and nobody can tell what brand they are because they don’t have logos on them. 

 

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