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Advice required on work shirts.
benjie dixon
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Hello. I am new here so please be gentle!
I am really getting into brightly colored shirts at the moment but my girlfriend says that they are too bright for me to go to the office in. I love a bit of color - so should I listen to her or not?
I am really getting into brightly colored shirts at the moment but my girlfriend says that they are too bright for me to go to the office in. I love a bit of color - so should I listen to her or not?
benjie dixon on
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Also, what sort of office are we talking about?
However, there is the old adage, if you have to ask if it's inappropriate, it probably is.
I've got bright red, a very nice turquoise and a purple one.
But generally speaking as long as it's a solid color and not a pattern, and it has buttons and a collar, nobody's going to give a shit if it is brightly colored.
the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
*ahem*
Some days just on the phone, other days face to face.
If you say within the jewel tones (i.e. the turquoise and purple you had mentioned), being colour rich is a good thing. Draws attention to you and all that. Just stay away from things in the neon range, or anything eye-searing. Typically bright greens (unless quite dark), oranges and yellows are very difficult to pull off.
You represent your office, and your office has a reputation to uphold. If it isn't an issue at work and the shirts aren't loud and obnoxious, there shouldn't be an issue. But coming from someone who has a similar background, conservative is the party line.
I doubt it's a huge problem, but you are your earnings in sales. Perhaps your girlfriend means that you could make more money by being more conservatively dressed?
The worker who was mentioned earlier in the lime green - well he's still being talked about now so at least he made an impact.
I started out with bright blue and mustard yellow shirts and have moved on to even more outrageous ones in bright purple and neon pink.
If you're boss is cool with it, do whatever you like. But make sure of that.
I hear this all the while. So many people are too conservative. Surely it should be about how you feel yourself rather than what other people think. It is not as if you are harming them (apart from their eyesight!)
This is great until you don't get the sale -- which happens to be what the other person thinks. Because of this, I do feel that work clothing is ALL ABOUT what other people think. It's an image that you project to help the business.
Wear what your bosses boss wears.
This should sum it up. You want to dress of equivalent, but not better than, your management staff in sales.
You can still wear purple or yellow without looking like, again, joker had sex with a daffodil. Stick with solids.
Is there any proof though that you would not get the sale because of the shirt. The customer might think 'this is a colorful, positive person and he's really selling the product well.'
Protip: they're not. It is ok to push boundaries with colors. It is not ok to speed over the edge flipping it off as you do so.
For instance, if you show up in a bright, fluorescent pink shirt in Texas, you might not get a sale.
This is his job. The only opinions that matter are those of his boss(es) and clients.
Um, in a lot of offices, management can get away with wearing things that lower-level workers can't. That's one of the perks of being management.
I still think the OP should just ask his boss or HR person what they think.
the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
For what it's worth, I work at a law firm, I meet with clients from time to time, and I have a turquoise shirt in my usual rotation.
Nothing has been said on the days I have worn the shirts so far. It is just my girlfriend who is a little dubious. Can the boss actually do anything if he is unhappy?
If you're at the point where you're concerned about the boss "doing anything," it's time to tone down the shirts.
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Of course he can, that's the kind of thing bosses do.
Well sure. Aside from the obvious firing, which I wouldn't imagine likely unless you're literally dressed as a clown
Not saying that's what will happen. Without knowing your office environment we can't know that answer.
You can absolutely get away with jewel tones, as ihmmy said, but you need to pair it well with your suit and tie. Also, you don't want to be wearing these colors constantly. A dash of color as part of a well matched set can be eye-catching, but you don't want to be Mimi from the Drew Carrey show.
Your boss can always do something. He's your fucking boss. If nothing else, he's the guy who decides whether you get promoted, get a raise or what kind of work you should do at any given time. If he doesn't like you, it's extremely bad for your career. I guess if you don't care about your job or advancing with your company his opinion doesn't matter, but otherwise of course it does.
Now, some colors look better on others, like red looks good on me. But most non-searing colors will look good or OK on anyone if they're crisp and fit properly.
If the gf doesn't like what you got, go shopping and have her pick out a few new ones. Then, when you get fired, you can go pick out a nice interview suit.
I have never seen more boring colors than these. I despair if these sort of drab colors are the only ones acceptable for a sales office.
If you're going brighter than this with dress shirts, you're veering into straight up tacky territory.
Yeah pretty much.
You can wear bright colours on shirts but you can't wear them as single tone. I mean I have a lime green shirt, which if it was a solid colour it would be horrid, but it's a white shirt with a green pinstripe for the colour.
As someone said earlier it is probably your girlfriend trying to be polite and say wearing nicer clothes.
Satans..... hints.....
That goes to the Ralph Lauren page at Dillards. Now, I don't think you should buy this brand because it's pretty expensive as far as dress shirts and officewear goes, but you should take a look anyhow to get an idea. This is pretty, much the standard for sales and office wear colors. Note that most are blues (studies have shown that blue makes people seem more trustworthy) and all are muted colors. The reason for this is because you don't want to draw attention to yourself, only your merchandise. If you stand out more, then your customers will focus upon you, not the product. All you want your customers to see via your clothes is that you are clean, professional, and trustworthy. The first two really build towards the third, and the third equates out to more sales.
Unless you are selling counterculture merchandise, like skate boards or goth apparel or something else with a very specific niche, you should probably steer towards the colors listed above as they are proven. If you are selling something counterculture, you should dress for that specific audience. Whatever it takes to come off as trustworthy and knowledgeable for your product.
Correct - those are all from Men's Warehouse as solid prints with the light purple having a herringbone pattern to it. The yellow/mustard is even a little too much, depending on how it looks IRL. Anything brighter than those are too bright for majority of offices. Enc's fancy shirts are good too, with a few more stripped patterns.