So i’ll be starting my career in commercial real estate and am curious about the types of clothes that are most common. Either on the big brokerage side or investment side.
I need to start building a wardrobe that would support cooler weather.
I’ve seen puffer jackets and stuff but your overall fit, brands, where to buy, that are reasonably affordable for a recent graduate - would be greatly appreciated 🙏🏼👍🏼
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Sf based- our bull pen mainly wears lulu work pants, white or lightly checkered button up, brown leather shoes, brown belt and some kind of black puffer long jacket or vest. Often a quarter zip ralph lauren esque sweater. Buy some nice clothes.. it's better than buying cheap clothes 3x.
This^
dress formal on day 1 and adjust from there
Reach out to whoever hired you and ask what the office environment is like. Some offices I know wear jeans and quarter-zips/nicer hoodies and others wear business formal. Probably should have looked around during any in person interview, but reaching out to your new boss shouldn't be an issue or stigma. You also can't go wrong with a nice button down shirt, khaki pants, and casual shoe (not sneaker).
Golf polo if I’m feeling fancy
Most everyone in RE rocks the midtown uniform. More golf polos in warmer climates, a few rare shops where people still wear suits. Brokers wear suits/jackets for pitch meetings but not really outside of that
I am in corporate development so my attire would be at least slightly different but in terms of brands (especially for an early career professional), I can help with that.
Suits/sport jackets/blazers: I am a big fan of Suit Supply. No one is going to confuse them for being luxury but for the sub-$1k range I have no complaints. If you are in a suit environment you can easily get the basic navy, charcoal, light grey suits for $1,500 and be good for years. You could also spend $1,500 on a suit. But they also have a solid selection of sport jacket/blazers/etc since you probably won’t need actual suits. Hell, you probably will only need 2-3 jackets at most.
Shirts: Charles Tyrwhitt (or however you actually spell it) is a good low cost option. You can often get 3 shirts for $99 (or something around that). Proper Cloth is a good option if you are looking to spend $100-200. I like the customizable nature of PC. I can get exactly what I want.
Shoes: There are a ton of good shoe brands that I would consider to be a varying degree of “young professional.” Carmina is one of my favorite shoe brands. Their shoes are somewhat expensive compared to others, ie - $500-600, but if you can take care of your shoes they easily last 10 years plus. Another good brand is TLB Mallorca. Basically a bunch of Carmina people left to do the Carmina thing but at a (slightly) more affordable price. Meermin is a good choice in the $200 range. Thursday Boots is a solid brand even cheaper than Meermin.
Misc: If you want a Patagonia vest without just being a corporate clone, or having a slightly more professional aesthetic, Suit Supply has some nice vests. If you want ties basically everything under $100 is the same. Don’t fret brands or anything like that unless you are trying to spend some real money. You will probably rarely wear ties but definitely don’t spend a lot on socks until you have the rest of your wardrobe.
Do you work for Suit Supply?
Nope
100% agree with the above.
I have a bunch of sport jackets from Suit supply.
And get all my shirts from Charles Tyrwhitt.
I wear jeans usually.
Work at a development shop.
I dress a little more corporate/ professional than most of my colleagues.
I can’t take seriously anyone that wears a “performance” dress shirt or lulu pants in a classic professional setting. Especially paired with running shoes, sneakers or, even worse, those “hybrid” Cole Haan dress shoes. It’s a disgusting and childish corporate du jour, and those slim stretchy fits effuse the appearance of a washed up middle school basketball coach.
There is obviously no need to wear a suit all day in today’s culture, but what happened to the elegance and drape that serious men used to embellish with their attention to sartorialism? Try a striped or checkered classic fitting dress shirt (pointed collar), 100% cotton trousers (no slim fits, please), and a loafer of your choice (I love the traditional mahogany leather penny).
#BeBetterBrother
No bitches
This guy sucks, what a anon hardo. Try getting laid for once buddy
Brother I work in industrial. You’re lucky I’m not wearing a potato sack daily.
maybe try being in good shape
You're assuming the person you talk to works in an air conditioned office for 8-12 hours a day. Try wearing some thin-soled loafer to a construction site. Or putting on a suit to walk up and down 5 story walkups all day in August heat.
Wear whatever you'll be most efficient/effective in, and which is in keeping with the attire of your business. There are also other good reasons for dressing down... but someone as obsessed with appearances as you seem to be probably wouldn't appreciate them.
If you want to fit in (not for week 1 as you’ll probably be dressed up to impress)
Brokerage - Lulu pants, dress shirt/polo/quarter zip, nice shoes (can be sneakers). Analysts who have been longer than a year pull up in nice hoodies (lulu). Brokers will typically dress up when meeting clients though so this is just the typical day to day.
Institutional Principal Side - Lulu pants, dress shirt/quarter zip/vest, dress shoes and socks. Some people wear dress sneakers like the Allen Edmonds ones. Have not seen anyone wear a polo in my office. Only execs wear jackets.
Q Zip everyday zipped all the way up so no one knows I’m wearing a t shirt underneath. Dress pants or chinos and some type of nice loafer or sneaker
I'm at a more casual shop in development where the current dress code where basically polos and jeans are fine. The business casual dressing up, like a dress shirt and slacks is really reserved for meetings with LPs.
Last job was at a brokerage job that was more formal by comparison, no suit or jacket required but dress shirt and slacks were the standard. Most of my dress shirts were the Nordstrom brand. They were pretty durable but took some time to care for. I was able to wash in the washer and then let it hang dry, followed by ironing, they lasted quite a while this way. Slacks or chinos I often got from banana republic, felt pretty durable and a good variety of colors to choose from. My more fancier pants came from Bonobos, good amount of stretch in those but hard to find them on sale. I'd recommend cole haan dress shoes to start, a simple cap toe style in black or brown and then maybe a pair of loafers or some other style of shoe in another color. Don't forget belts to match and dark colored socks. I worked in San Francisco that was also generally cooler most of the year and found vests and wool sweaters to be nice touches that helped with layering allowing me to peel off a layer through warmer temperatures later in the day. I'll be honest I had a bit of style with all my attire and often got compliments, I just really knew how to coordinate certain pieces and colors together well that looked pretty sleek, yet professional.
I think it really varies by market. I'm in a T2 market and typically go with a polo with any pants that aren't jeans. I have met with many folks that are very successful owner's/developers or brokers that even show up in a t-shirt. I used to be in a T1 market and it was always a dress shirt and slacks unless you were high enough up to not care. When I have people in town from NY or LA, they usually always show up in dress shirt and slacks and almost always look out of place.
It also depends on your market and product. An office broker in NYC/LA will probably want to be dressier than an industrial guy, and if you're developing or investing in submarkets that aren't CBD you can sometimes draw the wrong attention by over dressing (like if you're working on a retail or creative office property in a more up and coming submarket and show up to talk to tenants in a dress shirt and slacks, you know they're thinking "here comes the big bad real estate guy to ruin my day" whereas if you show up more casual they might open up to you more. Also a big deal imo for those in development. You don't want to spend years working on a development in such an area and walking around in dress clothes all the time. You'll just seem a lot more relatable to neighbors, construction crews, etc. if you're dressed more casual but still nice enough to not look like a complete scrub. These small tweaks to image can go a long way with relationships with people that can give you problems for the years you're developing.
Bonobos weekday warrior dress pants. None of the Lulu crap. Carmina or AE loafers. Charles Tyrwhitt for dress shirts. Check eBay for sport coats / blazers—get measured and then look for your size. You can find Canali and other decent brands for $600 or less vs $1000+ retail.
I agree with others above that a suit is a bit much for most places but you also don't want to show up to work wearing the heavily marketed "adultified" version of things you wore in middle school. jeans=jeans, hoodies=1/4 zip, sneakers=hybrid dress sneakers, t-shirt=tshirt, backpack=backpack.
Browse through the website Permanent Style. The author Simon Crompton (former financial times writer) does an excellent job analyzing and writing very educational pieces about how things go together and why things go together.
One of the best articles related to your question is and article titled "Which office are you?". In the article he visually shows the various stages of formality from jeans and a sweater to sportcoat and trousers. The power of this article is being able to see all the various combinations next to each other.
https://www.permanentstyle.com/2016/02/which-office-are-you-or-a-sliding-scale-of-formality.html
After that article I would read through the articles under the style guide: https://www.permanentstyle.com/the-style-essentials
The website Put This On also has really great articles and guides discussing why and how things go together as well.
Natalino has great wardrobe building blocks around trousers and sportcoats. I believe the founder worked in IB, quit, and then started the company a couple of years ago.
Brooks brothers button downs, slacks and 1461 dr martens
Lulu ABC and BirdDog pants are a game changer if your office is business casual and even tapered. If you’re on a budget, Bonobos makes some good quality shirts and has many discounts you can apply for.
NYC BB - have a rotation of 4 Boglioli suits (navy / gray) and 30+ white / light blue Charles Tyrwhitt shirts for Mon - Thu (Fri WFH). Outerwear is a Barbour bedale jacket. Footwear is either black oxfords (Alden) or a brown chelsea (RM Williams)
Post-COVID, every day became what was pre-COVID casual Fridays. I have five pairs of J Crew chinos in slightly different colors, coupled with five to ten J Crew shirts in solid colors and conservative patterns. Canvas Vans shoes.
If we have a meeting, I'll do pre-COVID business casual. Dress pants/dress shoes/dress shirt and sportcoat, no tie.
Come to think of it, the only time I ever wear a suit anymore is for professional headshots.
Same, but I'm even more on the casual side. Pre covid was business casual. Now I'm in Non-blue jeans and an untucked button down. I love it.
Ted Baker, Ted Baker, and more Ted Baker. Make that brand your best friend
Anything from them you recommend?
Rhone pants and Charles tyrwhitt button downs.
Ask your manager or boss or whoever hired you, and either dress accordingly or maybe a little bit more nicely. No one will ever judge you for being overdressed your first week of work.
Since your in brokerage, I will tell you... I personally would think it's fine to have a pair of sneakers in your office for giving site tours (if you'll be doing that). The number of nice shoes I've ruined at construction sites, or the number of days I've come home with blisters and my feet killing me from walking up and down buildings all day in shoes that aren't meant for that... well, it's unpleasant.
Is it just me or are Lululemon work pants the worst thing to happen to men’s office fashion? Every pair has this tacky sheen to them.
yeah but have you seen how good my butt looks
I'm at a developer and I usually wear a blazer w whatever pants most of the week, only because it's my preference. Other times, like today because its hot af, I'll pull up in a t-shirt and dunks. Nobody gives a shit it's the best, so everyone just wears what they want. Our managing partner rocks flops and short sometimes. Epic power move if you ask me.
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