Dress code
Incoming intern at a BB, previously interned elsewhere and the dress code was just chinos and a collared dress shirt, is it likely to be the same at a BB?
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If you're interning in the IB division of a BB, for sure wear a suit and tie at least initially. Once you have more of a sense of your group culture you can adjust accordingly. Most group will have men dressed in suit trousers and a shirt (without a tie for the most part, but having one available if needed). I've never seen chinos in IB (outside of more casual Friday dress)
At my BB in NYC, tons of analysts wear lulu's with sneakers and a dress shirt / quarter zip.
That's actually quite interesting! I'm London-based which is probably the stuffiest market (I was told recently in New York on a client trip that I was over-dressed because I wore a tie)
Cool thanks Do you know how many suits I should aim to have?
Totally depends on you. I'd say maybe at least 3? You'll need to put one suit in dry clean at least once in a while (hopefully more regularly but you do you), and in the meantime it's good to have a couple to rotate between, at a minimum because you might spill hot sauce on one, for instance.
That said, I started out with two for cost reasons and was just careful.
Suit, preferably pin stripe with pleated trousers. Don’t forget to stock up on blue shirts with white contrast collars, red suspenders, statement ties, a yellow gold Daytona or Royal Oak and alligator bit loafers. Also make sure to keep some cigars in your breast pocket to pass out in the bullpen on your first day, you’ll be a hero.
A lot of this depends on your bank. I started around the time that most BBs were trying to get more casual to compete with tech. In the summer I wore chinos and a polo shirt all the time if we didn't have meetings. I did keep a suit and nice shirt at the office in a coat closet just in case. I maybe pushed the boundaries some, but it was also before video calls were a common thing. No one ever complained, although my group head once complained that I was always with a few days of beard stubble as I hate shaving. One of the best MDs who I worked with a lot pulled me aside and told me to keep doing it, and that he'd do it too if it didn't make him look like a homeless guy. The MD was great to work with and a fantastic mentor...he didn't care about any of the BS, just getting stuff done.
As a total aside the banks that were still full time suits were also all of the ones that failed in 08/09. Lehman, Bear, Merrill were all suits only. Maybe MS still was, but I can't remember anymore. I always thought that was funny for some reason.
Wear a suit the first day. Likely someone will tell you directly day 1 or 2 what the appropriate dress code is.
I definitely agree with this, but after a day or two you can tone it down based on what you see the analysts wearing.
Currently at an EB. Our dress codes is slacks and button down. We have jackets and ties at our desks but rarely wear them, unless we’re hosting a client meeting.
When someone puts on a jacket it’s an indicator they’re leaving for an interview.
For the interview aspect of this I always just apologized and said this is what our group wears so I don't want to stand out from the norm and have people assume I'm interviewing. Never seemed to bother anyone.
In NY, safest bet is a fairly conservative suit without tie at the start. Most places you can ditch the suit jacket from there and wear sweaters/vests/etc instead over a dress shirt.
West coast will usually be more casual and some groups are ok with fairly business casual-type wear (nicer sneakers, chinos and polo).
Best advice is to start with a suit and see what everyone at the analyst / assoc. level wears. My old bank was tech in SF so we were wearing pretty chill athletic dresswear like golf shirts and chinos with leather sneakers etc. I now wear just slacks and a dress shirt in NYC and a navy suit (no tie) with a white shirt to conferences. And the deal sleds of course.
After starting our conservative for the first bit, you’d be surprised at what you can get away with once you ‘ve developed rapport. In my 2Y I wore short sleeve button-ups (that you’d go to the bars with), jeans, and white sneakers.
Match the vibe of juniors in your pit. Suit up at first.
Lol I’m so surprised at the scene in the US. At my bank in London the max you can get away with is a coloured quarter zip and even then it’s close to crossing the line
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