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Post by PG on Jul 30, 2019 13:16:36 GMT
I didn't have to wear a suit to work for the past 20 years of my career or even a jacket. And ties were right out. The advantage of working for a US west coast software company. However, people in sales usually had to wear suits if their customer site was a suit wearing place. I guess it is a question of knowing your audience.
I quite agree with Martin's stance on the branded polo shirt. Different dress for "management" has been a bane of UK companies for ever and a day and does no good at all. I remember that being one the much trumpeted new ways of working when Nissan Sunderland opened - everybody wore the company uniform.
I think the whole thing about fashion is knowing what looks good (on you as well as generally); what you feel comfortable in; and what is just slavishly copying the latest trend. I think it is more important to be stylish than fashionable. If you are stylish you can get away with wearing pretty much anything. If you are not stylish and try to copy fashion instead, then you quickly start to look like a twat.
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Post by racingteatray on Jul 30, 2019 13:25:34 GMT
I think it is more important to be stylish than fashionable. If you are stylish you can get away with wearing pretty much anything. If you are not stylish and try to copy fashion instead, then you quickly start to look like a twat. ^^ This.
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Post by Tim on Jul 30, 2019 13:39:26 GMT
At work I just wear the standard uniform of either a dark blue pinstriped suit (with fairly subtle pinstripes, I'm not a retired footballer!) or charcoal.
I really dislike those skinny trousered indigo blue suits that were all the rage last year.
I have an unreasonable dislike of colleagues who show their 'individuality' by wearing the aforementioned uniform but with jazzy socks and/or specs with, for example, a lime green leg.
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Post by Tim on Jul 30, 2019 13:51:00 GMT
Indeed it is a compliment and a badge of honour. I get people assuming I am an enthusiastic Tory onanist based on general appearance and accent.
Quite often, however, they are people who are actually enthusiastic Tory onanists and I therefore am currently taking no small amount of pleasure in telling them how I wouldn't vote Tory even if it was the only choice on the ballot paper.
"But how could you?" they all wail..."that awful old Marxist might get in!"...
A losing argument that one I'm afraid, all things considered.
Did you see Alistair Campbell's comments/letter today? I doubt there's much chance we'll see a Labour Government - even if there was an election and the Tories and Brexit Party didn't make a pact I'm sure there's no way the remaining parties would form a coalition around a Corbyn led Labour. The LibDems had their fingers burnt at the end of the last coalition and there's surely no way they'd make that mistake with a bunch of crazy lefties.
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Post by PetrolEd on Jul 30, 2019 14:14:55 GMT
Guess it depends how well the greens do in the next GE
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Fashion
Jul 30, 2019 20:21:29 GMT
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Post by LandieMark on Jul 30, 2019 20:21:29 GMT
I think it is more important to be stylish than fashionable. If you are stylish you can get away with wearing pretty much anything. If you are not stylish and try to copy fashion instead, then you quickly start to look like a twat. ^^ This. This in spades.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 24, 2019 14:15:22 GMT
Just returned a pair of Loake shoes to Bath after they developed a fault during the first couple of hours of wear. They wanted to exchange them but I got a refund after saying I wouldn't wear them for years, probably next time I'm at a wedding or funeral.
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Fashion
Nov 25, 2019 0:00:40 GMT
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Post by racingteatray on Nov 25, 2019 0:00:40 GMT
I bought myself a new pair of decent shoes on Friday. Rather smart oxblood brogues for eg Friday “smart casual” use with...rubber soles.
I shall be drummed out of the regiment...!
But in all seriousness I don’t really get the obsession with smart shoes having to have leather soles and in winter leather soles are a complete nonsense.
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Post by ChrisM on Nov 25, 2019 8:56:54 GMT
But in all seriousness I don’t really get the obsession with smart shoes having to have leather soles and in winter leather soles are a complete nonsense. Not just in winter - whenever there is a bit of rain about. One strict criteria I use when buying shoes is that the soles must have decent tread on them to disperse water when walking. I've slipped once on a water spillage on a smooth concrete warehouse floor when my soles were "flat" and have made sure "never again". TBH I am surprised that H&S legislation permits the sale of shoes with smooth soles; they are lethal
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Post by Bob Sacamano v2.0 on Nov 25, 2019 9:11:03 GMT
But in all seriousness I don’t really get the obsession with smart shoes having to have leather soles and in winter leather soles are a complete nonsense. Not just in winter - whenever there is a bit of rain about. One strict criteria I use when buying shoes is that the soles must have decent tread on them to disperse water when walking. I've slipped once on a water spillage on a smooth concrete warehouse floor when my soles were "flat" and have made sure "never again". TBH I am surprised that H&S legislation permits the sale of shoes with smooth soles; they are lethal A friend of mine is the H&S Director for a train company and picked up his freshly re-soled shoes from the cobblers and then promptly slipped and fell down the stairs at work wearing them. Cue torn quadriceps tendon in his knee and operation to reattach. He's in a brace at the moment and I've suggested he sue the company.
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Post by Bob Sacamano v2.0 on Nov 25, 2019 9:12:57 GMT
But in all seriousness I don’t really get the obsession with smart shoes having to have leather soles and in winter leather soles are a complete nonsense. TBH I am surprised that H&S legislation permits the sale of shoes with smooth soles; they are lethal How does one dance on a smooth wooden floor in heavily treaded rubber shoes?
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Post by LandieMark on Nov 25, 2019 9:45:08 GMT
I wouldn't have shoes with leather soles.
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Post by Tim on Nov 25, 2019 9:45:45 GMT
I bought myself a new pair of decent shoes on Friday. Rather smart oxblood brogues for eg Friday “smart casual” use with...rubber soles. I shall be drummed out of the regiment...! But in all seriousness I don’t really get the obsession with smart shoes having to have leather soles and in winter leather soles are a complete nonsense. Standards are obviously much higher in the big city I occasionally wear a pair of Dr Martens finest black shoes to work and now the initial shock is over nobody comments (they initially all seemed to think that wearing these shoes meant I wanted to kill them!). Otherwise it's black shoes or boots that are lightly treaded to hopefully minimise the chances of taking a dive on the shiny tiled floor in the entrance foyer.
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Post by Big Blue on Nov 25, 2019 10:29:55 GMT
I wear Adidas trainers and change into shoes, some leather soled, some rubber, in the office.
I’ve given up spending money on work clothes. I used to have my suits made by a tailor in Burlington Arcade and wore Churches shoes. Now I buy shoes from a discount shop in Strutton Ground and trousers in TK Maxx. Suits are from Leonard Jay or John Lewis but only if they have a deal on.
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Post by Bob Sacamano v2.0 on Nov 25, 2019 10:31:01 GMT
I've got a pair of black Loakes. Had them 15 years and every few years I send them off of new heels and leather soles and they come back looking like new. They were a great buy.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 25, 2019 10:33:28 GMT
The Loakes I'd bought had leather soles and they were shagged after a single wedding. The do was at an old country house where you had to walk across stony driveways to go between the various buildings. I literally bought them two weeks ago, unboxed and wore them for a wedding ceremony, took them off straight after because they'd developed a fault and then returned them to the shop, but they looked like they'd done a hundred miles. Manager weren't too happy, but them shoes was broken!
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Post by Big Blue on Nov 25, 2019 10:52:26 GMT
I bought myself a new pair of decent shoes on Friday. Rather smart oxblood brogues for eg Friday “smart casual” use with...rubber soles. I shall be drummed out of the regiment...! Reminds me of an episode of “Rising Damp” where Rigsby tells Alan about the time the RAF regiment came marching onto the parade ground. “You couldn’t hear a sound. Do you know what they were wearing: rubber soles!”
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Post by Bob Sacamano v2.0 on Nov 25, 2019 11:07:14 GMT
The Loakes I'd bought had leather soles and they were shagged after a single wedding. The do was at an old country house where you had to walk across stony driveways to go between the various buildings. I literally bought them two weeks ago, unboxed and wore them for a wedding ceremony, took them off straight after because they'd developed a fault and then returned them to the shop, but they looked like they'd done a hundred miles. Manager weren't too happy, but them shoes was broken! Out of interest, what was the fault?
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Post by PetrolEd on Nov 25, 2019 12:08:45 GMT
As we live in the UK, I just put new rubber soles on every 6 months and then wear my leather soled shoes daily whatever the weather.
Shoes are the only things I tend to spend money on. As an example today I have a lovely pair of Oliver Sweeney boats on accompanied by Tu Jeans, them of Sainsburys fame, a shirt from some outlet and a cheap next jumper.
I look like shit but have comfy feet.
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Post by Tim on Nov 25, 2019 12:11:30 GMT
Well there you go, I just nipped across to the station to collect some tickets and even with a rubber sole I nearly about took a dive as I entered the concourse with its shiny tiled floor. The heel is very hard and there was only a tiny little ridged section on it that's already worn away.
I think I just about escaped with my dignity......
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Post by racingteatray on Nov 25, 2019 13:38:31 GMT
I bought myself a new pair of decent shoes on Friday. Rather smart oxblood brogues for eg Friday “smart casual” use with...rubber soles. I shall be drummed out of the regiment...! But in all seriousness I don’t really get the obsession with smart shoes having to have leather soles and in winter leather soles are a complete nonsense. Standards are obviously much higher in the big city Yes, in a City law firm office, it's all very traditional. There are mutterings now about introducing a new policy of "dress for your day", but largely everyone still just wears a suit every day, or the female equivalent thereof, even on Fridays. I tend to dress down a bit on Fridays but still wouldn't dream of walking around the office in anything resembling trainers or sneakers, hence last week's purchase.
With a suit, smart shoes which are any colour other than black are a no-no unless you are foreign - the old adage of "no brown in town".
Not being especially adventurous with fashion, I have two identical pairs of smart plain black "monk" shoes - the sort with a single buckle at the side - one pair dates back to 2011 and the others were bought for my wedding in 2014. I just keep them polished and looked after, and get Church's to re-sole them as and when required - it's expensive but a fraction of the cost of a new pair (over £500 these days I noticed to my horror!). And they come back looking very nice but retaining the comfort of a well-worn shoe. I've learned though not to wear them to commute in unless unavoidable so as to make them last longer, so I keep them in the office and just commute in a waterproof pair of rubber-soled black leather Chelsea boots which are just about smart enough to wear with a suit to external meetings on really wet days.
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Post by Bob Sacamano v2.0 on Nov 25, 2019 13:41:51 GMT
Turns out I was completely wrong in my understanding of "no brown in town".
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Fashion
Nov 25, 2019 15:35:41 GMT
via mobile
Post by Big Blue on Nov 25, 2019 15:35:41 GMT
Turns out I was completely wrong in my understanding of "no brown in town". I think in various US cities they have a policy like this.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 25, 2019 15:51:25 GMT
Out of interest, what was the fault? The insole/footbed, which was a new design apparently, compressed and refused to bounce back to its former self so I could feel the welt of the shoe with my toes. It felt like I had a loose sock on and it had bunched up inside the shoe but when I took the shoe off my sock was wrinkle free, unlike the shoe. It was uncomfortable enough that I went and changed into a pair of Rockport boots instead. Lucky I had those because my only other footwear was a pair of bright orange trainers!
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Post by racingteatray on Nov 25, 2019 16:05:21 GMT
Turns out I was completely wrong in my understanding of "no brown in town".
I actually have no personal objection to a smart pair of dark brown or dark oxblood shoes with a blue or grey suit - in Italy, where they know a thing or two about fashion, this wouldn't raise any eyebrows at all.
But in the City, it's just simpler to observe the sartorial rules, however silly. Most people probably don't care but there's no point risking falling foul of the occasional senior colleague or client who does. Because when people care, they tend to go the full "Rees-Mogg" about it.
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Post by Tim on Nov 25, 2019 16:10:21 GMT
Turns out I was completely wrong in my understanding of "no brown in town".
I actually have no personal objection to a smart pair of dark brown or dark oxblood shoes with a blue or grey suit - in Italy, where they know a thing or two about fashion, this wouldn't raise any eyebrows at all.
But in the City, it's just simpler to observe the sartorial rules, however silly. Most people probably don't care but there's no point risking falling foul of the occasional senior colleague or client who does. Because when people care, they tend to go the full "Rees-Mogg" about it.
What do you do about socks then? Round here the ones that stick to their highly polished black shoes express their individuality (!) by wearing colourful striped socks.
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Post by Bob Sacamano v2.0 on Nov 25, 2019 16:21:40 GMT
As long as they're not "comedy socks" - The Simpsons ones and such. And similar ties. There should be a rule that you can slap the wearers of such items with impunity from prosecution.
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Post by racingteatray on Nov 25, 2019 16:22:09 GMT
I largely wear whatever socks my wife has bought me. Most of the time that just means plain navy blue or dark grey to match the suit and I keep the more colourful ones for Fridays and the weekend. That said, today my socks are a deep rich burgundy colour.
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Post by Bob Sacamano v2.0 on Nov 25, 2019 16:24:32 GMT
I largely wear whatever socks my wife has bought me. Most of the time that just means plain navy blue or dark grey to match the suit and I keep the more colourful ones for Fridays and the weekend. That said, today my socks are a deep rich burgundy colour. I imagine you saying that like an M&S advert; "not just burgundy, a deep,.. rich burgundy...."
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Post by racingteatray on Nov 25, 2019 16:28:31 GMT
I largely wear whatever socks my wife has bought me. Most of the time that just means plain navy blue or dark grey to match the suit and I keep the more colourful ones for Fridays and the weekend. That said, today my socks are a deep rich burgundy colour. I imagine you saying that like an M&S advert; "not just burgundy, a deep,.. rich burgundy...." That made me chuckle. You need to imagine Rob Bryden saying it in his special "cruise line advert" voice.
I did, I confess, stare at them for a bit wondering how to describe the colour.
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