I'm with J on this one. I know a lot of friends who get bent out of shape over having to look nice at work for some reason. I myself figure that if we're architects and we're professionals we should look as such. I mean, I love wearing cargo shorts and t-shirts, but I wear those after work.

no i didn't buy my pants in ragged condition. basically i just wore them until they were thoroughly worn out and fell off and/or disintegrated into thin air. i have yet to replace them...

i'll probably be shirtless too in a few more weeks.

my codpiece is in the cleaners. yes im embarrassed that i have only the one.

Business casual here too, and I think it's already been mentioned, but it's really all about how you present yourself. I admit that some days I do not present myself well (as in today, wearing linen pants that I have realized are actually now too big for me), but sometimes I wear jeans and a top that look better than my coworkers dress pants and shirts.

Oh and boobage, of course. (Just kidding. I just think it's funny to say "boobage")

I recall the days when everyone in the drafting room tossed their ties over their shoulder just so it didn't end up in the spirol paper holder.
You could always tell when a newbie wan't intune with this practice...cause when they jumped up to go to the print room or to the toilet....they would lift their drawing desk with them and the whole room would break up.

we walked around with our ties tucked in between the second and third button. was always a good chuckle when i went out after work with my tie still tucked in - sorta like walking into a coffee shop, bar, whatever with a name tag after a conference.

we have an older guy in our office who still wears a bow tie, a vestige of the old drafting room days.

Blue Chiffon Dress and Black Wingtips:

Aaah, Spirol management stories...good times....

Steven, I have that problem with red pencils. Before I started biking to work, I could get all the way home or out to dinner somewhere before realizing that I had a red pencil tucked behind my ear.

one of my wife's co-workers once wore silk pajama's to work. granted - they were really nice and very expensive silk pajamas.

business casual = nothing worse than working in an office where everyone is dressed for a round of golf to spontaneously break-out.

i work from home so i frequently dress like puddles.

business casual here as well. although i work on my own 4 out of 5 days a week and can get away w/ really casual if I wish. ie: i'm working from home today wearing shorts, sandals, etc.. . Usually though you'll see me in khakis or jeans w/ a button-up, no tie.

I wear just about anything-in the winter i wear jeans and blouses or salwar kameez, but in the summer I wear nothing but dresses and ocassionally I'll wrap myself up in a saree(when I feel especially girly). I work in a basement so nobody ever sees me anyway. My clothes help keep me from getting (too) depressed.

usually jeans and a button-down shirt tucked in, but sometimes much less casual. my boss is the least casual: almost always jeans and usually a nice t-shirt and flip flops. the other two people in the office usually wear khakis and button-down shirts.

my daily attire
jeans and either
t-shirt or
button-up,
never tucked in.

boss wears daily uniform of jeans, button-up shirt (never tucked in) and Chucks on his feet. he keeps a suit and nice shoes in the closet for community board presentations, but not for clients...they seem to expect him the way he is...both super casual attire and laid back personality.

i also smelled really good today.

self printed t-shirt, ripped jeans (just old, not shop-bought ripped) and a pair of manky trainers.

though i balance this with a good whiff of issey miyake. it's enough to charm the pants off anyone.

from the sounds of it saltyorange, you should stick it to the man.

issey miyake has been my favorite cologne for many many years.

i guess it really boils down to your work/statis...

for instance..

if i was in the shop working on a project and had a deadline...then i had a meeting for a model job or some design build stuff....and i left the shop in my shop attire......i dont think it's a real issue..... usually if i do show up, the client knows that i'm in the shop then we end up talking about what i have been working on.....i dont think i lost a job from being dressed like that....... maybe if i had a big client model where there was some major players at the meeting then i would dress up in all black and bring my portfolio case with me just to get the attention on the case/work and not the fact that i'm in all black ready to bust out some nun-chucks.....haha....

b

Today is Volcom shorts, Adio kicks, and a Lacoste polo.

Back at J,P:A the 'business attire' included Carhartts with welding burns and rust-proofing paint stains, so I consider myself to be 'dressing up', currently.

rationalist, I have been known to reach to put a pencil behind my ear, only to discover that I already have pencils behind both ears. (My ears are well built for such things)

WOW...I wished I worked with all of you. puddles is absolutely my
new hero. He's living, working and dressing how he feels and can still
probably kick my ass in a 5k.
I'm not against business attire for client meetings etc.It's not like we serve a high-end clientele...I mean we have a few local healthcare clients and some small resi development projects
...but the manner in which my boss sticks to this policy
makes me feel it's symptomatic of a greater character flaw.

My boss has tendency to talk down to his employees in front of
clients. He also repeats what you are saying mid stream in a sentence. (Anyone ever have this happen to them?)

I swore off ties after I once passed out from it being too tight. (my first week at a real firm) I was way in the back and I was out a good five minutes. No one noticed. Middle management wore ties, the partners only during presentations.

After I started our firm I now wear shorts from mid April through October. – No ties unless I am appearing before a Village Board. That too depends on the village.

another code of conduct I like to abide by is:

-no tassels on the shoes
-avoid pleated pants...esp. the double and triple...if at all possible
-no gold tone watches or jewelry

Cameron, You met Queen Noor? My parents are from Jordan, as a matter of fact, I am in Jordan right now.

apple seed did you work for Jones partners and associates?? or is that a different jpa?

I don't work in a firm right now. I do accounting work for the largest cash register distributer in the world. I'd say my dress is best described as Texas frat boy. I'm not in a fraternity, but I get asked about it on a daily basis.

Typically from March to September my uniform consists of country club attire. Seersucker shorts, pastel Lacoste shirts, pretty much anything by Polo. I get to wear a hat, and my Chacos, and I keep my office door closed in case any clients come by.

Late September to early March I wear my cowboy boots and country designer jeans. Turn your TV on and watch CMT or GAC. Anything a VJ is wearing is probably pretty close to what I'm wearing.

I like to dress nice for my final crits. Typically I wear something between biz cas and a burberry ad. When I do studio work, I pretty much stick with what I described above, unless I'm in the shop. Then I'll wear my boots, older jeans, a t shirt, and an old Titleist hat.

I don't mind dressing up. If you spend a few extra dollars and have your dress clothes tailored they are more comfortable, and you look/feel a million times better. I dress as casual as I do because I can get away with it, and because I have to walk roughly 2 miles every day in the Texas heat. Once I get a full time office job I'm not opposed to dressing up. In fact, I kind of enjoy it.

Rfuller just reminded me of one of my upper year final crits. The final jury was pretty informal, but my friend and I still dressed nice while everyone else came as they were. Nothing fancy, just dress pants and shirt. But when the various jurors stopped to review our work, more than one thanked us for taking the time to look presentable.

Rob- It would be Jones, Partners: Architecture, dunno if you're thinking of something else. But, yeah-

Salty:
You've seen me!
The wingtips with the tassles are my fav- I have black and blood ox. Brooks Brothers. Clients don't want to meet with an adult who looks like he plays video games all day in a dark room.

I don't like the new style of suit cut- they make people look like 16 year olds grown out of their 13 year old suits. Bob Dylan boots look good with this setup.

saltyorange, unfortunately you probably could beat me in a 5k right now...i've really fallen out of practice since taking a new job several months back. i had been running nearly 10 miles/day and now i'm lucky if i manage two 4 mile runs in a week...oh i really need to start running again...

im wearin these old donald pliners that have a fold down flap so you can wear them as slides. very ez to kick off under the desk, ie i m barefoot right now. the world should enjoy my pretty feet.

dammit mdler! I don't think that was the kind of picture I wanted to be on my browser during work.

Average work attire: pajamas and steel toed boots....

in case I need to kick some ass while sleep-working

tmblwd:

oops, wrong pair

I guess I was thinking more in the line of Beatle boots or Roger McGuinn circa the Byrds- The suit cut is similar to above mentioned.

those are beatle boots dude. i had a pair from the 60s and my roomates stupid dog ate one of them. i was crushed.

Anyone remember the good ol' days and the "Help me [Frank Gehry] find new fashions" thread?

oh yes...i actually saved the frank gehry fashion thread on my hard drive and wish i could figure out an easy way to share here on archinect. that one still gives me good laughs when i look at it

Usual work attire: Business casual is the suppossed rule but you never know when a client is going to drop by. Usually the only people who can get by with this on a daily basis are the Cad techs. Yesterday I had on khaki cargos and a golf shirt and ran into a client out on the street. I always feel a little underdressed since they are typicaly in suits. Always a suit to meetings and I keep a jacket and shirt in my car just in case I have to go to an unexpected meeting. Site visits suit and boots only if the site is muddy. I am actively lobbying for casual Fridays here at work with a rotating theme each week (Hawaiian shirt one, sports team the next, etc. Make it fun).

u dont need anything else...

I think that by wearing a tie these days, you automatically imply that you're owned by someone else (I mostly see car salesmen, bankers, and Men's Warehouse employees wearing them.) Even for big presentations to superrich clients, or public lectures, many architects don't wear ties.

However, a nice suit with an open collar implies that you're capable of dressing nicely, without looking like someone told you to put a tie on.

i typically dress something like this when i go to the job site, just sort of cool and casual. nothing too formal. but you gotta wear the steel-toed.

mad - that's the uniform of my next job; no questions asked!!

Unfortunately I was dressed like an site engineer today, polo shirt, work khakis, work boots. I'll probably be dressed similarly tomorrow - loads of site work to get through. But I will not be donning a hard hat...

i do the helmet/hard-hat with flipflops, can't get better than that

shorts, kicks and shirts.

Somedays I don't take off my riding shoes.

Dress for the job you want - not the job you have...

I like custom shirts too.