California Business Attire

[gungadin25]

I just posted a thread in the WTB section about wanting to buy a few odd jackets to add to my professional attire (http://www.styleforum.net/showthread.php?t=82261). At my law firm, the attorneys dress extremely casually. Although people are only "allowed" to wear jeans on Friday, some attorneys actually wear jeans everyday

One poor first-year wore a tie for the first few weeks of working here and people gave him so much grief, he stopped wearing ties. Today I wore a powder blue dress shirt and pin striped dress pants and someone asked me why I was dressed up. I think this is more a California thing b/c in my firm's East coast offices, people are much more formal.

In light of the above, does anyone have any recommendations about how to dress in this environment? I think the odd-jacket and corduroy look works pretty well. I'm getting bored of wearing only dress shirts and dress pants. Do other professionals find that the dress is overly casual these days (i.e., t-shirt/jeans)?

 

[Wooh]

The firm in Cali I'm going to start working for is the same way, so I'll be watching this thread.

 

[dirk diggler]

I work in-house at a large defense contractor in the midwest. It is very casual here, although they only wear jeans on fridays. I wear sportcoats w/ pocket squares and they say I am "dressed up" - go figure.

 

[FlaneurNYC]

I'd go ahead and dress for myself. I always prefer being overdressed to approval by lazy peers. If you enjoy wearing the odd jacket and trousers, go for it.

 

[gungadin25]

So I bought a jacket today, which I think will suit me: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=280275152307 How would you guys dress with this jacket (in terms of pants, shirt, shoes, etc.)? What do you think the next style should be?

 

[dirk diggler]

Originally Posted by gungadin25

So I bought a jacket today, which I think will suit me:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=280275152307

How would you guys dress with this jacket (in terms of pants, shirt, shoes, etc.)? What do you think the next style should be?

Dude, you are SO FREAKIN' LUCKY. I was watching that jacket and decided not to buy it since I just spent way toooooooo much on a complete MTM order (30 shirts, 3 suits, 6 odd jackets and 6 pairs of slacks) that UPS indicates will come Friday. All I kept thinking about was my wife killing me for spending another $200 on an odd jacket. Good choice.

 

[gungadin25]

Originally Posted by dirk diggler

Dude, you are SO FREAKIN' LUCKY. I was watching that jacket and decided not to buy it since I just spent way toooooooo much on a complete MTM order (30 shirts, 3 suits, 6 odd jackets and 6 pairs of slacks) that UPS indicates will come Friday. All I kept thinking about was my wife killing me for spending another $200 on an odd jacket. Good choice.

Thanks, I was pretty excited to win that auction. My brother actually sent me the link. I should be envious of you for having such a big MTM order coming in. I don't even know if I have 30 shirts total!

 

[mattg]

Wear a suit, or at least a jacket. There are agents in LA who don't wear suits or jackets to work, they live in the valley.

 

[hanker565]

Originally Posted by gungadin25

So I bought a jacket today, which I think will suit me:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=280275152307

How would you guys dress with this jacket (in terms of pants, shirt, shoes, etc.)? What do you think the next style should be?

I think that's a great deal. Barbera doesn't seem to get the attention it deserves - if the auction title had said Attolini (which I think makes for LB Collezionie Sartoriale?) I'm sure it would have gone for a great deal more.

 

[dirk diggler]

Originally Posted by gungadin25

Thanks, I was pretty excited to win that auction. My brother actually sent me the link. I should be envious of you for having such a big MTM order coming in. I don't even know if I have 30 shirts total!

practice for about 12 years, my son, and eventually, you, too, can have a positive net worth.

actually, I am lucky - got a huge signing bonus to go to a new job and had a few other financial apples fall into my lap in the last few months.

 

[Michael Ay329]

I am a criminal defense lawyer for the L.A. County Public Defender

My colleagues, who make court appearances everyday and do jury trials dress horribly

God forbid they have no court appearances, then the khaki pants, button shirt with no tie and no jacket, and rolled up sleeve look comes out

I just continue to wear my 3 piece suits everyday of the week. In fact I wear my finest outfits on Fridays to stick it to the casual (I wish it was casual all week around) Friday crowd

Don't feel out of place dressing like a lawyer. Don't feel the need to go along just to blend in with the crowd...unless the firm's partner make some kind suggestions of what is appropriate or just follow their lead.

Proper dress is an area were by not trying too hard, you can dress better then your colleagues and when challenged, note to them that you are a lawyer, not a law student in training (for many of us didn't have the money back then to dress appropriately)

Your bosses will appreciate your dress and feel you are to be taken more seriously...possibly in the next round of promotions

 

[dirk diggler]

Originally Posted by Michael Ay329

Your bosses will appreciate your dress and feel you are to be taken more seriously...possibly in the next round of promotions

or listen to your MF backstabbing colleagues who are conspiring against you.

Look at the new Esquire Big Black Book. There is a top 10 list of about dressing well on one of the black and white pages in the middle. I like #8 - dress well everyday so that if you get fired or get a promotion, you are prepared.

My last day at my old job, I broke out my best suit and went in with a smile on my face as a heavy weight had been lifted. It felt good to walk away with my pride intact. and of course, now that the economy has gone to hell, several of my former "colleagues" are hurting and trying to find an escape. A nice suit could help if they only understood. When I interviewd at my current job, my new boss and the headhunter just kept saying that I had this executive presence that they could not explain, but just felt it. Perhaps it was the pocket square?

 

[gungadin25]

http://www.esquire.com/style/fashion-story/office200907 I know Esquire isn't the most respected source of information here, but what do people think of these looks?

 

[johnny_flapjack]

They look like a shirt/pants/jacket. Not much to disagree with in my book.

Have you looked at the What Are you Wearing Today thread that's pinned at the top of the Men's Clothing section? If not, please do. You'll get tons of ideas from there. IamMatt is in the SF Bay area and does a good job with odd jackets - most (all?) of his stuff is custom, but you'll get ideas anyhow. There are several others that really know how to put stuff together that post in that thread as well (Binge, PocketSquareGuy, Chorse) , he just comes tom mind b/c I know he's in Cali.

 

[lawyerdad]

Originally Posted by mattg

Wear a suit, or at least a jacket. There are agents in LA who don't wear suits or jackets to work, they live in the valley.

I assume this is an attempt at humor? I'm unclear on what you're saying, though. Yes there are agents in Los Angeles who don't wear suits or jackets to work. In my experience, the majority of agents don't wear suits or jackets every day, although it varies widely. Both jacket-wearing and non-jacket-wearing agents live in the Valley, or on the Westside, or in West Hollywood, or in the Hollywood Hills, or in Los Feliz, or in Palos Verdes, or in Malibu, or in Manhattan Beach.

Maybe this is some sort of an Entourage reference? I've seen the show once, so my bad if it's a reference that would be obvious to regular watchers of TV.