I heavily disagree with this part: >>NO ONE has ever looked at a person wearing 'company brand' t-shirt and thought : "Gee, they must be smart, they work for b

I heavily disagree with this part: >>NO ONE has ever looked at a person wearing 'company brand' t-shirt and thought : "Gee, they must be smart, they work for big-name company'. Depending on the company, this goes a long way. I remember when I was working at a big 5 tech company and the swag definitely helped in bars and restaurants with the ladies. I definitely took advantage of it. Not that I relied on it, but it made things simpler. Don't underestimate the power of a clearly employees only shirt, jacket or backpack in conversations. Also ask the finance boys if those Patagonias with firm name didn't work wonders for them back in the day before branding was removed.