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Cool Work Shirts?
RyuMaou asks: "I just started a job today and noticed I was the only guy wearing a golf shirt. Everyone else had long-sleeve button-downs on. So, I got home and went right to ThinkGeek to buy some Tux button-down collar shirts. But, horror of horrors, they were gone! Where can I get them, or others like them? I'd settle for the Geek.com propeller-head logo, but I'd really like Linux logo gear of all kinds. Anyone?"
Are you going to try to make a statement to your cow-orkers? Are you trying to tell them "I'm different!"
Don't. Just be relaxed about what you wear to work, let those folks get to know who you are for a few months.. otherwise they'll label you ("nerd" or something else) and you'll have a hell of a time getting them to look past the label.
-John
From what you're telling us, no one has asked you to stop wearing golf shirts. So what if the others don't? Are you so worried you're not gonna fit in that you have to wear the same type of clothes?
Be yourself and everything will be fine. Who knows maybe some other people will start wearing golf shirts too after a while.
True warriors use the Klingon Google
It's not like I'm old school, I'm in my mid-twenties, but who wears anything but a suit to the first day of work?
Probably someone who doesn't wear a suit to an interview.
I remember when I was younger, I would bitch whenever I had to wear a tie. The fact is that people judge you by how you look, and if you're starting a real job (or even an internship), you're an adult -- dress the part. That doesn't mean you have to wear a tux to work every day (well, if you were a real penguin...), but you don't want to be the frumpiest looking person on the block.
Our office is business casual M-Th, so the guys wear slacks and button down shirts, and used to always wear ties. About a year ago we had a new manager start who is very "new school/dot com", and always wears polo shirts. To rebel, we all started dressing up more. He's supposed to be our boss, and he's always less presentable than the worst of us.
I'm sure it's a regional thing -- since I work in DC I'm around more people who *have* to wear suits every day (thousands of lawyers and political-types). I'm sure it's similar on Madison Ave, and probably not like that at all in Berkley.
My personal rule of thumb though is when it doubt, dress up, especially where work is concerned. Nobody wants to go to a luncheon in a tux and have people think they work there, but what's worse is when you go to work and people think you're a delivery guy.
"All I ever wanted was to see Larry Wall give Bill Gates a Perl necklace."
http://www.eisenschmidt.org/jweisen
I tend to agree with you (and I'm in my early thirties), but...
/.ers won't understand this. It's called ego, people. Grow up, be forewarned, and get with the times!
You have to get a feeling for what the rest of the office will wear and then try to approximate that. (And, of course, take note of any dress codes mentioned in orientation materials.)
Four years ago, as a consultant (not in the U.S.) who was constantly visiting professional clients (banking, industry, etc.), I was required to wear a suit. It made a difference to the clients, too. We sometimes had clients who would mention in conversation to our bosses that they like us more than our competition because we were more knowledgeable, more professional, blah blah, "and at least your guy wears a suit".
Two years ago, as a consultant in Pennsylvania, doing the rounds in New York, D.C., New Jersey, New England, etc., I sometimes wore a suit, but more often I would wear a dress shirt and blazer to dress up, or a long sleeve button down shirt with no tie to dress down one level, or a polo shirt. It all depended on where I was going. Some clients wanted me to dress like them, which meant khakis and polo shirt -- they were intimidated or at least uncomfortable when I wore a suit. Others wanted me to appear professional, and would not have been hapy had I not been wearing at least a long sleeved shirt.
Today, no longer a consultant, I typically wear polo shirts or a long-sleeved shirt and khakis. Very rarely will I wear a tie. I quite like to know I'm well-dressed, but it would make me stand out and, more importantly, would make my co-workers slightly less comfortable. Ultimately, that slight psychological difficulty can have a small but very real adverse effect on your professional relationships.
But what if I know I have a meeting with managers from other departments? I'll dress up a notch -- it's appropriate in that case, and I want them to go away with a good impression.
Look, really, you have two options. You can be a geek and attempt to impress based purely on your technical skills, or you can be a professional (and still a geek) and dress appropriately. There are plenty who will kick and scream and yell that all that matters is that they know their job. And they will never rise very far, because they are in an imaginary world which bears less and less resemblance to the real world. According to the Gartner Group studies on this topic, we're on a timeline where technical skills have gone from a relevance level of 65% down to 35%. Project management skills, interpersonal relationship skills, and other such management skills have become more and more esteemed and important.
All of which, of course, is totally off-topic to the original question, because I have no other suggestions on where to acquire the specific clothing items that the poster asked about. But the fact is that if you are concerned about your career as opposed to just your job then today it is crucial for a geek to grow up out of the immature "I can wear tee-shirts and sandals because I'm a genius" mentality and realise that in the vast majority of workplaces it does make a difference what you wear. If in doubt, start off playing it safe by dressing one notch above what the standard is, and then aim to fit in with the company culture. If you want to declare your geekiness in such a situation, then by all means go for the button-downs with the small and tasteful Tux logo, if that's appropriate. I know the original poster understands this; that's why he asked the question. I also know that many