So What Do You Wear to Work?

Overheard the following conversation today:

Developer 1: That's his presentation outfit.
Developer 2: Not to be confused with his funeral outfit, or his interview outfit.
Developer 3: What's wrong with interviewing in my funeral outfit?

It's funny when you work in a software group... the way people dress is almost so standard, that any deviation is quickly noticed. If you dress up one day... you invariably hear the comment... "So, you have an interview somewhere later?"

My last client actually had a uniform that employees wore... from the people who worked on the factory floor, to the engineers, even up to the executives. It was the ugliest blue polyester getup you ever saw in your life. I never would have taken a full time position there, if only because of that uniform. People either loved it, or they hated it. The common thing I heard was, "It's nice to wake up in the morning and not think about what you're going to wear. You just go into the closet and pick out the next clean uniform and go." For me, I actually like to have the choice in the morning, and to maybe stand out a bit from my coworkers. Not only that, but what I wear is not only a reflection on me, but also how I feel that day.

I actually tended to dress a bit down at that particular client. Part of it was laziness... and part of it was that there wasn't much competition for the dressing nice contest when most everyone else is wearing blue poly blends. Now that I'm working for a new consulting firm, I tend to dress a bit better, and I like to think that I stand out a bit. I think its also important because it reflects on my company. That's not to say that I don't enjoy jeans on Friday, nor am I anywhere near being a metrosexual... but still... clothes do make the man don't they?