For the few of you who are still suit/tie in office: recommendations?

Making a lateral move from a firm with a very casual cultural (you'd think we're dressed for the country club) to a firm that's more buttoned-up and is suit + tie every day.  Especially since COVID, I've only been suiting up for interviews and weddings so wardrobe is a little stale there.  


For the brave few of you with a similar dress code (or just the sartorially minded), are there any particular pattern/color combinations that you wear to the office?  I don't want to be crazy boring wearing a plain white/blue shirt with a quiet tie every day, but also want to avoid looking like some weirdo straight off the runway.  Do you rock fashion ties like hermes and gamo or go with brands like kiton / canali?  Wear any suits other than navy/charcoal to the office?  New York btw. 

 

Not currently in this environment, but in Toronto light grey suits are commonplace and not frowned upon. If you wear pinstripes as a junior you look like a moron but people do it.

IMO ties and socks are where you can have some fun (within reason on the tie) in these environments unless the firm has strict policies on what is allowed. Some places literally mandate a plan white/navy shirt and solid colour tie.

 

Some quick thoughts, might help to observe how folks in the new office dress before buying stuff though. Ordering by "loudness"/complexity below.

Shirt patterns: add texture (twill and herringbone can be treated as "solids"); introduce tight stripes / houndstooth / checks or tattersail [avoid gingham - looks better w/o tie imo]

Suit patterns: similar to above - treat herringbone and birdseye like a "solid"; houndstooth; glen plaid; pinstripe (if muted)

Tie patterns: if printed fashion ties aren't your thing, patterns of similar size can also give you some variety (macclesfield, spitalfields, small floral/paisley prints, etc.); I personally love ties with big geometric patterns (like Kiton's), but they definitely aren't for everyone 

Shirt/tie matching: thin blue stripes in the shirt adds an easy pairing with most ties; pair patterns of differing sizes (i.e., if rocking a Hermes tie with a patterned shirt or jacket, choose pattern larger than print on the tie); deviate from the traditional "wall street" blue/red/yellow/gold ties based on your coloring (ex: I have green eyes and brown hair - both color palettes tend to work on me for tie variety)

Accessories: if you are a pocket square guy, have multiple options with the same tie for variety and match based on a secondary/tertiary color in the tie 

 
Most Helpful

In terms of suits, a good baseline is a charcoal, navy, and a lighter grey. Once you have that baseline you can do things like add a lower contrast striped suit in charcoal, navy, or black. The low contrast is important because it isn’t the 80’s anymore. The stripes don’t need to be seen across the room. The reality is you most likely don’t need more than 4-5 suits. Going with just 3 would probably be just fine.

For shirts, I would try to have 10 with at least one of each of the following: plain white, a light blue, white shirt with a striped pattern, blue shirt with a striped pattern, and some type of check in white or blue. For the stripes, I would be comfortable with a much higher contrast in the stripe than say, for suits. You can go with two of each of those. You can go with 3 plain whites, 3 light blues, and one of each of the rest. It doesn’t really matter. But this is a good way to get some variety while keeping it appropriate. You can’t really wear a lot of non-white/blue shirts but you can at least make sure to have some additional design work in your shirts than just plain white and plain blue shirts.

For ties, I would go with a solid blue, solid red, a small striped pattern, a little wider of a stripped pattern, and a small repeating pattern or two. Ties are a good way to get some variety but it is easy to go overboard.

For shoes, I would make sure to have at least one black oxford. From there, I would add a penny loafer and either a whole cut or an oxford with broguing in a darker and a lighter brown. For example, maybe a penny loafer in a color like Meermin’s 114414 - COGNAC SOFTCALF - E and a whole cut in a color like Meermin’s 101240 - EXPRESO ANTIQUE CALF - E. This seems excessive and to some extent all you need is one black oxford but if you have a few, quality shoes (in a few different colors) that you can rotate a little, and you take care of them, they will last you a long time.

To be clear, I am not saying to go out and get all of this day one. This would take time to build up. But to me, this is a good baseline to where you have options but also people won’t be like “didn’t they just wear that?” Granted, I doubt many people would even care but that is a different thing. And you won’t stick out for the wrong reasons either

 

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