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All black dress sense?

charlesmaposa

Why do modern day architects wear all black, or dress in a monochromatic way?  

 
Sep 23, 17 10:43 am

1 Featured Comment

All 32 Comments

Koww

Architects wear all kind of fancy hipster clothes these days. But the all black comes from the 1100s.

Sep 23, 17 11:35 am  · 
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Non Sequitur
I have plenty of colourful dress shirts.
Sep 23, 17 12:08 pm  · 
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it's an affectation from the art world. 

[nose in air] "I wear black, therefore I am an artist.

Sep 23, 17 12:18 pm  · 
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archiwutm8

Therefore I am black.

Sep 23, 17 12:30 pm  · 
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thisisnotmyname

An all-black outfit showing every speck of dirt and drywall dust will help you look extra-stupid while visiting jobsites.

Sep 23, 17 1:07 pm  · 
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randomised

I don't wear black all the time, have only one black sweater, never worked for or with architects that went black monochrome all the time and was never taught by one either, except this one guy who was from an American Ivy league background, maybe that's where it's more common?

Sep 23, 17 1:30 pm  · 
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Schoon

Not just architects.  Designers, techies, "hip" CEOs, really anyone who wants to appear stoic and cultured.  

As I type this I realize I the only two items I bought while shopping the other day were a black sweatshirt and a black running shirt... 

Sep 23, 17 1:42 pm  · 
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sameolddoctor
Too poor to afford other clothes
Sep 23, 17 2:20 pm  · 
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The funny part is of course that it's so funereal.

Sep 23, 17 2:46 pm  · 
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Wilma Buttfit

I have white stripes on my black today. Eye-catching.

Sep 23, 17 6:44 pm  · 
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geezertect

To stand apart from the hoi polloi, of which they secretly know they are a member.

Sep 23, 17 6:48 pm  · 
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Yeah, it hides the dirt.

Sep 23, 17 6:58 pm  · 
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archinine
Black hides the coffee stains and spills
Sep 23, 17 7:08 pm  · 
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ecnal

Architects are generally petrified of colour. 


Sep 24, 17 6:49 am  · 
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Wilma Buttfit

Many men are color blind. So sad.

Sep 25, 17 8:58 am  · 
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To distinguish ourselves from interior decorators, after all we are designers, not decorators.

Sep 24, 17 10:00 am  · 
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joseffischer

Every day I spend pouring over 4.XX sheets, I proudly remind myself that I'm also an exterior decorator!

Sep 28, 17 3:41 pm  · 
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Non Sequitur
I rocked a pink dress shirt with a blue shark pattern to site last week.
Sep 24, 17 11:22 am  · 
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Broadstreetexpresstrain

in grad school I noticed how one of the more popular profs seemed to always where a black turtleneck and then after a while more an d more profs did the same......and then the students started to follow....so when I noticed this ....I balled up my black turtleneck and rarely ever wore it again so as not to appear to be a sheep

Sep 24, 17 5:26 pm  · 
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I'm a fan of the grey/black wardrobe mostly because I went to a school where khakis were the standard. It didn't help that dye colors took a dive for a number of years.

Now I play the game of wearing a hint of day glow color on special occasions- to see if people are actually paying attention.

Sep 24, 17 10:00 pm  · 
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Featured Comment
Wilma Buttfit

Just reinforcing this so we are all clear on this part of the dress code - NO KHAKIS!!!

Sep 25, 17 8:57 am  · 
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Wilma Buttfit

I have a pair of khakis, I break them out when I want to look nerdy.

Sep 28, 17 10:02 am  · 
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Wilma Buttfit

Just no pleats in the pants please. Any color is ok (except khaki). I think really dark rich blues are under represented, probably because they don't go with black. I have blue suede shoes, like the song.



Sep 25, 17 9:02 am  · 
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Non Sequitur

I wore white suede shoes last friday along with a purple shirt and a vintage (stolen from father's wardrobe) navy sport jacket. Today, it's a red shirt with Tim Burton era batman logo cufflinks.

Sep 25, 17 9:33 am  · 
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Wilma Buttfit

Nice! You win.

Sep 25, 17 9:41 am  · 
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Wilma Buttfit

Reminds me, I need to pull out my purple suede coat. It's suede season.

Sep 25, 17 10:16 am  · 
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Non Sequitur

What colour are the buttons? They better be ornate and golden.

Sep 25, 17 12:49 pm  · 
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Wilma Buttfit

They are not. Sorry to disappoint. Good idea though. I can look into some button covers. The ones on it are purple to match.

Sep 25, 17 1:34 pm  · 
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Wilma Buttfit

My first day of studio class I wore yellow pants and a pink batman shirt, all from the Goodwill.

Sep 25, 17 9:04 am  · 
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senjohnblutarsky

What's wrong with khaki?????

Sep 25, 17 9:14 am  · 
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randomised

Nothing if you're Indiana Jones.

Sep 25, 17 9:27 am  · 
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Non Sequitur

khakis are for the engineers.

Sep 25, 17 9:34 am  · 
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Basic uniform style.

Sep 25, 17 5:36 pm  · 
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JonathanLivingston

Dark blue jeans, bright trainer or fancy dress shoes, black Calvin Cline classic crew neck t -shirt shrunk in the wash to the correct size. 

Not sure if this qualifies as "dressing in black" but its my go to everyday attire. I throw a sport coat on if I need to.  

I think the idea behind most people in the all black, at least for me, is to have a "capsule wardrobe"  It's one less decision in a long line of decisions I have to make on a daily basis. The shirt and pants I want are always clean because I own ten of them. I believe you only have so much bandwidth for decisions in a day. Why waste it on what your wearing? 

Sep 25, 17 12:35 pm  · 
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Non Sequitur

...but on the flip side of that statement, if picking clothing in the morning is do demanding on your available mental bandwidth, perhaps you need to reconsider priorities.

Sep 25, 17 12:50 pm  · 
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JonathanLivingston

I prefer to put that time to working out and preparing breakfast for my family. It's not that there isn't bandwidth but prioritization. Maintaining a stylish wardrobe also takes more than just picking out clothes in the morning. You have to shop, try, buy, and repeat seasonally. I have chosen one set, I can order online I know it works and I spend that time, money and effort on myself and the things that are more important.

Sep 25, 17 1:40 pm  · 
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senjohnblutarsky

It's so flakes show. 

Sep 25, 17 1:21 pm  · 
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JonathanLivingston

So dress better to distract from poor hygiene habits?

Sep 25, 17 1:56 pm  · 
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OH BOY! LONG PANTS!

Sep 25, 17 3:18 pm  · 
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s=r*(theta)

Im already black, everyday for the past 39yrs so i jus wear shorts and v-neck t-shirts

Sep 25, 17 4:41 pm  · 
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JLC-1

.

Sep 25, 17 4:54 pm  · 
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randomised

And flip flops too?

Sep 27, 17 11:22 pm  · 
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archanonymous

If it was socially acceptable, I would wear a black cape.


As is, I have 3 identical black suits (and a charcoal grey one), three weeks of identical white button-downs, 1 week of black-button downs, two black blazers (and one grey) and a whole grip of black and dark grey chino pants. It makes everything from laundry to shopping to appearing quietly condescending much easier.

Sep 26, 17 11:20 am  · 
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randomised

Exactly, I mean look at your hat ;-)

Sep 26, 17 1:56 pm  · 
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randomised

I take it all back :) With the right attitude people can pull off basically anything, even khaki short pants...

Sep 27, 17 5:24 am  · 
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TIQM

I wear all black sometimes, but it's only because I'm feeling like Johnny Cash. 

Sep 26, 17 1:00 pm  · 
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randomised

Very valid reason. If you'd also sound like JC that would be even better.

Sep 27, 17 5:26 am  · 
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TIQM

When I sing Get Rhythm in the shower, I do sound just like him.

Sep 27, 17 10:02 am  · 
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joseffischer

Heh, when graduating, all I had were what qualified as church clothes, and a tux. I replaced some of the tux pieces with a black shirt, wore my black boots, and went to interviews. It supposedly worked in my favor because when I finally started work a few months after graduating, multiple people remembered me from my interview as the "johnny cash kid". I heard comments like "Oh, I'm glad we hired cash" or "I was hoping we'd see you again Johnny" for the first month or so. Suffice it to say, 1st week on the job, I dropped about a grand on a new wardrobe.

Sep 28, 17 3:47 pm  · 
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randomised

If it was socially acceptable, I would wear a black cape.


They're not socially accepted? Looks mighty fine to me.




Sep 26, 17 1:19 pm  · 
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archanonymous

You're right. Maybe I've just been lazy in searching.

Sep 26, 17 1:59 pm  · 
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randomised

If I were a bit slimmer and a lot richer I'd go for it, looks really fashion forward.

Sep 27, 17 2:58 am  · 
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∑ π ∓ √ ∞

Black and grey, everyday. Colorful scarf, everyday. Red shoelaces, everyday. Why? Because fuck you.

Sep 27, 17 9:26 pm  · 
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Volunteer

Eat your heart out, Jean Nouvel. Here is the Clint Eastwood of architects.

May 7, 18 8:52 am  · 
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randomised

I think Dr. Evil would win that one, for one million dollar!

May 7, 18 2:06 pm  · 
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Thayer-D

Nothing says like minded sheep like the black and grey uniform of architects.

May 7, 18 10:26 am  · 
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randomised

I'm the only one wearing all black in my office today, whose the sheep now?

May 7, 18 2:08 pm  · 
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Volunteer

Well.....

May 7, 18 2:24 pm  · 
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OneLostArchitect

I’m usually in all black. Due to my skin undertones I don’t look good in a lot of colours. Do I stick with blacks and dark grays

May 7, 18 9:09 pm  · 
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