I need to go shopping for some better office clothes since I'm starting a new job soon and I need inspiration. For example, right now I am wearing a blue and white checkered State & Liberty dress shirt with charcoal grey J Crew pants and black cap toe Allen Edmonds.
Would be nice to hear some good outfit ideas so I could know specifically what I should shop for, especially pants if anyone has good recommendations.
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Brown Luchesse Cowboy boots, Levi 541 og denim, Tecovas plaid shirt, Carhartt vest, Stetson hat. (Houston O&G banker btw)
Unmatched sex appeal. Respect.
Boot skins must go something like this;
Analyst: calfskin
Associate: ostrich
VP: caiman croc
MD: hornback alligator
SMD: elephant
If you wear a cowboy hat to the office in Houston you’re a clown
Depending on my mood and the audience:
All shit posting aside, what's wrong with your current outfit?
This is what I was looking for, many thanks
Ha that's great material.
Seriously though, on the pants... here are makes that I think are good
- Canali: Typically on-sale and look clean/standard enough for the office. They also make larger sizes than most Italian designers. Somewhat expensive
- Drake's: Classic style. Won't ever look bad. They don't have many slim-fits, but their pants are as classic as it gets. Somewhat expensive
- Thom Sweeney: Younger look, but very relaxed-fit and 'stylish' without being weird/designer pants. Medium expense
- Incotex: They basically just do pants. You can get anything you want here and it'll look good without breaking the bank
- Isaia: My personal go to because the fit is perfect for me. I will admit they aren't that durable and they can be very expensive
- Proper Cloth: You probably know about this already
There are others, but that should give you a pretty good start. On style, no pleats or just single center pleat. No cuffs unless you're wearing boots (which for an office that isn't in Texas is very very rare). The hems should be unfinished so you can tailor it to you. Meaning, you will only get waist size and not length. Pants should only have 1 finger for the waistband, be comfortable when sitting, etc. If you go full-out bespoke, then no belt loops. It should sit on the natural waist and not some low-cut pants. Note: lightweight fabric trousers will wrinkle much more quickly and won't have the same fit 'look' as an identical pair made from heavier fabric (e.g., wool, tweed).
what are your thoughts on the fleece Patagonia vest? Is the puffer vest ever too much to keep on while in the office
The gray fleece vest, at one point in time, was a classic. Go to Midtown between rush or lunch hour and you'd see an army of gray Patagonia fleeces. Now? Given Patagonia's sentiments, the look isn't as ubiquitous as it once was. Folks tend to gravitate more towards Arc'teryx--at least more so than they already were.
On vests:
- Barbour: Because horn-rimmed glasses aren't preppy enough. Sure you don't do any upland shooting and have only been to London, but you're more Town & Country than the magazine. Hunter green in color. Black or blue? Not for you Mr. Boarding School. You know the real deal
- Loro Piana: You use the word 'linen' as a verb. Money is merely a tool and never a hurdle
- Burberry: You are the envy of your BO colleagues
- Golf vest preferably with the Masters logo or some other PGA event you attended: You didn't attend or your tickets were garbage, but you got the 'swag' to show others you're important and do cool things
- North Face: You were a college legend. Especially in the 'fratmosphere' where you were 'frattastic'
Amazon Basics button down, (There's a nice little store with remainders across the street from the woolworth building, but that's hyper-specific) argyle sweater from Banana Republic and Dockers khakis. I'm buy-side though and have a dozen letters after my name. Make fun of how I dress as I point at the photo of me on the dais of the NYSE.
Lululemon Commission pants
Uniclo, brooks brother or Ralph Lauren dress shirt
Ferragamo Moccassins
Pants are always difficult. But I have had good luck with the Brooks Brothers stretch chinos. Most chinos look a little too casual for the office - might as well be wearing fucking Dockers, working at a Cinnabon in Omaha - but BB makes them just dressy enough to make them acceptable. Last year they had them at some ridiculous sale price, like $30 each and I bought up 8 of them - haven't regretted it.
Otherwise, I wear a white shirt and Brooks Brother tie on the regular. Also a blue blazer and Allen Edmonds (mostly Walton but I also have some derby brogues that I can't remember the name of - Jefferson, maybe?).
Allen Edmonds are overpriced. The Nasdaq guys just wear Cole Haan sneakers. (NYSE are wearing hardcore old school stuff). LSE/FTSE (In the US) is in between but leaning more Nasdaq.
I work in ag trading out in the rural midwest but kind of got into the habit of wearing the midtown uniform, or something along those lines, while working in corpfin a little while back. I typically go with the following on a regular day (I know I sound like a jackass listing the brands, but I've found them reliable thus far):
- Suitsupply dress shirt (plain white, light blue or striped with those base colors), Suitsupply suit/dress pants (charcoal, navy blue, mid-blue with pinstripes and light grey), Allen Edmonds 5th or Park Aves (black, coffee and oxblood), and a Barbour gilet/vest (black, navy, olive) or J. Crew quarter zip
On a slower day:
- Ralph Lauren long sleeve polo (black, navy, white) or henley, Patagonia vest (charcoal, light grey), Lululemon ABCD pants (charcoal, navy, light khaki) and Allen Edmonds Verona II loafers (black, brown) or occasionally Common Projects Chelsea boots (khaki)
For jackets, I like the Arc'teryx Atom LT and Barbour's Powell and Beaufort. Will wear a black peacoat or navy polo coat if someone's visiting the office.
I wear a durag
sheesh
I wear a fake pantongia vest that costs 20 bucks
fraud
REPE business casual office
Polo: Peter millar; many from cool golf courses I've played. I've got a running from Trump National LA in the mix.
————
Oxford: Peter millar drift or mizzen and main
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Vest: Peter millar puff vest from my clubcorp club. There's a Patagonia in my closet that I don't wear it anymore; their reason for cutting ties with Jackson hole was the last straw for me.
—————-
Shoes: Allen Edmonds deal sleds (Vernon's but loafer), allen Edmonds casual lace ups, Johnston and Murphy xc4s I can wear in the office and when I want to get in a quick 9 holes after work, Martin dingman water buffalo casual but loafers.
—————
Jackets: I've got some Peter millar unlined jackets I wear for closing dinners.
Flannel or polo, Lululemon pants or jeans, Allbirds.
My go to outfit in LMM PE in secondary market (think Dallas, Denver, Atlanta, Charlotte) is:
Ledbury casual button down shirt
Asket chinos (blue, olive, or khaki)
Beckett Simonon suede derbies or Thursday Boots scout chukka (will probably upgrade both of these to Aldens eventually)
Patagonia or Peter Millar jacket
Whatever watch I feel like wearing that day. Generally have been wearing an Seiko SPB143 on gray rubber nato recently since some of my nicer watches feel a little flashy when meeting with the types of management teams we deal with.
Go to outfit post covid: Lulu pants, peter millar golf shirt, Cole Haan sneakers.
An2 at West coast BB, in office most days - t-shirt, jeans, casual sneakers, light jacket
Light blue button down, grey slacks, black shoes. Usually Brooks Brothers and Allen Edmonds. Like to keep it basic and out of scope.
Real talk I wear the same outfit every day, blue slacks and a white shirt and depending on weather I rotate jackets, this way I never have to choose what I wear and my whole closet is blue slacks white shirts. Shirts I like &collar, pants lulu commissions and twillio I like a lot
do you have to wear a belt?
I can't believe some of these responses with people doing IB in flannels lol-- I gotta wear dark dress pants and white/blue shirt every day. Not even kidding I would say 1/4 of the guys on my team literally only wear white shirts. Maybe my bank is just behind the times but I didn't know it was this casual at other places now. No tie though and usually go for loafers instead of lace ups and a fleece/puffer vest. Have heard some friends at other places talk about people wearing polos but I don't see that much and tbh it seems like even when its more acceptable its always noticed...worth keeping in mind.
Not everyone in the Fashion forum works in IB. But it also comes down to personal taste and local/office culture. I'm BO and have zero client interactions but I still wear a tie virtually every day I'm in the office.
pajama pants and a t-shirt. I love working from home.
Hoodie, jeans. Don’t give a fuck about what my MD thinks.
If I'm in the office and maybe headed out for some informal coffee/lunch meetings It'll be:
If it's a more formal meeting or I'm out for dinner meetings it'll either be a suit or:
I wont ever bother with a tie post pandemic unless it's a super formal meetings or I'm at a black tie event.
I'll do mine a bit different.
Tuesday - Thursday (mandatory in office days, good chance of running in the head of IB): made to measure custom suit, no tie, Santoni / Ferragamo dress shoes / loafers.
Monday (some senior bankers in office): chino pants or trousers (mostly grey or navy), Zegna or Canali sport jacket, dress shoes / loafers.
Friday (only people in the office are there because we're sick of WFH): jeans and a fine wool sweater.
Suit without tie. Suits from Brooks Brothers and Suit Supply. Don't think I will buy from Brooks Brothers in the future. I have had several bad experiences with their customer service, and the quality of their suits don't match the price imo. Shirts are just random cheap stuff from places like Macys, but I'll probably upgrade to MTM soon as I have been going to the gym more. I only like white shirts though; I have a few blue ones but don't like them as much. Shoes are Allen Edmonds Park Aves black. Do not like brown shoes. I sometimes will wear a belt matched to my shoes, but I will forgo a belt if I'm too tired in the morning to put one on. Winter time, I've added an overcoat with a scarf pulled down and peaking out the interior edge of the coat. I kind of want to buy a camel hair one, but I think that's going too far as I prefer more conservative colors. I also use tight fitting wool gloves that are touchscreen compatible. I tried leather gloves, but they're just impractical for phone usage.
My office is pretty flexible on dress. A few other people dress how I do, some dress pretty casually like with polos and khakis, and most are just dress shirt and slacks. I have worn a t-shirt and shorts a couple times on the weekends as almost everybody is WFH, and sometimes I'd just go into the office to get out of my apartment, especially on days with good weather as the view from the office is nice and I can commandeer a nicer desk.
The thing is, I have ADHD, and I don't like adderall as it makes me too anxious and paranoid, and other medications don't really help, so being dressed as professionally as I can without looking like a tool helps me mentally put myself in a work mode and focus better than I could if I wore my normal street clothes.
Shirts: I live and die by Charles Tyrwhitt shirts. I've had some last over two years wearing (14+hrs at a time) at least once a week throughout the years and they hold up great even with a normal wash. I own a Canali shirt as well and I don't like it as much as my CT shirts, no idea why, it just doesn't feel the same. Maybe I have bad taste. Oh well.
Pants: typically I just wear a suit (Spier & Mackay, Brooks Brothers/Southwick, Paul Stuart, Suit Supply) and keep the jacket on my chair. For odd trousers I'd try J. Press or O' Connell's for winter wool, maybe even Brooks Gold Fleece. I like Spier & Mackay as well since they tend to have more modern fabrics more suitable for Summer. I think the quality to price ratio is nice as most are under $150/pair.
Tie (if you want one): Brooks Bros, Paul Stuart, J. Press, RLPL
Shoes: Almost all AE (5th, McAllister, Lake Forest loafer, Dalton boot, you get the idea...) since they're just easy to wear. Resoled the entire collection of maybe 6 or 7 pairs for around $400, great investment.
Mix and match the above depending on office culture, type of client (or lack thereof), weather, plans outside of work, etc.
Sweaters and polos are for Summer Fridays and weekends so these mean very little day-to-day. Get whatever you like. My company gave me a bunch of polos from Holderness & Bourne so I just wear those when I'm feeling lazy and not planning on seeing anyone particularly important.
Wife Beater and Jorts
No respect since you are going only halfway and can't to commit to a full joutfit.
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