Major Factors That Impacted The Way You Dress

Say over the last 5-15 years?

For me one was where I worked. I went from suit & tie every day progressively down to jeans & polos today. This has also affected my purchases. Lately is has been Adidas originals & Levis when not too long ago it was EGs and Preston flannel trou.

I wear a suit maybe twice weekly if that now which may explain why my shoes are holding up so well

Fell free to vote and explain.

Another thing that has affected the way I dress now had to be gaining knowledge of who-makes-what-for-whom. I used to think the Jos Bank suits I owned were great, and the LRL suits, too. But after learning about the hallmarks of good tailoring and how a suit should fit, I rotated those items out and purchased new suits & jackets. I leaned to PRL because of they way they fit and the minimal alterations needed with certain models.



NORE said:

I used to think the Jos Bank suits I owned were great

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I'm with you there. Started learning more, mostly about how clothes ought to fit and it opened my eyes. Now I own far fewer items of clothing but they're of higher quality.

My work has also had an impact, but the opposite of what people expect. I'm a teacher and so the tendency is to trend towards more and more casual. But I've gone the opposite way: I wear more suits, including 3-piece ones, and have become more soporific in my color palette (more solids, more emphasis on texture, etc...). It's probably because I'm contrarian by nature but it also helps me feel more professional. It's amusing as well...occasionally we get a "casual" day at work so I show up in "casual" clothes...chinos, a button-down shirt and knit tie, a tweed jacket and people ask me why I'm not "casual" as all my colleagues are wearing jeans and sweatshirts. Sigh.

It makes me feel good when I see a well-dressed teacher. Makes me take them more seriously. Especially when their clothes fit well.

I would submit that where one works has a a major impact on how one dresses. One either has to defer to the organization as in the case of a conservative law firm for example or as stated above, when given the freedom to do as one wishes, to rise above the casual norm.

I think age has a great deal to do with how one dresses. Hopefully we learn over time the difference between flash and substance and how to dress tastefully. Realizing what works for you versus wearing something you think will impress others is a watershed moment.

I also think one has to judge what one should wear based on the environment in which they professionally exist.
Having worked in a variety of corporate and academic environments I have moved up and down the formality scale based on the "place" I was. As senior administrator in healthcare I favored a more casual dress code for both practical and social reasons. Traveling across The Canadian Arctic, suits or odd jackets with dress shoes was not practical plus the corporate uniform was off-putting to both employees and people in the community. Now, in academia, I am free to wear whatever I choose and I choose to dress well and rarely if ever wear anything other than suit and tie or odd jacket and tie.

Having read a great deal on SF has also influenced my clothing choices. Learning the canonical rules has allowed me to decide which I will follow and which I may break.

Of late, I am finding more of a balance between suits and odd jackets whereas five years ago I wore nothing but suits. This I'm sure is due to a vow to bever dress like my father who was a salesman with a penchant for loud odd jackets. Go figure. I suppose we go in cycles to some extent.

When at home, I follow the edict: brown is for farmer. I just can't do the green matchy-matchy thing with my John Deere.

A very astute observation, thanks. But does wanting to dress differently, either more formal or more casual tug at your heart strings? I used to go in fully suited and booted and then shed the jacket where I currently work, largely because reading the forum at that time inspired me to do so. But I found myself to be the butt of the jokes of the more sloven employees.

I have the luxury of choosing to dress up or down at will. Come June I dress more casually unless I have an outside meeting. No suit, jacket or tie. July to mid-August I'm on holidays so my work attire favours Carhartts and the like as I'm outside all day doing manual labour. By the time I return to work in August I'm looking forward to dressing "up" again.

That said, there is a huge divide between my work and at home attire. I will rarely wear an odd jacket and chinos or denim. Most outings are work or profession related and, once again it is either the full meal deal or very casual. When I am at rest I dress comfortably: a small selection of shirts, denim and canvas chinos.

Every now and then I get an inkling to wear my Galways out in the pasture but then I quickly remember mud and donkey poop and the feeling ebbs quickly.

You have inspired me to take it back to dress trousers, shoes and buttoned shirts after Labor Day. Thx.

I have noticed the President & CEO of my company in my office more when I dress more formally (biz casual). I met him asking, so those are AE McAllisters (or McClains) right? He looked at me in an odd way but later would always talk to me about clothing in the halls or elevator. I can't help but think that had something to do with my promotion to dept head.

You are welcome, Sir! Connections and making an impact that gets the higher ups to notice you are a big part of any business environment. Skill and ability plus being able to connect on a social or human level with those above and below us is a key to success. But while you found that link with the CEO through clothing I would have to think your work ethic and abilities contributed more to your promotion as opposed to noticing that the CEO wore AE's alone! If not, is your firm recruiting?

Some days a suit is just the uniform that I put on when I get to the office and take off when I leave - I dress at work. Other days, I look forward to putting on the full kit. Go figure.

So what was your motivation to move to the more casual wardrobe? Still a heavy emphasis on RL?

This is a good thread and should elicit some good responses - Im waiting for Dr. Holdfast to come in here, I know he has a few paragraphs of explanation.

But, why is dress for the internet not an option?



gsugsu said:

You are welcome, Sir! Connections and making an impact that gets the higher ups to notice you are a big part of any business environment. Skill and ability plus being able to connect on a social or human level with those above and below us is a key to success. But while you found that link with the CEO through clothing I would have to think your work ethic and abilities contributed more to your promotion as opposed to noticing that the CEO wore AE's alone! If not, is your firm recruiting?
Some days a suit is just the uniform that I put on when I get to the office and take off when I leave - I dress at work. Other days, I look forward to putting on the full kit. Go figure.
So what was your motivation to move to the more casual wardrobe? Still a heavy emphasis on RL?

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In some firms I have been ousted because of my dress. It just so happens that at this one I struck a chord. He has even asked to try on one of my jackets. Sadly tho, this is the firm where I dress in jeans and polos each day. The guy between me and him dresses like a slob unfortunately.



SpooPoker said:

This is a good thread and should elicit some good responses - Im waiting for Dr. Holdfast to come in here, I know he has a few paragraphs of explanation.
But, why is dress for the internet not an option?

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Thx, bro.

Adam Lisagor's work at Put This On changed everything for me. I had no idea that expensive dress shoes were actually constructed differently. It was like finding a beautiful maxim you always understood but could never articulate.



NORE said:

Another thing that has affected the way I dress now had to be gaining knowledge of who-makes-what-for-whom. I used to think the Jos Bank suits I owned were great, and the LRL suits, too. But after learning about the hallmarks of good tailoring and how a suit should fit, I rotated those items out and purchased new suits & jackets. I leaned to PRL because of they way they fit and the minimal alterations needed with certain models.

Click to expand...

+1. I also used to think Jos Bank and LRL suits were great products. I even thought Express suits were pretty good. Then I found Styleforum and learned so much about fit, style, and quality. Now all of my suits and jackets are from Samuelsohn and Caruso.

Women!