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?"

Comments

Why?

[DreamerFi]

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

Re:Why?

[4of12]

Right on.

I'd suggest you go spend some serious money on some really nice quality dress shirts and pick up several nice ties (hint: anything with cartoon characters or colors is not a good choice). The shirts should come from a nice mens store with hardwood floors and not cost less than $80 apiece. A jacket and wool slacks are a good idea, too.

You'll go a lot further and have a nicer time as someone who appears to know what they're doing and can afford to relax with a dude attitude than as someone who appears to escaped from high school and happens to be incredibly mature, sensitive, thoughtful and intellectual on the inside (the RMS approach).

It's a much harder row to hoe to make the real you shine through clothing that says something different to other people.

After a few weeks dressed up, go ahead and wear your tux shirt on the weekend.

Come again?

[0x0d0a]

You're worried about a lack of formality...so you're wearing ThinkGeek clothing?

Did I miss something?

Chic

[AndyAMPohl]

A linux shirt? Hmmm. Did you try the local Versace? I heard they're on sale at Barneys, but you better act quick. Just off the runways in New York, Vogue, GQ, etc. are all saying this *is* the hottest new look for the fall. They all thought the return of Twiggy (the world's first supermodel) would be the talk of the Milan fashion show, but instead it was Alan Cox who turned heads when he was led out onto the stage by the lead designer in the house of ThinkGeek. Standing ovations, curtain calls, the whole nine yards. Good luck finding the shirt! Andy

WTF?

[Faux_Pseudo]

We have reached a time in the world where nerds are now asking for
fashion advice. I am not sure if this person is so out of touch with
reality that he is unaware that he is asking for the blind to lead the
blind or if some major paradigm shift has happened in the world that
I must have missed while hacking away at my terminal that is lit 24
hours a day by just a red light and has days worth of dishes
piled up on the the top of the shelves that house all of my O'Reilly
books.

Can someone try to clear this up for me?

Well I guess

[Screaming Lunatic]

When your mommy stops dressing you, you have to turn to CmdrTaco, CowboyNeal, & Co.

And your asking for fashion tips from /. Dude, I have two coding shirts that I rotate. The first one is neon orange and says, "It's my duty, to please that booty." The other one was from a Math Contest I won in high school with a Maple plot of:

tubeplot([3*cos(2*t) + cos(3*t), -3*sin(2*t) + sin(3*t), 1.2*sin(5*t)], t=0..2*Pi, radius=0.6);

If your gonna ask a fashion question on /. ask what fabrics are coke-resistant. Ask what the best way is to print off Natalie Portman pics to paste onto t-shirts. Ask how to install the Linux kernel on your zipper. Ask how to build a Beowulf cluster of leisure suits.

Tux

[D.A. Zollinger]

Mmmmm, our favorite penguin...

Solutions

[codeButcher]

1. The surf kiddie's solution: Go to your Kinko's (or whatever's the right store for the stuff - it's been a few years since I've been on the left side of the Atlantic), buy some iron-on paper for your printer, download (or draw) the graphic(s) of your choice, print, iron on plain shirt and wear.

2. The Real Hacker(TM)'s solution: pick up that old sewing machine your mom threw out, modify to do some computer-aided embroidery, hack a Linux driver for it, download/draw, embroider on plain shirt, wear.

Both would seem to me to make much more of an individualistic statement than those ThinkGeek-wannabe stuff.

Now let's please keep Ask/. open for the really important stuff, like moving or dieting...

Don't worry be happy

[codexus]

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.

Bowling shirts

[extra88]

It's never too early to start working on your manager to get bowling shirts for everyone in your group. Tell him it would be a morale booster, that it would be good for team building. Tell him that's what the boss did at your last job (leave out the part about your last job being at a bowling alley).

Your dressed casually to the first day of work?

[fooguy]

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.

Re:Your dressed casually to the first day of work?

[sclatter]

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?

No one wears a suit to work in Silicon Valley. Now if you go up to the city and check out the financial institutions I am sure there are suit wearers. But in my eight years working in the valley itself anyone wearing a suit has been nothing but a subject for derision. This was not a dot com boom phenomenon, either. There were perhaps more pink haired, pierced folks around during the boom days, but the dress code has pretty much stayed the same since I've worked here.

Someone showing up for an interview in a suit might as well have "I'M NEW HERE" stamped on their forehead. Usually the very first thing they are told is to lose the suit.

The sales guys don't wear suits. Even the CEOs don't wear suits. Sure, their button-down shirts are probably tailor made and cost a mint, and their slacks are impeccably pressed, but there is no tie in sight, much less a jacket.

People who are not "customer facing" generally can dress however they like as long as the relevant parts are covered. At my current job many of the engineers wear shorts and sandals all the time. Jeans and t-shirts are very common, too. I usually go for khakis or something similar, with jeans on Friday.

Sarah

Hear (being half of "hear hear")

[kiwimate]

I tend to agree with you (and I'm in my early thirties), but...

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 /.ers won't understand this. It's called ego, people. Grow up, be forewarned, and get with the times!

It's ALOHA Friday

[MrIcee]

As the song says... "it's aloha friday... no work till monday".

Here in da islands everyone wears aloha shirts. The only proper way to wear them is not tucked in. The shirts are colorful, extremely comfortable, and make a very loud statement.

Buck the tradition and switch to aloha shirts (try here for a selection).

From one extreme...

[Captain Large Face]

.. to the other.

First you go in casual, next you're going in wearing a Tux?