wow.
i wear jeans and a t-shirt daily.
as do my bosses unless there is a meeting.

i worked at a place that was upscale. ironically the work produced in that office was total shit.

Sounds like you need to find a place where you fit in :) …or simply deal with the agony of being unhappy. I say go for the aforementioned.

hilarious vent, salty orange. i'm sorry you have to suffer through such a dissatisfying job to be able to write so eloquently about it.

if it's any consolation, we're business casual, though i've been wearing a white shirt and gray pants ever since grad school. it's my personal uniform.

"business cas" here as well. Which means quite a variety of things to me, depending on my mood that day.

general rule: always dress like a client might drop in any time...because they do.

jeans, t-shirts, and flip flops...my billionaire clients wear the same

jean & t-shirt here...sometimes i wear a skirt and a button down shirt for a meeting.

t-shirt....shorts or military cargo pants.... hat..head phones...

but my office is the local coffee shop...

and my shop is my friends garage....

i'm looking for a loft space once i money rolling again........ time to upgrade/etc....

cryzko - that's perfect, that's what i want a simple life with a latte at arm's reach

you should take a picture of your office and share with us.

Oh and I wear a short sleave button down and brown trousers most days (some days I go full architect on them wearing full black - down to my boxers) and on fridays its dross/dress down. I don't make it extreme but usually wear jeans and a polo shirt

we enforce jeans and t-shirts in the office. I'll wear a suit if I'm going to a meeting or presenting but other than that... wear what you like.

I wore my archinect t-shirt to meet Queen Noor last month.

/a no tie policy is what I brokered in taking a job at Gensler back in 1999. not that hardly anyone did.

Steven's right about wearing client appropriate attire. One solution is to move someplace where the clients don't wear ties.

When I worked in DC we had to wear ties every freaking day. I was making $12 an hour and wearing a tie. Ridiculous. In retrospect, I should have been a valet.

I am not all for ties and corporate formality either, but jeans and a t-shirt at work is a form of extended adolescence to me...grow up! I think how we present ourselves plays a huge part into how we are perceived by others outside of our own distorted archi-world view.

i think the trends are against you, bryden. the jeans/tees trends are slow to hit my mid-midwest, but i can see it coming here too. 'grow up' and 'extended adolescence' are examples of old guard thinking. in the boomer-power phase, business seems to be wholly against growing up; loosening up is the name of the game.

and it's not about architects. in fact, i think we're more straight-laced/buttoned-up than others of our peers.

Clothing is all about social perception and nothing about "growing up". We dress in ties and shirts because the powers that be used to dress that way but they do not any more. Yet we (the not rich) are stuck there.
I have a theory that the middle classes are the only ones that 'dress up' with ties and etc... any more. I have noticed some of my richer friends that dress up in tank tops and t-shirts (albeit ones that cost at least $200) daily because they an get away with it.

The tie+tucked-in shirt = Uniform of the working class

As for me, I am stuck dressing up because my social class is stuck dressing up for now.

oh, and I have worked in both types of offices and the ones with less strict dress codes are usually the better firms.

i personally love neckties. i feel that it is always a benefit to have something around one's neck if the world becomes to much of a burden to carry. the real issue for neckties, however, is the recent phenomenon of men's dress fashion actually changing more quickly than in years past. my father's generation could wear the same striped to tie for twenty years and noone would think anything of it. but, when i see some poor schlump working at barnes and noble wearing a tie from the early 90's, without the slightest hint of sartorial irony, well i just feel sad.

that said, i am wearing flat front pinstripe trousers, an oxford pinpoint broadcloth shirt, checked socks and gordon rush shoes. don't be afraid of fashion. it won't kill you (unless you hang yourself with your mandatory sartorial anachronism)

jeans, fred perry, for me, rest of the office similar..t-shirts totally acceptable.
in all honesty one of the reasons i became an architect was because i didnt want to wear a tie.

Bumble F@#% PA, USA sounds like a peaceful place.


..worked for and EA firm and all the engineers wore ties. The architects wore various architectural uniforms none of which included wearing ties. They looked at us like we are unprofessional and non-supportive of the overall effort. They treated like crap. They need us so we didn’t care.

…as I get older I find I am wearing more pants and shirts and sometimes a jacket. It maybe a genetically coded thing. All of a sudden it simply feels more comfortable, it looks correct.
I still haven’t done the tie thing.

The First time you meet a client or are negotiating (talking money) it is a formal gesture and still tends to follow traditional norms, beyond that it is get to work role up your sleeves time and a shirt and tie seems to be less critical


….I worked for the New York City Parks department in the early 90s. The commissioner who was an avid swimmer and was effectively your client would show up for meetings in wet swim trunks a tshirt and his dog. That is casual.

i enjoy wearing a tie sometimes...the trick is that i have the option. it's much more bearable when you have the choice.

nothing wrong with jeans & t-shirt provided they are expensive enough. if the t-shirt cost upwards of $100 and the jeans $200 (i.e., if it's good enough to impress someone like paris hilton) then i really don't see a problem with. to me, the bigger issue regarding "adolescent" clothing revolves around the idea of adults wearing t-shirts with sponge rob square pants on them...or even worse, wearing clothing that's clearly a size or two too large.

i enjoy wearing a tie sometimes...the trick is that i have the option. it's much more bearable when you have the choice.

nothing wrong with jeans & t-shirt provided they are expensive enough. if the t-shirt cost upwards of $100 and the jeans $200 (i.e., if it's good enough to impress someone like paris hilton) then i really don't see a problem with. to me, the bigger issue regarding "adolescent" clothing revolves around the idea of adults wearing t-shirts with sponge rob square pants on them...or even worse, wearing clothing that's clearly a size or two too large.

i enjoy wearing a tie sometimes...the trick is that i have the option. it's much more bearable when you have the choice.

nothing wrong with jeans & t-shirt provided they are expensive enough. if the t-shirt cost upwards of $100 and the jeans $200 (i.e., if it's good enough to impress someone like paris hilton) then i really don't see a problem with. to me, the bigger issue regarding "adolescent" clothing revolves around the idea of adults wearing t-shirts with sponge rob square pants on them...or even worse, wearing clothing that's clearly a size or two too large.

internet explorer sucks...i'm only posting from safari from now on...

oh, and one more observation..."business casual" is just code for golf clothes. if you dislike golf as much as i do, then everytime i hear those words i want to run away...very fast

Loin cloths and togas

All Naked Policy at our office...the Dogs Love it!

I work in a corporate firm.

I wear heels every day.

I prefer to be over-dressed to the opposite, but really it's all about context.

For example: I was wearing jeans and a T-shirt the other day - well-put together, appropriately accessorized, etc., - not sloppy, I only dress sloppy to paint the house.

My partner and I were headed over to a construction site, and he mentioned that we might also meet a new client of ours that I have not met yet.

So I had to clarify: are we meeting new client at the other client's construction site, or are we going to the new client's home?

Because to me, meeting a client for the first time while wearing jeans and a T-shirt is acceptable in the former situation, but not the latter, and I was ready to go home and change.

Then again, I'm someone who worries over whose name is said first when making introductions - there are etiquette rules around this, as I'm sure you all know.

And Salty, yeah - get the hell out of Bumble&$%! PA.

If I wanted to wear a suite and tie every day I wouldh have become an orthodox rabbi.

would fire us if we wore a suit.

It's minimum dockers and collared (no tie unless meetings) shirts around here. The women do whatever they feel like. It's the opposite of the Boomer-owned power around here. But at least we have casual Fridays. Which you still have to be careful about.

That said, last place I was at it was wear whatever you want, come in whenever you want, leave whenever you want, as long as the job gets done. So it's a bit of a straitjacket for me here.

I'd prefer to wear my motocross jersey and jeans every day but people here are way too uptight. I can't wait to move away and find a more casual firm.

I recall one of my first meetings with the head of a Major Record Label. I was introduced to him by a contractor. He was considering selling his existing house by splitting it off from a larger piece of property and building a new home overlooking his vineyard and moving and existing art gallery building to the same area. Anyhow I show up and the guy looking nothing like you would think a major
player would look. It was a nice summer day so we walk around the place walk thru the gallery and my jaw is basicly on the floor the whole time and stroll around in the vinyard and find a new spot to locate his gallery and build a new house. We go back to the house and he brews me up a cup of java as we wait for his wife cause she is off doing something. I get the grand tour of the house with the Billion Dollar View. All the time he is in T-shoes, shorts and a cheap
ole Old Navy Tee shirt. So never never judge one by how they dress.

by the way, I don't see the way you dress as "imperssing a client". They want to be impressed look at our WORK.

Otherwise, if you want "adolescent".....well......eat my pubes.

shit, i mean IMPRESSING. peanut-butter-fingers.

jeans and sneakers are fine. I've worn t-shirts, but not with prints on them - plain fitted v-necks for example. Today I'm wearing a hoodie, jeans, sneakers with no laces, no jewelry, hair is barely combed. One of the principals wears flip-flops, the other wears cowboy boots. Business casual for meetings and presentations - usually a skirt (but no hosiery for chrissakes), a blazer over a camisole and leather flats.

I think our clients would laugh at us if someone was wearing a tie. If you wear a tie in this town, you'd better be a banker or salesman.

People will always judge you by how you look. It's not right, but it's a fact. Thus I always strive to dress a little nicer because I do really love fashion and I've been carrying a little extra my whole life so I've taken pains to be sure I didn't look slovenly.

This is a great question-bc you can be hung by what you wear..that being said as the son of a boomer-suit wearing-conservative-get it done-business man i was taught that interviews should always be attended in suit and tie. When i had finished my sophomore year of undergrad(now entering senior year), i applied for an intership at great little firm whose work had captivated me and could see myself working on their projects. Sent them the ol' res and portfolio and was soon called by the partner for an interview. Sweet i thought, my work must be good. I go to said interveiw in a suit and tie. the interview lasted dos minutes. i didnt get the job. everyone in the office was wearing jeans and shoes that cost more then my undergrad education (theyr really looked slick). Any way my rant/point is that i think how you dress conveys something about the way you design. Its like the architecture of your body. If your desings are suit and tie...wear that. If your designs are more cool shoes, and jeans...wear that. That way your design and clients, and dress will probably all mesh. that would be my dos cents.

Someone said to me once, if they noticed what you were wearing, you didn't smile enough.

Of course you are judged by how you look, but you can't control people judging you no matter what, it is out of your control. If you dress up, one might judge you uptight and pretentious and it would all backfire, no? Might as well please yourself, be comfortable, and let your work and personality do the impressing and not your wardrobe.

I am sure this is also a local culture thing too.


(considering you at least don't look like a bum or a streetwalker)

haha, agreed- as for the my office (in D.C.) i wear slim jeans, and a shirt tucked in. I always wear my driving shoes i got in Istanbul, and my belt i got in spain..casual but hopefully put together looking.

so if you wear your archinect t-shirt, are you still a slacker?

personally, i do respect someone more if he or she is wearing a suit, but only if that suit is well tailored and clearly not bought at the jcpenney in 1997.

some here will fight it, but if you're wearing jeans and a t-shirt, you're more likely to be treated as a kid by certain people. make all the excuses you like about wealthy clients doing it, it's really just a fact of life.

rob(E), I've interviewed at places like the one you described and my impression of THEM was that they were all snobs who I wouldn't have wanted to work with anyway.

even if your applying to the trendiest firm on the planet, i dont think wearing jeans/tshirt/sneakers to a job interview would be a good idea.

i wish that somebody would tell me how to look...

but if i have to dress myself then my personal preference is for clothes that are so tattered as to being on the verge of falling off my body. i keep in decent physical shape so this tends to be interpreted as a "pretty hot look" on my part. it's not quite the derelicte of zoolander fame but is partially inspired by the best work of fabio with an equal part of iclandic underprivileged orphan...i call it "raggy fabulous" or just "raggy fab"

I stand by my post, in my own experience the offices that have their employees running around in t-shirts and jeans are also the offices that pay them in rocks and pebbles.

my firm is business casual....which our employees interpret as jeans and a t-shirt. i'll usually wear slacks and a collared or button down polo. then on random days i'll throw on a nice button down with a tie just to overdress. i surely do love ties.

puddles: do you have to buy your pants already in ragged condition? 'cuz if you're not wearing them regularly, how would they ever get ragged in the first place?

i buy my pants pre stained, that way when i spill shit on them in the future they don't look funny

i'm wearing my new National T-shirt today... they are going to be on Letterman tonight

I'm too young and new to the profession to defy anything. So I just roll with business attire. I feel like I'm taken more serious anyway and feel better about doing things. Basically, I have absolutely no problem dressing nice.

Oh, and none of us wear ties. That's good enough for me.