Dressing up Dressing down

[alden]

Dressing up Dressing down

It’s called the dressing yo-yo. Dress up for work. Dress down for casual.
If you want to improve your dress trying inversing the age old formula, and find a good balance point in your dress. Remember, the elegant man simply dresses.

Observing businessman over the years on both sides of the Atlantic I have found they do themselves no favors when dressing up, putting on the dog, as it were. Too much dress for work is a very bad idea. The flashy pocket square, cufflinks, brightly striped shirt, dandified socks and shoes, and a tie that cries out to be seen have no place in the workplace. Try “dressing down” at work, that is, as soberly as possible. Tone it down a notch or two, because if you don’t you may incite a nasty malady that afflicts most men, envy. The dreaded E word, that squirming in the pit of the stomach that will turn friends to enemies and allies to nemesis. If you are tall, dark and handsome. Be advised to look short, squat and plain. Or else…suffer the consequences.

But envy is not the only reason to adopt the policy of modest dress. If you do not offend you have more of a chance to rally. I remember a talk given by the technology entrepreneur Guy Kawasaki (http://blog.guykawasaki.com) to a group of VCs, he advised “never lend money to tech entrepreneurs who use cologne or drive German cars!” It’s pretty good advice.

If modesty is the best policy at work it is ill advised at play. Here is your chance to shine in those wonderful moments of freedom and self expression during which most men “dress down” into the black hole of tattered jeans, polo shirts won during a last visit to Acapulco and tennis shoes Stan Smith would never have agreed to wear.

So try “dressing up” in your casual dress. It will do wonders for your outlook on life. Now is the time to pull out all the stops, and treat the world to a solid vision of masculine elegance.

Now, this approach, has real tactical advantages for our younger, single readers. The old saying tells us about the importance of first impressions. So look your best at all times. Try getting up on the weekends and dressing well from the moment that first wave of hot coffee burns your lips and you swallow the ibuprofen to compensate for Friday night’s excesses. Once you get the hang of it, you will be dressing elegantly just to stay home. You never know who might knock on the door asking to borrow a cup of coffee.

The elegant man does not dress up or down, he dresses. Give it a try.

[Sator]

I always like to remind people of the origins of the lounge suit - beach and country resort wear. It is meant to be a higher kind of slob wear - loose and easy going. That's why cutters started to cut the garment with more drape to get away from the very fitted look that is the sine qua non of the body coat. Informality is the very raison d'etre of this garment.

A hint of the true origins remains in that in the City of London lounges suits with checks, plaids and windowpanes were traditionally frowned upon for the workplace and would evoke snide comments such as "off to the country are we?" I do think they are still fine as casual dress such as lazy weekends in the city for brunch or coffee. But they should be kept out of the workplace like the plague.

Would I wear a lounge suit to the beach? Yes, of course! A tan coloured linen lounge with a bow tie and a linen shirt would be perfect. I would have no shame in turning up to the Barbecue (that great Australian institution) similarly attired either. As for ties, I regard them as essential on any collared shirt. The tie is to the shirt what doing up the fly is to trousers. Even a day cravatte is pushing it.

[storeynicholas]

Dressing up Dressing down

It’s called the dressing yo-yo. Dress up for work. Dress down for casual.
If you want to improve your dress trying inversing the age old formula, and find a good balance point in your dress. Remember, the elegant man simply dresses.

Observing businessman over the years on both sides of the Atlantic I have found they do themselves no favors when dressing up, putting on the dog, as it were. Too much dress for work is a very bad idea. The flashy pocket square, cufflinks, brightly striped shirt, dandified socks and shoes, and a tie that cries out to be seen have no place in the workplace. Try “dressing down” at work, that is, as soberly as possible. Tone it down a notch or two, because if you don’t you may incite a nasty malady that afflicts most men, envy. The dreaded E word, that squirming in the pit of the stomach that will turn friends to enemies and allies to nemesis. If you are tall, dark and handsome. Be advised to look short, squat and plain. Or else…suffer the consequences.

But envy is not the only reason to adopt the policy of modest dress. If you do not offend you have more of a chance to rally. I remember a talk given by the technology entrepreneur Guy Kawasaki (http://blog.guykawasaki.com) to a group of VCs, he advised “never lend money to tech entrepreneurs who use cologne or drive German cars!” It’s pretty good advice.

If modesty is the best policy at work it is ill advised at play. Here is your chance to shine in those wonderful moments of freedom and self expression during which most men “dress down” into the black hole of tattered jeans, polo shirts won during a last visit to Acapulco and tennis shoes Stan Smith would never have agreed to wear.

So try “dressing up” in your casual dress. It will do wonders for your outlook on life. Now is the time to pull out all the stops, and treat the world to a solid vision of masculine elegance.

Now, this approach, has real tactical advantages for our younger, single readers. The old saying tells us about the importance of first impressions. So look your best at all times. Try getting up on the weekends and dressing well from the moment that first wave of hot coffee burns your lips and you swallow the ibuprofen to compensate for Friday night’s excesses. Once you get the hang of it, you will be dressing elegantly just to stay home. You never know who might knock on the door asking to borrow a cup of coffee.

The elegant man does not dress up or down, he dresses. Give it a try.

I am sorry, I have not mastered the art - of using the 'quote' system - I wish to comment - on the passage which begins 'If you are tall dark and handsome.......suffer the consequences' The consequences, in case anyone wants to know are ............ a handful of dust. Just don't ask me how I know this.
NJS

[nioh]

Well put Michael.

The biggest problem with people dressing up, is the false notion of being well dressed. Just because you put a suit and a tie on, doesn't mean much unless you do it right.
Sadly the issue of being well dressed no matter what the occasion is slowly disappearing with not only a more casual work environment but also in the noise of today's logo branding and rather showing your peers where you've bought that new sweater than for whom.

[Costi]

I think “dresssing up” is a form of imposture, while “dressing down” reveals the actual level when one doesn’t try to “appear”. A man used to being “dressed down” most of the time will look awkward and contrived when “dressing up”. That balance point Mr. Alden talks about is essential for acquiring a natural, at ease attitude with any degree of formality of dress. Elegance is not a show for the world to see, it is an intrinsic part of one’s character, of which one cannot disrobe when alone in the intimacy of one’s home or on a Sunday picnic.

[Sir Royston]

I remember one company i worked for had that horrendous "Dress Down friday" thing going on.. So I initiated "Dress Up Monday" which worked well.. turn up for work in your best City 3 piece and a Bowler!!

Then again, I took Dress down Friday very tongue in cheek and used to wear a tweed suit instead!!

i know I know that i should not have in town.. but .. one has to show them how its done.. Ahem!!

[HappyStroller]

Dressing up for Mondays! Brilliant, Sir Royston.

Wise advice, Alden, Sator and Costi.

I admit I do dress up to impress most of the time and sometimes to make social meals less dull. But the particular choice would be designed to fit the occassion as much as possible. And it is usually more elegant to tone down design and colour. Still, I try to dress appropriately for the particular social company one is with at the ruling moment.

[NicolausN]

See now, this thread confuses me. It is said that one should dress down for business and dress up for play. Yet, I'm not sure that we have the same meanings here.

It seems that so far those who have responded in this thread believe that dressing down versus up is a matter of... showiness? or perhaps plain versus ornamented? This is different than how I have heard the terms used (BTW I'm in the US and there might be slight differences in vocabulary). When somebody tells me I'm dressed up it's because I'm at a higher level of formality than they are. So, when I wear my black cap toe shoes and a charcoal three piece with white handkerchief and plain tie to work, I usually get funny looks from those who don't know me and the occasional "Why are you so dressed up?" comment from self-conscious others. When I wear a jacket and tie when going out for the weekend, despite the playfulness and/or ornamentation of the attire, I get funny looks from everybody who are mostly in the jeans-and-a-T-Shirt uniform or occasionally in a polo and khakis.

Funny note: I had a new friend recently tell me that he did have levels of formality in his dress; he wore his faded and worn T-Shirts at home and his newer ones out when he had to interact with people and for those special occasions he had some polo shirts!

[Costi]

The three piece charcoal suit is about as high as you can get on the scale of formality before proper (semi)formal dress, so no wonder people notice you're dressed up. A two piece mid-grey, navy or striped suit will probably look less formal and more business. It also depends on your line of work.
I think the message was to dress soberly for work (which you already do), but a black cutaway worn with a black waistcoat and striped trousers is sober, too. You would err on the point of adjusting the degree of formality of your dress to the given situation if you wore it to work, unless you are an embassador. That's also a form of undesirable "dressing up" for work - not with flashy clothes and accessories but with a too high degree of formality.
As for your leisure time, don't just let go of everything and wear jeans and T-shirt because everyone else does, find a point of balance with what you wear during the week and wear a blazer or a sports jacket with properly tailored trousers and well chosen accessories. Otherwise you will feel like an actor who plays the part of the elegant gentleman during the week but has his weekends off. Let your friends get used to your dress style - they will appreciate it as an expression of your personality, whereas people with whom you come into contact for work need to see the professional before the personality (unless your work is all about your personality). At least that is my understanding of the advice given and the way I feel it is sensible to behave.

[koolhistorian]

Dear Sirs,
While I think that Mr. Alden is fundamentally right, I would say that in the contemporary work set (on both sides of the Atlantic) a sartorial conscious person will, without any special effort, generate envy. 90% of our co-workers perceive a suit and a tie as their "personal prison", most of them do not have either the drive or the sense to pair those items in, at least, correct way, or to wear them with a minimal elegance, so if you are a position in which, even if you play down, you will be regarded as an "eccentric" person, and that starts with your choice of shoes, ties, or the quality of your shirts (not speaking of proper manners, minimal knowledge of gastronomical matters, etc.).
I think that it is a burden to be carried more and more in the contemporary society, in which the liberation of the '60 generated a step-child which is the "norm of sloppiness" i.e. business casual.
At least some of us are living in Europe, where social pressure and group conformity is not as strong as it is in the US, and in which "personal touches" are permitted - I remember a moment in my life when I saw at least 50 gentlemen form the other side of the pond wearing the same uniform (it was a "casual dress" cocktail on a boat): blazer, khakis, penny loafers and OCBD Ralph Lauren shirts!
It starts with a very simple question - how many of your colleagues will have a handkerchief (not a pocket square) with them?

[alden]

Koolhistorian,

I do agree with you but I am not terribly sure that the urge or pressure to conform is any less intense in Europe. As the phenomenon is generally recurring we might imagine that it is simply part of human conditioning. For millions of years, whether huddling in caves or hanging from trees, humans had to conform to stay alive, to survive. The herd imprint on DNA is not likely to wash out in the space of a few hundred years.

Of course, the non-conformists, the flyers, were the ones who, with vision and taking risks, helped the herd advance. But it was always a pretty risky place to be. Remember when saying the earth was not flat and the sun, not the center of the universe, had dire consequences. In the big picture, these things happened nanoseconds ago. But how many creatures were pounced upon by their neighbors when they tried to rub a few stones together? That’s probably why it took millions of years for the first barbeque.

It still is risky to wander from the borders of conformity and most people will have to choose how and when to give their impulse free reign. You have to have the right stuff within to back it up and if you have that, you will undoubtedly also have access to many pleasures the grazers will envy. So tact, in the way of understatement, is a centuries old social diplomacy that makes perfect sense today.

Cheers

Michael

[Sir Royston]

this is something that really saddens me. Nowadays if one arrives at work wearing a Chalkstripe suit everyone asssumues you are
A) Going for a job interview
B) Expecting a promotion

Whereas not very long ago, you would be sent home for wearing what most people think is acceptable business attire!

If there is ONE thing i hate its people who wear a tie with their collar button undone and the tie slightly loose.. what is the point of bothering with a tie and not having it done up properly

Right, I'm calmer now I have that off my chest!!
phew

[sartorius]

I think it also depends on where you live and where you work. In London, virtually everyone who works in law, banking or insurance still wears a suit.

We can thank the dot com boom for the greatly increased prevalence of "dress down friday" and I agree that one does sometimes feel as though the world has turned into a giant RL covention. Still, there is nothing wrong per se with OCBD. It just helps a great deal if it actually fits!

[koolhistorian]

I think it also depends on where you live and where you work. In London, virtually everyone who works in law, banking or insurance still wears a suit.

We can thank the dot com boom for the greatly increased prevalence of "dress down friday" and I agree that one does sometimes feel as though the world has turned into a giant RL covention. Still, there is nothing wrong per se with OCBD. It just helps a great deal if it actually fits!

As I said, my problem was not with the OCBD, which I own and wear, but with the fact that it felt like the first day in school (every one in uniform). My point was about the "conformity pressure" in the american society (and social practice), rather than with sartorial choices. Thus being said, I am not a fan of the "American preppy" or "trad" fashion, which is becoming more or less the casual uniform of the business world!

[pvpatty]

Thus being said, I am not a fan of the "American preppy" or "trad" fashion, which is becoming more or less the casual uniform of the business world!

I like the trad style, but, at least to my mind, it is exclusively reserved for casual events or for younger men. The style developed in and around universities, and was supposed to be an affordable method of dressing sensibly; once you graduated, you moved onto something more 'adult', for want of a better term. Some people seem to have never grown up (which is perhaps both a blessing and a curse ).