Subtly Awesome – Interview Attire.

Having just completed a couple of rounds of interviews, I thought I’d do a quick post on proper attire. Conventional wisdom here is to dress for one level above the job that you want. This can be tricky though, so really tailor it to the job/firm that you’re applying to.

This was brought up in the power jeans article, in that some companies actually frown on suiting up for an interview. In an article over at Wetfeet, the author actually had a pretty solid suggestion if it’s local: go stalker and camp out at the office to see what the majority of the workers there are wearing.

I won’t tackle the outliers, and will instead focus on the more typical business environment.

The general idea is to strike a balance between not looking like everybody else, but also not looking like you’re trying too hard. Your appearance undoubtedly plays a large role in you landing that job (or else a dress code wouldn’t even be in the equation), so showing that you possess some taste and the ability to not be a lemming could go far. The interviewer may not jot down “killer suit & tie combo”, but subconsciously you’ve already made an impression – everybody likes pretty things.

The Interview Suit

A few comments:

- Do not wear a black suit
- Steer clear from pinstripes (a subtle chalk-stripe is ok)
- Go for darker colors

This leaves you with a dark grey or charcoal grey suit. This is one place you do NOT want to stand out. Let the fit of your suit and the shirt & tie combo do the talking.

Speaking of your shirt and tie combination:

- Stray away from french cuff shirts; a button cuff is more subtle
- No contrast shirts with the white collars
- Color is fine (in fact encouraged), just nothing that is blindingly bright; as with tequila, moderation is key

Business Casual Interviews

The first interview was labeled as business casual, with suits being optional. But, knowing the culture and the reputation as a firm, there was no way I was going in sans-suit. But, the key is to not overdue it. There’s a reason they said business casual.

I knew the majority of guys would opt for khakis (pleated) and a white or blue shirt with a gold tie. Or, khakis, white or blue shirt, and blue blazer.

My thinking is that I wanted to distinguish myself from the crowd, but not in a “hey, look at me” sort of way. The idea is to look different, but in a good, and almost more importantly, appropriate way. So, I decided to go with a suit but ditch the tie, and pair it with a nice sweater with a button down underneath.

I opted for a dark charcoal modern suit from Banana. A reasonably priced suit with a nice modern fit (the tailor was amazed how well it fit off the rack). I next added a dark navy, fine merino wool sweater, over a grey button down. The look was modern, and put together.

Arriving at interview day I was surprised to see that 50% of us were in suits (it was a group session), while the rest were exactly how I had envisioned them.

If you don’t own an interview suit, then nice trousers and a tie will go a long way. Just avoid the standard khaki + white/blue shirt uniform. You want to show your prospective employers that you can take the rules they’ve given you and appropriately make it your own.

Business Formal

For round 2, the dress code was business formal. This means suit up. I had the same motivation here, stand out, but in a good way. I knew that the majority of guys would be in charcoal suits with either a blue or white shirt, and undoubtedly with a gold tie. There was no way I was going to look like a 60 year old Republican Senator. I’m young and cool, and this is a big f-ing deal, so I needed something suitably cool.

This was a tough selection for me, because I knew what I wanted but the stores didn’t have exactly it. I ended up settling on a purple and white micro-check shirt (subtle thin purple lines), with a point collar, and paired it with a thin beautiful royal purple tie. I recycled my grey suit from the first interview.

I haven’t touched on collar choices, but go with a point or a spread collar for an occasion like this. This means avoid the classic button down collar. Historically button-down collars are more for casual wear, but regardless it is visually more appealing to have a nice point collar.

Take home: when going with a suit, it’s OK to go with a nice pattern shirt. Pair it with a tie in the same color family and you’ve got a very sharp combination.

Remember, it is your goal to be attractive to the company. Both from an intellectual standpoint (which your resume already provided) and a physical standpoint (why it isn’t a phone interview). So, put some thought into what you’re putting on.

Oh, and the combination of the patterned shirt + solid tie looked awesome. Heading to the airport that afternoon the crosswalk dude (yes, it was a dude…bite me), and the metal detector lady both complimented me on how I looked. And if that’s not success, I don’t know what is.

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Power Jeans.

Reader Ward clued me in on this article from the Wall Street Journal about the acceptability of jeans in previously unlikely places, like the White House.

It’s an interesting read though don’t form any conclusions based on the pictures. Photos of Nicolas Sarkozy in stone washed Levi’s, Medvedev in decent jeans but an ill-fitting sport coat (described as “fine” within the article), and Obama in dad jeans all send the wrong message. It appears as though whomever chose the photos didn’t bother to read the actual article.

I found this part interesting regarding the acceptability of jeans, and the shunning of a typical suit, for a job interview:

We have Steve Jobs to thank for today’s power jeans. His uniform of Levi’s 501s and a black turtleneck was synonymous with innovation in the ’90s; now, in the tech world, dressy pants can be viewed with suspicion. “When someone shows up to an interview or meeting in anything other than jeans, it shows inexperience and a lack of confidence,” says Andrew Dumont, vice president of marketing for text-messaging company Tatango.

Though jeans may be commonplace in a variety of work places, the author rightly points to this mantra for judging their acceptability:

Power jeans may best be left to the executives in mixed-rank groups. Being a junior person wearing jeans in a room full of pinstripes could spell “youthful blunder.” Perhaps the best rule is that of the high-priced boutique: If you have to ask, you can’t afford to wear them.

PG has always supported the notion that a pair of clean, slim, and dark modern jeans are suitable for a wide range of occasions. Though, truthfully I’ve never thought of it as a “power” item, perhaps I was wrong.

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Down to Business Part I.

Again, muchos apologies for the intermittent posting, but I’ll strive to continue to keep up a few posts a week while I balance my day job, drinking, drama, and darts.

It’s much belated, but I’ll begin once again to highlight particular outfit ideas. Rather than for going out, these will be targeted for wearing to work so that we don’t run into the problems that I recently outlined .

The rules are the same as for the previous posts: all the pieces are from the same mass market retailer and I’ll work within a budget. Let’s extend it to $300 since I was over budget virtually every outfit.

The first outfit will be the most casual of business casual. A place of work where wearing chinos is perfectly acceptable, and wearing dress trousers and a tie would be seen as a tad odd.

Pants
As mentioned before, we’re going to update your khakis, both in the fit and the color. I’ve chosen a nice pair of grey flat front chinos that are clean and very stylish. The unique color will help to get you out of the khaki rut, while the fit brings your look up to date. Reviewing the fit rules for pants: flat front and precise fitting are the biggies. These come in several different colors, but I like grey the best. It’s different and more modern.

The image makes it look like the pants are a little bit short, so I’d go with a longer inseam and just get it hemmed.

Shirt
Now, finding a shirt that matches, and isn’t blue, is a bit tougher. I’ll admit that blue would work very well with the chinos selected above (blue and grey go well together), but instead I chose a grey and white striped dress shirt. I know from the image that the shirt by itself looks very muted and sort of bland. But, the key is to imagine it as a piece in the rest of the outfit.

The rich grey color of the chinos will help to bring out the positive qualities of the shirt. Also, we’re keeping it in the same color family which is modern and cool. The stripes add a bit more style than the typical solid dress shirts, while keeping everything professional. And, we’ve avoided blue completely.

Just because you’re not going out, doesn’t mean you can ignore the fit rules. This shirt is cut slimmer to avoid the bagginess of most office shirts. This is a good thing. Embrace it.

Shoes
I’ve mentioned this previously, but JCrew’s Fall shoe offering is a bit sparse on the dressier shoes. But, that’s OK, because office wear should be slightly muted stylistically. Regardless, we can fall back on our (my) favorite shoe the wingtip. The wingtip is a heftier shoe that will anchor the entire outfit.
Here is a brown version of their wingtip (it comes in black). Don’t let the grey of the pants and shirt frighten you away from wearing brown. The contrast of the grey with the deep brown is very stylish. You can get a bit of a hint from the photo of the pants above, as the model has on a (lighter/weirder) shade of brown, yet it still looks great.

Bottom Line
Pants: $60
Shirt: $55
Shoes: $170

Total: $285

Not bad for an entire outfit. This of course is just an example of what you can do. Swapping out the shirt (while keeping the same pants) will give the outfit a completely different look (yes, you can go with blue, just go with a different hue than light blue). Also, you can opt for a patterned shirt to mix it up a bit.

You may be thinking that this outfit is startling similar to some of the other outfits that I’ve highlighted for going out. You’re right. Since this is the most casual, it will be very similar to previous outfits. However, you’ll find that even the dressier outfits bear more than a little resemblance to outfits I’ve selected for going out. This is because the fundamental rules typically don’t change from occasion to occasion. Things that do change are the details. For instance having your shirt pressed, choosing more muted fabrics and colors, and wearing polished shoes. Cumulatively, these subtle changes will completely alter the look of the outfit.

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Shed the Business Casual Uniform.

I recently drove through downtown during lunch time and it was like a rally for Office Max workers on the streets. I saw so many pleated khaki pants, blue button downs, and white undershirts that I wanted to stop and ask if somebody could help me with my printer cartridge.

When it comes to business casual, I really don’t get the drabness, because it’s so easy to make it look cool. Say it with me: just because others dress like poop doesn’t mean that you have to follow suit.

I know PG has highlighted weekend/night wear more frequently, because looking cool when you go out is important. But, you’re in your office clothes 40+ hrs/week. It’s your life. You should look good while you’re banking it.

Here are 10 steps to help you shed the business casual uniform. I’ll just highlight the basics, reminiscent of the Fit Rules of yore, and save the specific examples of work-wear outfits for later posts, similar to what I’ve done with going out outfits the past couple of weeks.

Step 1: Update your work chinos.
Opt for a modern fit to your trousers. This means no pleats. The pants should hit just below your waist, not ride up high, and there shouldn’t be an excess of fabric either in the crotch or at the bottom of the pant leg. The pants should fit you precisely.

For more in-depth rules, review the previous pant fit post.

Step 2: Treat khaki (the color) as a suggestion, not the rule.
Try a different color. Navy blues look especially good, especially when paired with a richly colored brown pair of shoe. But be cautious with color chinos, they lose their hue fairly rapidly. Once they begin to fade, it’s time to retire them to weekend duty.

Step 3: Give your ace a break.
It’s good to rest your starter and let the others in your rotation pick up some slack. So occasionally ditch the chinos, and opt for some tropical wool or cotton trousers. The different texture and finish of the fabric will help to liven things up and (if you execute properly) will instantly set you aside from your Dockers loving coworkers.

Step 4: Colors that don’t rhyme with “igloo” for a thousand.
I know guys like blue, and all the variants of the shade. But, branch out! Try the whole color spectrum, just as long as you keep it season-appropriate. No pastels when it’s cold out.

Step 5: Beware thy undershirt.
I’ve written about this previously, but an undershirt is an undershirt. We don’t need to see it, unless you want us to. And in that case give us something cool to look at. Not a plain white, Hanes tshirt. Opt for a V-neck, or a colored crew neck (if your office environment allows for it) with a nice firm elastic band. Or, go with a ‘beater, so that nothing shows.

Step 6: Embrace a pattern.
Solid shirts are good, but can get boring. Nothing livens up an outfit like a quality patterned shirt. You need not go overboard, you are after all supposed to dress more conservatively, but there’s still some room for style. Try either a subtle stripe, or a nice check. You can’t go wrong.

Step 7: Throw on a tie.
Sure, it’s business casual, but a tie doesn’t inherently mean it’s formal (as noted by the recent jeans w/ tie post). A modern outfit, with a modern tie, is refreshing to see in the great fluorescent jungle. Keep it slim (but not pencil thin), with a very subtle pattern and pair it with Step 6 and you’ll be golden.

Step 8: Put something good on your feet.
Casual sneakers, or larger rubbery-soled shoes are not acceptable. However, you don’t have to go with wafer-thin, leather soles of formal dress shoes. Instead, opt for something in between, yet still stylish and modern. Go ahead and splurge, and get 2-3 shoes that you can rotate in and out. Then gradually phase in some newer ones as you go to ensure consistently stylish kicks.

Step 9: Bluetooth headset?
No.

Step 10: A visible Blackberry holster is unacceptable.
Go ahead and suffer the uncomfortableness that is a bulky cellphone in your pocket, so we don’t have to suffer by looking at your brick of a cellphone strapped to your belt loop. You have 4 large pockets, if need be put it in your non-wallet back pocket.

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