4 ms·

Walked into a meeting with VCs last week with my standard outfit: very expensive shoes, cheap $40 jeans, crisp but simple Brooks Brothers shirt and a decent (bu

Walked into a meeting with VCs last week with my standard outfit: very expensive shoes, cheap $40 jeans, crisp but simple Brooks Brothers shirt and a decent (but not outrageous) designer blazer. This is my dressed down... no tie, no suit. I feel comfortable like that. Not too dressy but not a mess. One walks in wearing a tshirt, jeans and sneakers. I'm like WTF?! Second one walks in with the same. Double WTF?! Five years ago you would NEVER see a Sand Hill Road VC wearing a tshirt and sneakers. Never. It's the Zuck effect IMO. :-)

billpatrianakos 15y ago
I think it's the Zuck effect too. Problem is, there's only one Mark Zuckerberg and when a bunch of people are out there emulating that... err, I mean "being themselves", then it loses all meaning. The appeal of this trend will fade and eventually those walking into VC meetings like their shit doesn't stink in a hoodie and flip flops will be looked at like the phonies they very well may be and asked to leave until such time they can show that they take themselves, the people they're meeting, and their ideas seriously.
- gruseom 15y ago
  It's not the Zuck effect, though Zuck may have catalyzed it. You might as well call it the Steve Jobs effect; the trend has been all one way for at least 35 years and is related to changes in the industry and indeed the economy at large.
  - rapind 15y ago
    Unfortunate, but probably true. Unfortunate because some of us were dressing in jeans and t-shirt long before Zuck created Facebook. Some of us were also never Apple fanboys. Believe it or not, some of us just prefer to stay away from major fashion trends. For better or worse, it's just not that important to us. We don't want the attention a hipster pursues and we're uncomfortable in the conforming not to mention confining suit. Jeans an a t-shirt has been my entire wardrobe for a long time now (I had to borrow suits for special occasions). No one I work with or live with minds this (and I'm freelance). This is what I wear even for sales. If I choose to pitch a business idea some day, I'll probably do it wearing jeans and a t-shirt because I'll feel more relaxed and focused. I'm not making some kind of stand against suits on principle though. I just find them distracting. Ultimately though, if society tells me I absolutely must dress up for a specific occasion (funerals, weddings, maybe a pitch?), then I'll just suck it up and put on the suit. I should mention that I find personal hygiene to be important though. I don't think you can assume that ultra casual attire equals poor hygiene.
mcguire 15y ago
You can't be a rebel unless you wear the right uniform.
- unimpressive 15y ago
  Ah, but you see; the "right uniform" changes over time. In an age where everyone tries to be a rebel; wearing a suit becomes rebellion. A uniform is by definition anti-individuality.
nazgulnarsil 15y ago
you can get away with most things with nice shoes.

billpatrianakos 15y ago

I think it's the Zuck effect too. Problem is, there's only one Mark Zuckerberg and when a bunch of people are out there emulating that... err, I mean "being themselves", then it loses all meaning. The appeal of this trend will fade and eventually those walking into VC meetings like their shit doesn't stink in a hoodie and flip flops will be looked at like the phonies they very well may be and asked to leave until such time they can show that they take themselves, the people they're meeting, and their ideas seriously.

gruseom 15y ago
It's not the Zuck effect, though Zuck may have catalyzed it. You might as well call it the Steve Jobs effect; the trend has been all one way for at least 35 years and is related to changes in the industry and indeed the economy at large.
- rapind 15y ago
  Unfortunate, but probably true. Unfortunate because some of us were dressing in jeans and t-shirt long before Zuck created Facebook. Some of us were also never Apple fanboys. Believe it or not, some of us just prefer to stay away from major fashion trends. For better or worse, it's just not that important to us. We don't want the attention a hipster pursues and we're uncomfortable in the conforming not to mention confining suit. Jeans an a t-shirt has been my entire wardrobe for a long time now (I had to borrow suits for special occasions). No one I work with or live with minds this (and I'm freelance). This is what I wear even for sales. If I choose to pitch a business idea some day, I'll probably do it wearing jeans and a t-shirt because I'll feel more relaxed and focused. I'm not making some kind of stand against suits on principle though. I just find them distracting. Ultimately though, if society tells me I absolutely must dress up for a specific occasion (funerals, weddings, maybe a pitch?), then I'll just suck it up and put on the suit. I should mention that I find personal hygiene to be important though. I don't think you can assume that ultra casual attire equals poor hygiene.

mcguire 15y ago

You can't be a rebel unless you wear the right uniform.

unimpressive 15y ago
Ah, but you see; the "right uniform" changes over time. In an age where everyone tries to be a rebel; wearing a suit becomes rebellion. A uniform is by definition anti-individuality.

nazgulnarsil 15y ago

you can get away with most things with nice shoes.