7 ms·

Not sure how this will sit with the HN crowd, but a couple of years back I got into menswear, and I derive some pleasure from being the "best dressed guy" at th

Not sure how this will sit with the HN crowd, but a couple of years back I got into menswear, and I derive some pleasure from being the "best dressed guy" at the office. Beyond personal opinions on that particular hobby, I can confirm first hand that living at the intersection of two or more personas (e.g. a programmer that dresses well) brings a peculiar sense of joy. I might no have much status in either of those categories, but bringing both together makes you stand out more.

chadcmulligan 5y ago
I have observed multiple times if I 'suit up' at work it's like I'm wearing a shield, it's a strange game. It has to be a good suit though, naturally enough. Edit: this is when dealing with the business folk that is, techies don't care.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- rufus_foreman 5y ago
  Also good to do it from time to time out of nowhere and then take a long lunch. If they want to keep you, you'll get a raise. You'll probably also want to make sure your Linked In profile has been updated recently.
  - giantg2 5y ago
    Or they'll assume you're leaving and choose not to compete to retain you. Then all the bonus etc gets funneled to the other coworkers.
epgui 5y ago
I actually feel pressure to dress down in my role as a SWE: hoodies and jeans seem like the norm, and forget about wearing a suit (lol!) or even a dress shirt. I've found black/grey turtlenecks to be a nice middle ground, and apart from the occasional "one more thing" (Steve Jobs) or Elizabeth Holmes comment, those tend to work well.
- x3iv130f 5y ago
  Being well dressed isn't about dressing in fancy or expensive clothes; It's about looking good in clothes.
  - dr_dshiv 5y ago
    So difficult. Used to be easy. Stopped caring. Want to care. But black tshirts and air force ones are just so easy.
    - staindk 5y ago
      As long as they fit well you're probably doing perfectly fine.
      - leaflets2 5y ago
        And the colors match. Also, remember, don't use more than 2-3 colors ... At least when designing a website?
    - kyawzazaw 5y ago
      If you are wealthy enough, you can hire a personal stylist. Outsource that work.
    - chillacy 5y ago
      There’s a status game for streetwear too but afaik it involves rare sneakers with expensive basics.
- throw0101a 5y ago
  > I actually feel pressure to dress down in my role as a SWE: hoodies and jeans seem like the norm, and forget about wearing a suit (lol!) or even a dress shirt. If Vint Cerf can wear a three-piece suit, so can you! :)
  - tomcam 5y ago
fartcannon 5y ago
What do you do when you bump into an equally well dressed person who just happens to be more physically attractive than you?
- fermentation 5y ago
  The trick is to develop enough of an ego for this event to never occur.
  - 0des 5y ago
    "Yeah well I'm 5'11 and a half..."
    - ggm 5y ago
      This is literally my height. Repeating it, is about as effective as you'd expect, especially since my son topped six feet. Sometimes you can spot sour grapes at 50 paces.
      - 0des 5y ago
        Just saying that's a concern that just doesn't resonate with those of us at or above tall height. The preening, the studying others, all these things necessary to be a cut above the other people with small type physique are actually communicating a signal in itself by making the gesture to that degree. This is why models don't try to look or dress hot, they just are. Dressing nice is one thing but putting on the r/MFA uniform is a signal.
        geoduck14 5y ago
        This reminds me of a phrase "he is smart when he applies himself". Well good for him, but there are people who are smart even when they aren't trying - and those are the smart people.
      - spoonjim 5y ago
        Intraday height variation and slight changes in posture mean that your height can't really be specified to the half inch.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
Dracophoenix 5y ago
Menswear as metrosexual hipster or as in MFA and /f/ lurker?
- lliamander 5y ago
  Probably the latter, my guess.
lliamander 5y ago
I started into menswear last year and I find it deeply fascinating, but hard to fit into the very casual tech office culture. What's a typical outfit look like for you? Do you have a "uniform"?
- kbrannigan 5y ago
  Some guys pulled it off, by doing it "ironically" Hoodie under a suit jacket. 1960s programmers : white shirt, black tie With yeezyz.
- borroka 5y ago
  I go with a " spezzato", which is pants and blazer of different fabric and/or color. Less formal than a suit and allows for more creativity. Neapolitan blazers look especially good on fit people. If tailored or made to measure, don't forget to unbutton the last button on the sleeve, a top player move. Most, if not all, of my colleagues dress in sweatshirts and ill-fitting jeans. I'm sure some of them see me as "eccentric" or "aloof" or someone who wants to stand out. And they would be right (not aloof though).
  - lliamander 5y ago
    Interesting! I still try to keep things fairly casual. If I do some sort of "jacket", it usually a pretty casual sport coat with a crewneck underneath, paired with dark jeans or chinos.
    - borroka 5y ago
      Assuming you're not showing up in something undeniably "dressy," like a dark-colored suit with a white shirt with French cuffs, being "casual" is more about your attitude with your clothes, how you wear them, than the clothes themselves. Assuming you're wearing the same clothes in both situations, does it look like you're ready for a wedding or that you found the first few clothes in your closet with your eyes half closed and somewhat magically the color and fabric combination is eye-catching?
exdsq 5y ago
Worked with a guy who wore a suit to the office as a 2-year experience dev and he was always taken into client meetings last minute when they needed someone. Helped his career a fair bit I think!
- giantg2 5y ago
  Opposite here. My office had people wearing dress pants and dress or polo shirts. I decided to add a tie. I was taken aside and told not to do that since it made me seem out of touch with the culture. Seemed like a pretty small step up from the based line to me. So much for dress for the job you want, or next job up BS...
  - Viliam1234 5y ago
    I think how the experts play this game is by buying a very expensive well-fitting designer polo shirt. The trick is to impress people in a way that seems that you are not trying hard. Trying hard is low-status, just being "naturally" impressive is high-status. The rules of the game are not mentioned publicly, so that people who know them can feel superior to those who don't. The mere knowledge of the rules signals good upbringing or great social skills.
  - exdsq 5y ago
    I definitely ribbed him a bit in the pub for it, as we all did, but it was a consultancy and we had academic & old-school style clients who came in suits themselves so it was probably more accepting than brogrammer startups or whatever
kromem 5y ago
My career advice to nearly everyone starting out these days is to bring different professional interests together if they have more than one. There's thousands of specialists in most fields, but not nearly as many generalists or people who can walk in two interconnected worlds. Finding a niche can be very valuable to oneself and others. One way to carve that out is by going deeper than one's peers in a specialization, but another (sometimes more often overlooked) way is bridging the gap between two different ones.
- Hextinium 5y ago
  As someone who has been trying to convince hiring managers of this very thing (dual major in electrical and mechanical engineering) it's harder than it sounds to find a job that crosses the bridges. Just my two cents.
  - embeng4096 5y ago
    I work for a small product development and contract engineering firm - a dual major in EE and MechE would be a big plus in our eyes. Not sure if that’s the type of job you want, but there’s definitely such firms scattered across the US (assuming you’re based in the States).
- giantg2 5y ago
  "There's thousands of specialists in most fields, but not nearly as many generalists or people who can walk in two interconnected worlds." Ugh, my advice is the opposite. You'll never really fit in if you're in two worlds. Most places don't want generalists. They want specialists who can crank out code quickly without asking too many questions. In my experience, if you have too much business acumen, you end up asking questions that the business people can't answer, or don't want to answer. Things about business process flow, legal review, corporate strategy, and general process efficiency/improvement. Then they hate you for it, or at least think you're too "head in the clouds". I have a fair chunk of knowledge in many diverse domains. Besides people occasionally finding one interesting (like people at work finding it interesting that I forage for mushrooms), they don't benefit me at all. In fact, I believe it hurts me (career wise). I'm at the point where people (managers mostly) are starting to view me negatively. "What's this guy doing as a midlevel after 10 years here and a masters degree?", type of stuff.
brainbag 5y ago
What is your best advice for quality menswear?
sanderjd 5y ago
How did you get started? I've never been able to figure out how to break into wearing nice clothes that mesh well with my age. I have tried the typical fashion-in-a-box things, but the clothes always seem (to me) to skew too young. I don't want to be a well-dressed college kid or entry-level professional...
- zdbrandon 5y ago
  Find a well dressed celebrity your age, and mimic their style.
- Daishiman 5y ago
  Find good lookbooks to derive a sense of good fit and what range of styles exist, how you personally like them, and how the fit in different social contexts. The Permanent Style blog has a bunch on this; the Sartorialist has pictures from a very broad range of styles. Peruse clothing from high-quality shops and try out a _lot_ of things to get a feel for how clothes fit you and what fabrics you like. Clothing look good because it fits you and goes well with your style and palette and makes you feel comfortable. You'll likely find soon enough that expensive clothes are generally expensive for good reason. Find a good tailor (or a couple) and develop a simple wardrobe that can be combined easily. From then on be willing to experiment a bit and spend some money trying out a few things a bit further outside your comfort zone.
  - sanderjd 5y ago
    > Peruse clothing from high-quality shops How does one know what shops are high-quality? I'm sure price is one place to start, but I doubt that all expensive shops are high quality. How do you tell the difference between the two?
    - Daishiman 5y ago
      Good question. I don't have a general answer; I have a lot of interest in tailoring and formal menswear, where you generally get what you pay for with few exceptions and where you can definitely see the difference in quality of fabrics and fit and finish.

chadcmulligan 5y ago

I have observed multiple times if I 'suit up' at work it's like I'm wearing a shield, it's a strange game. It has to be a good suit though, naturally enough. Edit: this is when dealing with the business folk that is, techies don't care.

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
rufus_foreman 5y ago
Also good to do it from time to time out of nowhere and then take a long lunch. If they want to keep you, you'll get a raise. You'll probably also want to make sure your Linked In profile has been updated recently.
- giantg2 5y ago
  Or they'll assume you're leaving and choose not to compete to retain you. Then all the bonus etc gets funneled to the other coworkers.

epgui 5y ago

I actually feel pressure to dress down in my role as a SWE: hoodies and jeans seem like the norm, and forget about wearing a suit (lol!) or even a dress shirt. I've found black/grey turtlenecks to be a nice middle ground, and apart from the occasional "one more thing" (Steve Jobs) or Elizabeth Holmes comment, those tend to work well.

x3iv130f 5y ago
Being well dressed isn't about dressing in fancy or expensive clothes; It's about looking good in clothes.
- dr_dshiv 5y ago
  So difficult. Used to be easy. Stopped caring. Want to care. But black tshirts and air force ones are just so easy.
  - staindk 5y ago
    As long as they fit well you're probably doing perfectly fine.
    - leaflets2 5y ago
      And the colors match. Also, remember, don't use more than 2-3 colors ... At least when designing a website?
  - kyawzazaw 5y ago
    If you are wealthy enough, you can hire a personal stylist. Outsource that work.
  - chillacy 5y ago
    There’s a status game for streetwear too but afaik it involves rare sneakers with expensive basics.
throw0101a 5y ago
> I actually feel pressure to dress down in my role as a SWE: hoodies and jeans seem like the norm, and forget about wearing a suit (lol!) or even a dress shirt. If Vint Cerf can wear a three-piece suit, so can you! :)
- tomcam 5y ago

fartcannon 5y ago

What do you do when you bump into an equally well dressed person who just happens to be more physically attractive than you?

fermentation 5y ago
The trick is to develop enough of an ego for this event to never occur.
- 0des 5y ago
  "Yeah well I'm 5'11 and a half..."
  - ggm 5y ago
    This is literally my height. Repeating it, is about as effective as you'd expect, especially since my son topped six feet. Sometimes you can spot sour grapes at 50 paces.
    - 0des 5y ago
      Just saying that's a concern that just doesn't resonate with those of us at or above tall height. The preening, the studying others, all these things necessary to be a cut above the other people with small type physique are actually communicating a signal in itself by making the gesture to that degree. This is why models don't try to look or dress hot, they just are. Dressing nice is one thing but putting on the r/MFA uniform is a signal.
      - geoduck14 5y ago
        This reminds me of a phrase "he is smart when he applies himself". Well good for him, but there are people who are smart even when they aren't trying - and those are the smart people.
    - spoonjim 5y ago
      Intraday height variation and slight changes in posture mean that your height can't really be specified to the half inch.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

Dracophoenix 5y ago

Menswear as metrosexual hipster or as in MFA and /f/ lurker?

lliamander 5y ago
Probably the latter, my guess.

lliamander 5y ago

I started into menswear last year and I find it deeply fascinating, but hard to fit into the very casual tech office culture. What's a typical outfit look like for you? Do you have a "uniform"?

kbrannigan 5y ago
Some guys pulled it off, by doing it "ironically" Hoodie under a suit jacket. 1960s programmers : white shirt, black tie With yeezyz.
borroka 5y ago
I go with a " spezzato", which is pants and blazer of different fabric and/or color. Less formal than a suit and allows for more creativity. Neapolitan blazers look especially good on fit people. If tailored or made to measure, don't forget to unbutton the last button on the sleeve, a top player move. Most, if not all, of my colleagues dress in sweatshirts and ill-fitting jeans. I'm sure some of them see me as "eccentric" or "aloof" or someone who wants to stand out. And they would be right (not aloof though).
- lliamander 5y ago
  Interesting! I still try to keep things fairly casual. If I do some sort of "jacket", it usually a pretty casual sport coat with a crewneck underneath, paired with dark jeans or chinos.
  - borroka 5y ago
    Assuming you're not showing up in something undeniably "dressy," like a dark-colored suit with a white shirt with French cuffs, being "casual" is more about your attitude with your clothes, how you wear them, than the clothes themselves. Assuming you're wearing the same clothes in both situations, does it look like you're ready for a wedding or that you found the first few clothes in your closet with your eyes half closed and somewhat magically the color and fabric combination is eye-catching?

exdsq 5y ago

Worked with a guy who wore a suit to the office as a 2-year experience dev and he was always taken into client meetings last minute when they needed someone. Helped his career a fair bit I think!

giantg2 5y ago
Opposite here. My office had people wearing dress pants and dress or polo shirts. I decided to add a tie. I was taken aside and told not to do that since it made me seem out of touch with the culture. Seemed like a pretty small step up from the based line to me. So much for dress for the job you want, or next job up BS...
- Viliam1234 5y ago
  I think how the experts play this game is by buying a very expensive well-fitting designer polo shirt. The trick is to impress people in a way that seems that you are not trying hard. Trying hard is low-status, just being "naturally" impressive is high-status. The rules of the game are not mentioned publicly, so that people who know them can feel superior to those who don't. The mere knowledge of the rules signals good upbringing or great social skills.
- exdsq 5y ago
  I definitely ribbed him a bit in the pub for it, as we all did, but it was a consultancy and we had academic & old-school style clients who came in suits themselves so it was probably more accepting than brogrammer startups or whatever

kromem 5y ago

My career advice to nearly everyone starting out these days is to bring different professional interests together if they have more than one. There's thousands of specialists in most fields, but not nearly as many generalists or people who can walk in two interconnected worlds. Finding a niche can be very valuable to oneself and others. One way to carve that out is by going deeper than one's peers in a specialization, but another (sometimes more often overlooked) way is bridging the gap between two different ones.

Hextinium 5y ago
As someone who has been trying to convince hiring managers of this very thing (dual major in electrical and mechanical engineering) it's harder than it sounds to find a job that crosses the bridges. Just my two cents.
- embeng4096 5y ago
  I work for a small product development and contract engineering firm - a dual major in EE and MechE would be a big plus in our eyes. Not sure if that’s the type of job you want, but there’s definitely such firms scattered across the US (assuming you’re based in the States).
giantg2 5y ago
"There's thousands of specialists in most fields, but not nearly as many generalists or people who can walk in two interconnected worlds." Ugh, my advice is the opposite. You'll never really fit in if you're in two worlds. Most places don't want generalists. They want specialists who can crank out code quickly without asking too many questions. In my experience, if you have too much business acumen, you end up asking questions that the business people can't answer, or don't want to answer. Things about business process flow, legal review, corporate strategy, and general process efficiency/improvement. Then they hate you for it, or at least think you're too "head in the clouds". I have a fair chunk of knowledge in many diverse domains. Besides people occasionally finding one interesting (like people at work finding it interesting that I forage for mushrooms), they don't benefit me at all. In fact, I believe it hurts me (career wise). I'm at the point where people (managers mostly) are starting to view me negatively. "What's this guy doing as a midlevel after 10 years here and a masters degree?", type of stuff.

brainbag 5y ago

What is your best advice for quality menswear?

sanderjd 5y ago

How did you get started? I've never been able to figure out how to break into wearing nice clothes that mesh well with my age. I have tried the typical fashion-in-a-box things, but the clothes always seem (to me) to skew too young. I don't want to be a well-dressed college kid or entry-level professional...

zdbrandon 5y ago
Find a well dressed celebrity your age, and mimic their style.
Daishiman 5y ago
Find good lookbooks to derive a sense of good fit and what range of styles exist, how you personally like them, and how the fit in different social contexts. The Permanent Style blog has a bunch on this; the Sartorialist has pictures from a very broad range of styles. Peruse clothing from high-quality shops and try out a _lot_ of things to get a feel for how clothes fit you and what fabrics you like. Clothing look good because it fits you and goes well with your style and palette and makes you feel comfortable. You'll likely find soon enough that expensive clothes are generally expensive for good reason. Find a good tailor (or a couple) and develop a simple wardrobe that can be combined easily. From then on be willing to experiment a bit and spend some money trying out a few things a bit further outside your comfort zone.
- sanderjd 5y ago
  > Peruse clothing from high-quality shops How does one know what shops are high-quality? I'm sure price is one place to start, but I doubt that all expensive shops are high quality. How do you tell the difference between the two?
  - Daishiman 5y ago
    Good question. I don't have a general answer; I have a lot of interest in tailoring and formal menswear, where you generally get what you pay for with few exceptions and where you can definitely see the difference in quality of fabrics and fit and finish.