Sam H
Senior Member
- Joined
- Sep 21, 2012
- Messages
- 277
- Reaction score
- 250
I'm a software developer in NYC, so no.
I have mixed feelings. I'm glad the previous generation pushed back on the social barriers of dress to the point that I'm able to show up to work in a tshirt and jeans. But I feel kind of sad that I don't "get" to dress up, because even though now there is no dress code per se, there is an implicit push to not overdress.
But really I can recognize that my desire to wear a suit would just be a vanity. Now that people don't have to wear suits in the professional world and may even feel like such clothing is discouraged, a sort of fetishization appears, especially in people my age group (30). I think every guy, whether they actually end up getting into it or not, sees someone in a movie or on a billboard in a suit and thinks "I want to have a nice suit". Maybe for some it's a passing thought or a non-obsessive endeavor (they just go to the mall and end up happier then the people here splitting hairs over everything and spending way more) but ultimately it's still just a vanity.
I've taken to wearing odd jackets if I go out (depending on the venue) and I've built up a large collection of shirts and trousers, many of which don't need a jacket. This means that I ironically now wear a jacket as leisure clothing more often than as business clothing, which really drives home my reality and likely the reality of most people in my age group who go on these sites.
Even so, people at my job know me as a guy who cares about men's clothing. That's not an impediment, it's a mix of ribbing or asking for advice, but even with that, I don't wear jackets to work, it's just the shirts, trousers, shoes and overcoats that give it away. And if I were to interview, I'd try and dress more schlubby because while I get along with everyone I know at work and my choices don't negatively reflect on me, there is a very real likelihood that if you don't know me and I'm a candidate and I dressed "up", the first impression someone would have would be negative, due to the associations of suits being counter to startup/tech culture.
This is actually, I've read, an issue that women software developers face as well, quite possibly moreso, due to a feeling of not fitting in with "the guys" since a lot of women will be more likely to dress up as it will have been emphasized more growing up versus possibly discouraged (imagine how many men get told caring about presentation is "girly" and how many women get told if they don't present themselves nicely no one will ever love them). Plus women have the minefield of judgement based on perceived "sexiness" of their clothes which leads to even more social issues in the work place (this is an issue that has been brought up to me by various professional women I know in casual conversation whether in the tech industry or not).
So while I'm glad that I don't have pressure to wear expensive and complicated clothes for all those days I'm lazy or running late or it's a million degrees and humid, there is a sort of vain sorrow that I don't *get* to wear some nice tailored clothes when the mood strikes and also the fact that the suit has been replaced with a different sort of clothing shibboleth (which I don't particularly like from an aesthetic standpoint) when it comes to networking and interviewing and other first impressions in the field.
I have mixed feelings. I'm glad the previous generation pushed back on the social barriers of dress to the point that I'm able to show up to work in a tshirt and jeans. But I feel kind of sad that I don't "get" to dress up, because even though now there is no dress code per se, there is an implicit push to not overdress.
But really I can recognize that my desire to wear a suit would just be a vanity. Now that people don't have to wear suits in the professional world and may even feel like such clothing is discouraged, a sort of fetishization appears, especially in people my age group (30). I think every guy, whether they actually end up getting into it or not, sees someone in a movie or on a billboard in a suit and thinks "I want to have a nice suit". Maybe for some it's a passing thought or a non-obsessive endeavor (they just go to the mall and end up happier then the people here splitting hairs over everything and spending way more) but ultimately it's still just a vanity.
I've taken to wearing odd jackets if I go out (depending on the venue) and I've built up a large collection of shirts and trousers, many of which don't need a jacket. This means that I ironically now wear a jacket as leisure clothing more often than as business clothing, which really drives home my reality and likely the reality of most people in my age group who go on these sites.
Even so, people at my job know me as a guy who cares about men's clothing. That's not an impediment, it's a mix of ribbing or asking for advice, but even with that, I don't wear jackets to work, it's just the shirts, trousers, shoes and overcoats that give it away. And if I were to interview, I'd try and dress more schlubby because while I get along with everyone I know at work and my choices don't negatively reflect on me, there is a very real likelihood that if you don't know me and I'm a candidate and I dressed "up", the first impression someone would have would be negative, due to the associations of suits being counter to startup/tech culture.
This is actually, I've read, an issue that women software developers face as well, quite possibly moreso, due to a feeling of not fitting in with "the guys" since a lot of women will be more likely to dress up as it will have been emphasized more growing up versus possibly discouraged (imagine how many men get told caring about presentation is "girly" and how many women get told if they don't present themselves nicely no one will ever love them). Plus women have the minefield of judgement based on perceived "sexiness" of their clothes which leads to even more social issues in the work place (this is an issue that has been brought up to me by various professional women I know in casual conversation whether in the tech industry or not).
So while I'm glad that I don't have pressure to wear expensive and complicated clothes for all those days I'm lazy or running late or it's a million degrees and humid, there is a sort of vain sorrow that I don't *get* to wear some nice tailored clothes when the mood strikes and also the fact that the suit has been replaced with a different sort of clothing shibboleth (which I don't particularly like from an aesthetic standpoint) when it comes to networking and interviewing and other first impressions in the field.
