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Architect's existential crisis.

I joined the profession exclusively for the fashion: the designer glasses and all black attire. But now I find myself wanting to wear pink, and purple, and lime green. Shit. Cant believe I signed up for this.

Am I still an architect? 

 
Jun 14, 14 7:28 pm
( o Y o )

Only if you stay monochromatic.

Jun 14, 14 7:46 pm  · 
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RemIsActuallyAnAutobot

I have heard legends that brown is also acceptable.

Jun 14, 14 7:56 pm  · 
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gruen
Only if pink. Or yellow. Or, essentially any color. Errrr.. Ub trollin
Jun 14, 14 9:35 pm  · 
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I never wear black.
Jun 15, 14 12:47 am  · 
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snooker-doodle-dandy

Dude you only have to get concerned when you go Corb!   That is nude for those in the know.

Jun 15, 14 11:23 am  · 
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snooker-doodle-dandy

Dudette you only have to get concerned when you go Corb!  That is nude for those in the know.  Not sure if Maureen is a guy or a gal.

Jun 15, 14 11:24 am  · 
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toasteroven

where I am most of the creative types now largely get around by bicycle - so "high-visibility" colors are now acceptable.

Jun 15, 14 1:32 pm  · 
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Every wanna-be design type is now wearing chunky glasses, black, and scarves.  So you go on with yourself wearing those bright colors; in a few years everyone will be copying you!

Jun 15, 14 7:24 pm  · 
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sameolddoctor

I had the same problem until i decided to dress like this:

 

Jun 15, 14 8:42 pm  · 
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I bought a suit today.  It is, indeed, black. Every woman's suit that is not black looks like something a proper old Southern lady would wear to the wedding of an acquaintance.  

Jun 16, 14 12:00 am  · 
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Non Sequitur

I only own 1 black shirt, I wear whatever colour I grab from the closet... sometimes it's pink, purple or flashy atomic blue, it matters not because my white suede shoes go with everything including the lego cuff-links regardless of belt colour of juvenile fashion rules.

I think anyone who makes a character assumption based on clothing deserves ridicule. Fashion is not a skill and treating it as such is just sad.

Jun 16, 14 11:22 am  · 
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archanonymous

I only wear the Pantone color of the year. 

Jun 16, 14 3:01 pm  · 
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"Fashion is not a skill".

Non Sequitur, do you believe that design is a skill?

Jun 16, 14 3:35 pm  · 
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curtkram

I don't think the dude would look nearly as good as he does in the above picture if fashion was not a skill.

pantone says

sherwin williams is, of course, more nuanced (complicated if you will)

Jun 16, 14 3:45 pm  · 
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Non Sequitur

Buying a purple shirt and wearing it while it's high on the fashion trend scale is not a skill just like picking out design eye-wear or using an Iphone is not a skill. Taste is arbitrary and fashion rules are just so stupid.

Donna, if you consider fashion (specifically how one chooses to dress rather than the industry) and architectural design to be equal, then no, design is not a skill in that respect. Wearing things because they are, for some reason, popular, takes no skill, just a few dollars.

The real skill in design lies in one's ability to convince another that their arbitrary ideas are worth money, which... unfortunately, the fashion industry does much better at than us architects.

Jun 16, 14 4:11 pm  · 
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archanonymous

When i find a shirt (especially solid-color, comfortable t-shirts and button-downs) that I like, I usually buy 3 in black, 3 in grey, and one of each color. I dislike shopping enough to justify it.

 

Being good with fashion is like having skill at assembling a building with 100% off-the-shelf parts and assemblies - hard, but not impossible, and most people look mostly the same.

The fashion industry is actually easier to compare to architecture than say, the automotive industry ( a common comparison as of late). The majority of people don't know and don't care what is being produced or theorized on by the fashion designers. Those who do know, think everyone else is a luddite, and there is a huge market in clothes not designed by the trend-setters. 

Jun 16, 14 4:47 pm  · 
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SEEING THRU CLOTHES

The origin of the 'simple black dress' and the male eqiv all black suit is existenalist fashion. Post ww2  Left Bank Paris intellectuals wore black, the traditional 'in morning' dress. It was picked up intellectuals as a symbolis costume and has something to do with man's inhumanity to man, etc.

French actress JUliet Greco popularied the look, Audrey Hepburn parodied the Look in FUNNY FACE.

Nowadays the Look is 'de rigour' for wanna-be intellectuals. Black also make you look slimmer.

 

Jun 16, 14 5:37 pm  · 
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curtkram

lots of good reasons to wear black.

http://youtu.be/ZCqpPj87ekE

Jun 16, 14 5:59 pm  · 
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awaiting_deletion

Can't tell you how many times I have seen shear disappointment in potential clients when I show up in jeans, whatever available dress shirt from the rack, and unshaven for a few days. I literally see my fee drop right then and there.

Jun 16, 14 8:54 pm  · 
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Broadstreetexpresstrain

So what if your black? should I wear white?

Jun 16, 14 8:57 pm  · 
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Broadstreetexpresstrain

This whole notion of what a designer looks like is ridiculous. For all of my adult professional life in this profession life I have laughed at this stereotypical notion because I defy it. I recommend hat others do the same because I have found that  the best designers that I have worked with including myself have been mostly normal people that would more likely wear an Eagles  baseball cap Than wear a pretentious , stereotypical  "hey I"m an Architect/Designer "  costume.

Jun 16, 14 9:13 pm  · 
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But Broadstreet, Olaf nails it: for some clients, what you wear *really* matters.  For some clients, it doesn't.  I guess the solution is to know your market.

Non Sequitur, I do agree that tossing on a trendy shirt takes no skill.  But putting together a really good, considered outfit definitely does. 

Jun 16, 14 10:43 pm  · 
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drewjmcnamara
If you are consciously wearing an eagles tshirt to show how normal you are, you are attempting to convey the same message in the same system that people who dress as "designers" are. Choosing clothes is never a "whatever" task. Aesthetics and presentation and surface always play a major role in society. Why try to ignore it.
Jun 17, 14 1:40 am  · 
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drewjmcnamara
The above post wasn't meant to direct any negativity at wearing Eagles shirts nor is it an endorsement of "costumes". Just to comment on the way our decisions are made and in what context.
Jun 17, 14 7:10 am  · 
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Wilma Buttfit

I make my own clothes.

Bros... do you even design?

Jun 17, 14 7:16 am  · 
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awaiting_deletion

No - Eagles shirt is just a bad choice, even I know that.

Jun 17, 14 6:11 pm  · 
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Broadstreetexpresstrain

The eagles hat (not shirt) was used as a metaphor to represent normality as opposed to the contrived "designer costume - all black clothes and or vibrant polychromatic plaid suits and Bow ties with impecably coifed pompedor hair cuts with circular broad rimmed glasses).  I know, understand and practice the motto that you must dress for the position and moment  in order to be taken seriously by clients willing to pay hundreds of thousands and millions to get their projects designed and built. In the end, your performance should speak louder than your "costume." If the costs becomes the focus then one must re-evaluate priorities.

Jun 19, 14 1:55 pm  · 
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Broadstreetexpresstrain

The eagles hat (not shirt) was used as a metaphor to represent normality as opposed to the contrived "designer costume - all black clothes and or vibrant polychromatic plaid suits and Bow ties with impecably coifed pompedor hair cuts with circular broad rimmed glasses).  I know, understand and practice the motto that you must dress for the position and moment  in order to be taken seriously by clients willing to pay hundreds of thousands and millions to get their projects designed and built. In the end, your performance should speak louder than your "costume." If the costume  becomes the focus then one must re-evaluate priorities.

Jun 19, 14 2:00 pm  · 
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archanonymous

I have had excellent success using costumes for various purposes. In college, I would frequently go "cause trouble" in a 3-piece suit. It is like an invisibility cloak when police officers look at you.

Jun 19, 14 2:26 pm  · 
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RobSol

that's what being an architect is, op.

Jun 20, 14 12:45 am  · 
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vado retro

most architects are horribly dressed. this does not mean that their clothes are out of style or that they are ill fitted. although this is the case much of the time. the others are attempting to be so avant garde that they have become parodies of a stereotype. the corbu glasses, the giant triangular necklaces. the minimalist white on black, or black on white or black on black ensembles that are purchased in exclusive shops that are designed to resemble bare shelved pyongyang boutique.

Jun 20, 14 6:29 pm  · 
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( o Y o )

They're afraid to not hire me.

Jun 20, 14 6:42 pm  · 
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Carrera

This is all fun, but serious. It matters on market/local/clientele. I suppose if you are doing cottages up in The Hampton's some jeans and frumpy jacket fits, if you are in an urban environment not. Look at your leaders, people you aspire to be and follow them. Dress like where you want to go in life not where you are in life. Figuring out how to look like an architect I think is a skill; some I’ve seen look the part and are better off for it.

I think women have it tough, too many choices. Follow Aalto, keep it simple.

Jul 18, 14 2:40 pm  · 
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