conservative business dress WAYWRN: An Experiment

[PhilKenSebben]

That's fair.

that is an interpretation on the rules... I have worn a hat since college. It cant be conservative business dress for one and not the other...

On a less contentious point, I happen to like the genadine more however both looks are excellent

 

[Cantabrigian]



that is an interpretation on the rules... I have worn a hat since college. It cant be conservative business dress for one and not the other...

On a less contentious point, I happen to like the genadine more however both looks are excellent

Dude, I was joking. As was Dopey.

Hats aren't conservative business dress and everyone knows that. Except you apparently. At least not until now.

 

[PhilKenSebben]

Well, I've been wrong before. Isn't a big deal one way or another! It was an interesting discussion anyway.

 

[coldsalmon]



that is an interpretation on the rules... I have worn a hat since college. It cant be conservative business dress for one and not the other...

On a less contentious point, I happen to like the genadine more however both looks are excellent

Thank you Marc. I will have to do some research on conservative business dress grenadine opinions. I did wear a black grenadine to a big adversarial meeting once because I wanted to look like a badass. As I recall, the fit was charcoal suit, white shirt, black grossa grenadine.

Manton jokingly cautions against grenadines for lower level employees in his original conservative business dress thread: "In particular, grenadines are known to be favored by men who enjoy their clothes, and that is not conservative."

 

[sugarbutch]

salmon, I think Voorhees was still referring to the hat discussion. The pindot is probably more conservative business dress.

 

[cold war painter]



Well, I've been wrong before. Isn't a big deal one way or another! It was an interesting discussion anyway.

I like your hat and no one is saying you shouldn't wear it. Just that it isn't really conservative business dress.

Thank you Marc. I will have to do some research on conservative business dress grenadine opinions. I did wear a black grenadine to a big adversarial meeting once because I wanted to look like a badass. As I recall, the fit was charcoal suit, white shirt, black grossa grenadine.

Manton jokingly cautions against grenadines for lower level employees in his original conservative business dress thread: "In particular, grenadines are known to be favored by men who enjoy their clothes, and that is not conservative."

I agree that the pindot works for conservative business dress and the grenadine doesn't. Grenadine is too much fun to be proper conservative business dress, I think.

I wore a black grossa grenadine to a job interview once, I didn't get that job but they invited me back to interview for a better one so it can't have been too upsetting for them.

 

[sprout2]

conservative business dress isn't about you. It's about the people that you interact with (in 2014).

It doesn't matter that you like hats or that hats help keep your head dry.

It doesn't matter what someone would have worn 60 years ago.

It's about the impression what you are wearing will make on those around you; your motivation for wearing something is irrelevant.

Hats, today, are uncommon enough that they draw attention. Whether or not that's the intent, they will always stand out - whether for being wannabehipster, vintagey or whatever.

The point is for your clothes to go unnoticed, except for some vague sense that you look respectable. By that metric, the hat and polkadot tie fail.

If you work at a vintage shop, I take it all back and you may conservatively conduct your business in that outfit.

Great rearticulation of the concept.

I actually wore a rain hat two days ago, but I was not dressing in conservative business dress. It was a safari/adventure hat from REI, and I looked ridiculous. If I were going to an important meeting in a windy rain storm, I would take a cab and carry an umbrella for the walk from the curb to the front door.

It's not for every day wear, but a bucket hat in a nasty storm is the ultimate in practical anti-fashion. It's like getting your lunch in a paper bag versus having a special lunch box. Being anti-fashion, I'd say it runs pretty close to the incognito approach of conservative business dress. Mincing around puddles and trying to look correct in the rain is for someone too vain. Do people even wear real, voluminous raincoats anymore? All I see are flimsy car coat length nylon numbers. Are your clients really going to care if you walk in, shed your Paddington Bear hat, and get down to business? This seems odd to me.

I feel unenthusiastic about the earmuffs comment as well...

 

[coldsalmon]

I like your hat and no one is saying you shouldn't wear it. Just that it isn't really conservative business dress.

+1

It's not for every day wear, but a bucket hat in a nasty storm is the ultimate in practical anti-fashion. It's like getting your lunch in a paper bag versus having a special lunch box. Being anti-fashion, I'd say it runs pretty close to the incognito approach of conservative business dress. Mincing around puddles and trying to look correct in the rain is for someone too vain. Do people even wear real, voluminous raincoats anymore? All I see are flimsy car coat length nylon numbers. Are your clients really going to care if you walk in, shed your Paddington Bear hat, and get down to business? This seems odd to me.

I feel unenthusiastic about the earmuffs comment as well...

I see a good number of long raincoats here in NYC, but the 3/4 length definitely predominates. Honestly, rain is a big problem for me that I still haven't solved, since I take mass transit and walk a lot. On an "important meeting" day, I would take a cab more to protect my trousers from getting soaked than anything else. Being sopping wet from the knees down would look noticeably ridiculous. I think that you are right about the bucket hat, under the right circumstances. I should invest in one.

The behind-the-head earmuffs are also very popular, since they keep your ears warm without giving you hat hair.

 

[ianGP]

 

[EliodA]

^ Looking good, Ian!

 

[ianGP]

Thanks @EliodA

 

[coldsalmon]

I have a ticket pocket on my best charcoal conservative business dress suit. I actually didn't even notice the ticket pocket the first time I tried on the suit, so I figured nobody else would notice either. I think that a ticket pocket is actually a rather subtle detail that can work in a conservative business dress context.

 

[Cantabrigian]

The Committee for the Promotion of conservative business dress and the Prevention of # is going to want to have a word with you,

 

[coldsalmon]

I think this ticket pocket is subtle enough for conservative business dress, and therefore I submit it to the Committee.

 

[gdl203]

Who came up with the idea that a ticket pocket was not conservative business dress? It seems that sometimes the reactions in this thread are a bit extreme. The question isn't whether an outfit is as conservative as possible - but rather whether it is sober enough to fly inconspicuously in a conservative business dress environment.