How many clothing articles do you think make up a work wardrobe?

[Pen]

 

4 hours ago, Quill said:

He said she wears only the same four tops. It makes me curious.

 

 

 

@Arcadia not really the question but the quote that inspired it...  why can’t a woman wear the same 4 tops?

I really mean that I think there is something that seems off about the comment made to @Quill

[Bootsie]

2 hours ago, SKL said:

I've worked in a CPA firm and people will talk about anything.  I was told they were commenting on the color socks I wore on Saturdays (when working overtime for free).  The guy telling me was "doing me a favor" by letting me know I should address the color of my weekend socks.  What the hell.  People are ridiculous.  How about don't look at people's socks?  How about I talk about something more relevant, like how it took the person so focused on my socks 8 tries to pass the CPA exam?  But I wouldn't do that.  Ugh.  Better not get me started, LOL.  😛

I agree that noticing someone's socks on a weekend seems ridiculous. I would find it more disturbing if your boss was talking to a client, complaining about what you are wearing (especially when it seems to focus on your blouse).  It is one thing for the firm to want to maintain a particular corporate culture and want people to dress according to that.  It is an entirely different thing to discuss an employee's attire with a client.  

[Arcadia]

1 minute ago, Pen said:

 

@Arcadia not really the question but the quote that inspired it...  why can’t a woman wear the same 4 tops?

I really mean that I think there is something that seems off about the comment made to @Quill

 

I am reading “same 4 tops” as same distinct four tops, which makes it obvious that those four tops are in rotation. Since OP and the person making the comment are old friends, I am thinking the person making the comment is making it as a casual comment. Like when my ex-colleagues were commenting that my ex-boss likes pink shirts, I don’t think anyone was intending to be sexist. 

I am also thinking that my parents generation would plan for days needed plus one spare. So I had six sets of school uniforms and my mom had five sets of nursing uniforms (she worked four days long shifts and three days off). My dad had more than five shirts and pants when he worked as a teacher. 

Like I said, I could wear very similar outfits for work and no one bothers or notice. My ex-colleague who wears a very different outfit daily gets noticed. Another department’s secretary who wears very different shoes daily (but similar outfits) has people noticing only her shoes. Another colleague has people commenting on his tie collection. Someone was commented for his eccentric socks collection. 

So something about the four tops make the person comment on it. It does make me wonder how distinct the tops are. I mean if the employee has a red top, a blue top, a green top, a yellow top, (just for illustration purpose) it would be very obvious that the employee has four tops that she choose to wear for work. 

[SKL]

While I don't agree that the 4 shirt situation is worthy of concern, I have seen other situations where a guy (employer / boss) will talk to a woman he trusts about whether and how to address touchy topics with a woman employee.  It is such a minefield.  Maybe he was trying to get a woman's take on the situation and Quill seemed like a safe woman to bounce it off of.

[mumto2]

4 minutes ago, SKL said:

While I don't agree that the 4 shirt situation is worthy of concern, I have seen other situations where a guy (employer / boss) will talk to a woman he trusts about whether and how to address touchy topics with a woman employee.  It is such a minefield.  Maybe he was trying to get a woman's take on the situation and Quill seemed like a safe woman to bounce it off of.

I also wonder if he asked Quill because her Dd is a similar age,  therefore Quill should know..........

Edited February 19, 2019 by mumto2

[Bluegoat]

I am actually surprised people feel that someone needs so many different outfits.  I'd have said the number a person needs depends on two things 1) how many different types of outfits are required (like, one suit for formal things, one outfit for going out in the field, one for regular casual work) and then how often they want to do laundry/have them cleaned.  I always thought it was pretty common for men to have two work outfits, be they two suits or two sets of coveralls, one to take to the cleaners or launder and one to wear, plus a few shirts.

As far as I am concerned, unless someone is in the fashion industry or something like that, they can wear the same outfit every day.  In fact I'd say that it makes a lot more economic and environmental sense to bu a few very good clothing items rather than more than that.

[Pen]

I think there’s a slight mismatch between title which indicates what makes up work wardrobe? And first post which seemed to ask about the minimum  to start office job.  

So it could depend on whether we include over supplied wardrobes which might be amusing on a Mari Kondo video; or what might be an ideal for a particular climate including summer and winter variations perhaps also including occasional work travel or dressy events; or most useful for once per week laundry cycle; or basic minimum to start out.

 And I think we aren’t all answering same question. 

 

[Ausmumof3]

This stuff makes me feel ranty.  Just a warning.  So long as she’s neat and clean big flopping deal.  I’ve worked as a receptionist on very little money and keeping four decent shirts in the wardrobe was a mission.  I prefer to buy quality over cheap (or I did before having kids who trash stuff). 

Expecting everyone to have 10 shirts in rotation is just a huge ridiculous piece of western privilege right there.  Either it means for being fairly wealthy or it means you are buying cheap slave labour clothes.

[Bluegoat]

4 minutes ago, Ausmumof3 said:

This stuff makes me feel ranty.  Just a warning.  So long as she’s neat and clean big flopping deal.  I’ve worked as a receptionist on very little money and keeping four decent shirts in the wardrobe was a mission.  I prefer to buy quality over cheap (or I did before having kids who trash stuff). 

Expecting everyone to have 10 shirts in rotation is just a huge ridiculous piece of western privilege right there.  Either it means for being fairly wealthy or it means you are buying cheap slave labour clothes.

 

I do find it interesting to compare that sort of thing to what my Nana or step-grandparents described growing up in England.  It seemed like it was very common for people to have, for example, one sweater.  You wore that sweater until it wore out, and then you got a new one.  That was for fairly middle class people.

[Ausmumof3]

Just now, Bluegoat said:

 

I do find it interesting to compare that sort of thing to what my Nana or step-grandparents described growing up in England.  It seemed like it was very common for people to have, for example, one sweater.  You wore that sweater until it wore out, and then you got a new one.  That was for fairly middle class people.

Well that was my childhood.  I generally had two max three school uniforms and one school uniform jumper.  If they needed washing they had to be washed and dried overnight.  We dressed for casual and church mostly out of a giant bag of hand me downs supplemented with the occasional new purchase so make it all work.

its not like that now because clothes are so much cheaper but the quality is also poorer so that handed down track pants etc are rarely even wearable.  Fast fashion is destroying the planet and while I love having a put together looking wardrobe when I can manage it, I think the whole capsule wardrobe thing means you can do that with very few of anything.

[Bootsie]

46 minutes ago, SKL said:

While I don't agree that the 4 shirt situation is worthy of concern, I have seen other situations where a guy (employer / boss) will talk to a woman he trusts about whether and how to address touchy topics with a woman employee.  It is such a minefield.  Maybe he was trying to get a woman's take on the situation and Quill seemed like a safe woman to bounce it off of.

I would think if this were the case he would ask a wife, mother, sister, aunt, daughter, cousin--not one of his clients.  

[Guest]

36 minutes ago, Pen said:

I think there’s a slight mismatch between title which indicates what makes up work wardrobe? And first post which seemed to ask about the minimum  to start office job.  

So it could depend on whether we include over supplied wardrobes which might be amusing on a Mari Kondo video; or what might be an ideal for a particular climate including summer and winter variations perhaps also including occasional work travel or dressy events; or most useful for once per week laundry cycle; or basic minimum to start out.

 And I think we aren’t all answering same question. 

 

Clearly, some are more focused on the etiquette of the guy telling me about her shirt situation. That’s okay but just for general info, it didn’t bother me; I didn’t feel it was sexist or inappropriate. I think he has come to notice it, probably partially because of her smelling like cigs, and he just wants to say something about it. I’m an old friend, so he mentioned it. 

The reason I posted is just - it makes me curious. I always think this stuff doesn’t matter, but I turn out to be wrong sometimes. I think, for example, as I have discussed here, that expensive designer purses are pointless. I can’t see why I would ever buy one, at least, not at retail price. But some people do care about this. If a purse-carer happened to be my boss, he or she would probably eventually think, “Ugh! Would she just buy a proper handbag?! She makes enough money! Why does she keep carrying around that stinkin’ tote bag!” 

I truly am curious because I probably would have no more than five blouses if I was going to work in a professional office next week or next month. They would be clean and fresh and I don’t smoke, but if someone noticed the repeating, I probably wouldn’t catch on to their disapproval unless they spelled it out to me. 

I think I am a little ASD-like about such things. 

[gstharr]

In my first career path after college, I was taught by a much older dapper mentor how to dress . I've been wearing monogrammed french cuff shirts ever since.  In my second career, the best at my craft wears the same suit every day.  I have about 15 suits in my rotation.

[Garga]

1 hour ago, Pen said:

 

 And I think we aren’t all answering same question. 

 

True.  Some are considering more the person asking Quill the question.  Some are thinking of a full wardrobe.  Some are thinking of a wardrobe of someone just starting out.

51 minutes ago, Ausmumof3 said:

This stuff makes me feel ranty.  Just a warning.  So long as she’s neat and clean big flopping deal.  I’ve worked as a receptionist on very little money and keeping four decent shirts in the wardrobe was a mission.  I prefer to buy quality over cheap (or I did before having kids who trash stuff). 

Expecting everyone to have 10 shirts in rotation is just a huge ridiculous piece of western privilege right there.  Either it means for being fairly wealthy or it means you are buying cheap slave labour clothes.

 

Part of me feels just like what you wrote.  

15 minutes ago, Quill said:

 

I truly am curious because I probably would have no more than five blouses if I was going to work in a professional office next week or next month. They would be clean and fresh and I don’t smoke, but if someone noticed the repeating, I probably wouldn’t catch on to their disapproval unless they spelled it out to me. 

I think I am a little ASD-like about such things. 

 

But another part of me would have more than 5 shirts because when I was a kid in school I had very few outfits. I had four outfits of summer stuff and four winter outfits.  One pair of sneakers and one pair of dress shoes (for church) for the year.  They were not capsule type of outfits so I couldn’t mix and match them much at all.  It was obvious that what I wore on Monday was the exact same outfit I was wearing on Friday.  And the kids were brutal about it.  It’s hard for me not to want to have at least 2 weeks’ worth of tops in a job.  Too many bad memories of, “Garga is wearing that shirt *again*?!  Garga, didn’t you wear that on Monday?!”  Sneer, sneer.

So, I vacillate between moral outrage against excess in Western society and the sting of being gossiped about for not having enough.  

Things like that from our pasts will color a lot of people’s answers, I’m sure.

Edited February 19, 2019 by Garga

[gstharr]

5 minutes ago, Garga said:

True.  Some are considering more the person asking Quill the question.  Some are thinking of a full wardrobe.  Some are thinking of a wardrobe of someone just starting out.

 

Part of me feels just like what you wrote.  

 

But another part of me would have more than 5 shirts because when I was a kid in school I had very few outfits. I had four outfits of summer stuff and four winter outfits.  One pair of sneakers and one pair of dress shoes (for church) for the year.  They were not capsule type of outfits so I couldn’t mix and match them much at all.  It was obvious that what I wore on Monday was the exact same outfit I was wearing on Friday.  And the kids were brutal about it.  It’s hard for me not to want to have at least 2 weeks’ worth of tops in a job.  Too many bad memories of, “Garga is wearing that shirt *again*?!  Garga, didn’t you wear that on Monday?!”  Sneer, sneer.

So, I vacillate between moral outrage against excess in Western society and the sting of being gossiped about for not having enough.  

Things like that from our pasts will color a lot of people’s answers, I’m sure.

Every Halloween, I was a hobo.  My mother would cut the legs off the pants with the largest holes, and give me a red scarf. Believe me, the other kids knew that I was not wearing a real costume. 

[Pen]

 

 

29 minutes ago, Quill said:

 

I truly am curious because I probably would have no more than five blouses if I was going to work in a professional office next week or next month. They would be clean and fresh and I don’t smoke,

 

Well, I would find that fine!

Hmmm.  I think some people — and places/mini-cultural milieux— tend to be more into “fashion” than others.  

 

[SKL]

11 minutes ago, gstharr said:

Every Halloween, I was a hobo.  My mother would cut the legs off the pants with the largest holes, and give me a red scarf. Believe me, the other kids knew that I was not wearing a real costume. 

To me, a real costume is the kind you make at home from whatever you can find.  Store-bought costumes were for primary school or younger, when I was a kid.

Fortunately or unfortunately, a lot of the costumes we made at home would be politically incorrect today (gypsy, hobo, pirate, robber, Western gunfighter....)

[Ausmumof3]

22 minutes ago, Garga said:

True.  Some are considering more the person asking Quill the question.  Some are thinking of a full wardrobe.  Some are thinking of a wardrobe of someone just starting out.

 

Part of me feels just like what you wrote.  

 

But another part of me would have more than 5 shirts because when I was a kid in school I had very few outfits. I had four outfits of summer stuff and four winter outfits.  One pair of sneakers and one pair of dress shoes (for church) for the year.  They were not capsule type of outfits so I couldn’t mix and match them much at all.  It was obvious that what I wore on Monday was the exact same outfit I was wearing on Friday.  And the kids were brutal about it.  It’s hard for me not to want to have at least 2 weeks’ worth of tops in a job.  Too many bad memories of, “Garga is wearing that shirt *again*?!  Garga, didn’t you wear that on Monday?!”  Sneer, sneer.

So, I vacillate between moral outrage against excess in Western society and the sting of being gossiped about for not having enough.  

Things like that from our pasts will color a lot of people’s answers, I’m sure.

I totally get that - I have some similar hang ups and my kids have too many new clothes and always the right shoes available for the sport they’re doing.  Funnily enough they couldn’t care less and wear farm boots if they can get away with it.  But I kind of feel like this is just the grown up version of the same dumb thing which is why it bugs me.

also thinking about it - when I worked in an accountant office we’d rarely see the same client twice in a week.  So it’s not really a matter of professional image it’s just a personal preference on the part of the boss which seems kinda wrong.  Like I need you to wear multiple fashionable outfits to fit with the decor of my office or something.

[SKL]

I too feel like an outlier re wardrobe size.  Reading some of these responses makes me wonder what else they were saying behind my back when I was in the CPA world.  I had about 5-7 regular work outfits and yes, I repeated them weekly and no, I didn't accessorize.  I guess I gave some people something to talk about.  😛

 

[moonflower]

43 minutes ago, Quill said:

Clearly, some are more focused on the etiquette of the guy telling me about her shirt situation. That’s okay but just for general info, it didn’t bother me; I didn’t feel it was sexist or inappropriate. I think he has come to notice it, probably partially because of her smelling like cigs, and he just wants to say something about it. I’m an old friend, so he mentioned it. 

The reason I posted is just - it makes me curious. I always think this stuff doesn’t matter, but I turn out to be wrong sometimes. I think, for example, as I have discussed here, that expensive designer purses are pointless. I can’t see why I would ever buy one, at least, not at retail price. But some people do care about this. If a purse-carer happened to be my boss, he or she would probably eventually think, “Ugh! Would she just buy a proper handbag?! She makes enough money! Why does she keep carrying around that stinkin’ tote bag!” 

I truly am curious because I probably would have no more than five blouses if I was going to work in a professional office next week or next month. They would be clean and fresh and I don’t smoke, but if someone noticed the repeating, I probably wouldn’t catch on to their disapproval unless they spelled it out to me. 

I think I am a little ASD-like about such things. 

 

As long as said boss didn't gossip about this to clients, she can think whatever she wants.  But if say you were a teacher with a Walmart handbag and your principal started talking to the mom of one of your students one day, whom she'd known for years, about your appalling lack of handbag-ness - I dunno, I'd think that was kind of rude.

[SKL]

Speaking of school uniforms - my next door neighbor was Catholic and as far as I knew, she only had 1 school uniform, and it was wool, so not washable.  The uniforms were so expensive that buying 2 or more was unrealistic for many.

We were glad we didn't have to wear school uniforms.  But the vast majority of our clothes were hand-me-downs [from my brothers or friends], or Salvation Army purchases.  We had to take them off as soon as we got home so they wouldn't wear out too fast.  I assume the number of outfits was in the neighborhood of 5-7 so my mom could do laundry on the weekends.

When I was in school, there was stigma for wearing obviously old clothes and shoes, and out-of-style ones, but I don't recall anyone commenting on how often people repeated the same clothes, except one time in the 10th grade.  I assume that nobody found it strange to wear the same clothes weekly.

I should probably add that my kids wear the same clothes weekly at least, though they have enough clothes to mix it up a little.  One kid has about 6 outfits she rotates, and the other randomly mixes 2 colors of shirts with 3 colors of skirts.  As far as I know, they are not picked on or talked about for their clothing choices.

Edited February 19, 2019 by SKL

[shawthorne44]

The only times I ever noticed what someone was wearing while in college.   My very first college class the professor wore the EXACT same thing every single day down to the jewelry.   This is a summer class, so it met M-F.    At first I thought she was moving and her stuff was still in limbo.   But even on the last day, she was wearing the same thing.  The outfit reminded me of the one worn by overweight blonde woman on that Drew Carey TV show, the one that made him famous.   Actually, as a person she reminded me of that character.

The other time was a favored Physics professor.   He wore what looked like the same shirt and same pants every day.  But, it became a game among the students to count his wardrobe by looking for subtle differences, and there was a few pants and shirts.  He was your typical absent-minded science professor.  
 

[Bootsie]

In this case, I would wonder how many different shirts the man's coworkers think he has.  A blue dress shirt?  A white dress shirt? and A yellow dress shirt?  Or do they notice that Monday's white dress shirt was a button down collar and Tuesday's white dress shirt was not.  

Perhaps there is something very unprofessional about her tops.  I can see the owner of a CPA firm being concerned if a new accountant wore a blouse with a plunging neck line to her navel on Monday; a shirt with armholes that were cut to her waistline on Tuesday; a sheer, see through top on Wednesday; and a top printed with foul language on Thursday, and then repeated those four tops--but that would not be the number of tops that is the issue, it would be that she was consistently wearing tops that were inappropriate for her career and workplace.  

[Bootsie]

How many black mock turtlenecks do you think Steve Jobs had?

[Ausmumof3]

1 hour ago, Quill said:

Clearly, some are more focused on the etiquette of the guy telling me about her shirt situation. That’s okay but just for general info, it didn’t bother me; I didn’t feel it was sexist or inappropriate. I think he has come to notice it, probably partially because of her smelling like cigs, and he just wants to say something about it. I’m an old friend, so he mentioned it. 

The reason I posted is just - it makes me curious. I always think this stuff doesn’t matter, but I turn out to be wrong sometimes. I think, for example, as I have discussed here, that expensive designer purses are pointless. I can’t see why I would ever buy one, at least, not at retail price. But some people do care about this. If a purse-carer happened to be my boss, he or she would probably eventually think, “Ugh! Would she just buy a proper handbag?! She makes enough money! Why does she keep carrying around that stinkin’ tote bag!” 

I truly am curious because I probably would have no more than five blouses if I was going to work in a professional office next week or next month. They would be clean and fresh and I don’t smoke, but if someone noticed the repeating, I probably wouldn’t catch on to their disapproval unless they spelled it out to me. 

I think I am a little ASD-like about such things. 

I do think you are probably going to get a different answer from the hive than elsewhere.  You have a group that’s filtered to people who place some level of value on books and academic education, and to some degree willing to forgo income to achieve that.  I think 4 shirts is fine.  In fact I think 3 is ok if you are organised with the laundry.  If you want to glam it up use different scarves or necklaces but even then don’t go overboard.  Isn’t it the French thing to have a few high quality items over lots of nasty ones and they are meant to be the best at fashion?  Or is that just another one of those French stereotypes that’s actually rubbish.  

On the other hand if you love clothes and you can afford to have heaps without being unethical and you can keep them stored neatly - go for it.  It’s no big deal.  I think the accountant boss opinion is just wrong but less inappropriate if it was friend to friend than a strictly client to accountant relationship.

[Arcadia]

1 hour ago, Quill said:

I truly am curious because I probably would have no more than five blouses if I was going to work in a professional office next week or next month. They would be clean and fresh and I don’t smoke, but if someone noticed the repeating, I probably wouldn’t catch on to their disapproval unless they spelled it out to me. 

 

I only had one disapproving colleague but she is just very critical of everything, as in nothing pleases her. Everyone else was just partaking in    water cooler gossip while getting their coffee, kind of like small talk (new electronic gadget, new haircut, new tie). My husband did say no one would say anything now for fear of being misconstrued compared to in the 1990s, early 2000s. It’s more of which stores are having sales kind of conversation now.

9 minutes ago, Bootsie said:

How many black mock turtlenecks do you think Steve Jobs had?

 

I don’t know if Steve Jobs or Simon Cowell started the trend first. Mark Zuckerberg definitely followed.

When I worked in the tech industry in the 90s, the engineers I worked with were wearing company logo polo shirts with jeans in the office and company logo oxford shirts with pants when more formal attire was required. The company logo tops were free.

[Bootsie]

https://www.thrillist.com/gear/successful-people-who-wear-the-same-thing-every-day-steve-jobs-mark-zuckerberg-albert-einstein

A quick list of successful people who were the same thing every day-one, ironically, of these, Karl Lagerfeld died today.  Interestingly, the list is almost entirely male.

[Guest]

52 minutes ago, Ausmumof3 said:

I do think you are probably going to get a different answer from the hive than elsewhere.  You have a group that’s filtered to people who place some level of value on books and academic education, and to some degree willing to forgo income to achieve that.  I think 4 shirts is fine.  In fact I think 3 is ok if you are organised with the laundry.  If you want to glam it up use different scarves or necklaces but even then don’t go overboard.  Isn’t it the French thing to have a few high quality items over lots of nasty ones and they are meant to be the best at fashion?  Or is that just another one of those French stereotypes that’s actually rubbish.  

On the other hand if you love clothes and you can afford to have heaps without being unethical and you can keep them stored neatly - go for it.  It’s no big deal.  I think the accountant boss opinion is just wrong but less inappropriate if it was friend to friend than a strictly client to accountant relationship.

To the best of my knowledge, that is an actual thing, not a rubbish stereotype. And the French do loooove their scarves. My daughter’s host mom acted like dd was leaving the house naked if she didn’t have on a scarf! 

[HS Mom in NC]

Is it possible she has a style uniform instead of a capsule wardrobe?  An example of a style uniform would be tops all in the same color or a couple of colors (either white, cream, or black) but 2 are sleeveless, 2 are short sleeves, 2 are 3/4 sleeves, 2 are long sleeves, which could look like maybe 4 tops if each top that makes up the pair looks similar in cut to the other.  People doing this add 2 jackets/blazers in a second color like maybe red or blue, a couple of sweaters in the second or a third color like blue and green, then bottoms in a range of neutrals (white, grey and black)  that include a couple of dress pants in different cuts, an a-line skirt, a circle skirt, and a pencil skirt.  Then there's a sheath or wrap dress in a neutral.  Add to that some flats, pumps, and boots in the same neutral (maybe black) and a large bag of the same.  They usually a pair of diamond stud earrings, small-medium hoop earrings, and dangley earrings in the same metal. That can be a generous wardrobe that all works together to cover all the bases.

As long as someone shows up in clean, office appropriate clothing, I don't think it really matters if it's just 2 outfits.  Who cares? Why do I have the feeling we wouldn't have this conversation about a man with 2 suits, one in dark grey, the other in navy blue, a white button down dress shirt, a light blue button down dress shirt, and 4 ties with different prints on them?

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Garga said:

True.  Some are considering more the person asking Quill the question.  Some are thinking of a full wardrobe.  Some are thinking of a wardrobe of someone just starting out.

 

Part of me feels just like what you wrote.  

 

But another part of me would have more than 5 shirts because when I was a kid in school I had very few outfits. I had four outfits of summer stuff and four winter outfits.  One pair of sneakers and one pair of dress shoes (for church) for the year.  They were not capsule type of outfits so I couldn’t mix and match them much at all.  It was obvious that what I wore on Monday was the exact same outfit I was wearing on Friday.  And the kids were brutal about it.  It’s hard for me not to want to have at least 2 weeks’ worth of tops in a job.  Too many bad memories of, “Garga is wearing that shirt *again*?!  Garga, didn’t you wear that on Monday?!”  Sneer, sneer.

So, I vacillate between moral outrage against excess in Western society and the sting of being gossiped about for not having enough.  

Things like that from our pasts will color a lot of people’s answers, I’m sure.

Yes, me too. As an adult, it was a good several years before I darkened the door of a thrift store because I had such bad memories about those sneering kids. 

And I also got one pair of play shoes and one for dress per year. If they wore out, there was always tape. If they were outgrown, I had bigger siblings and cousins. 

I’m still touchy about the shoe thing. My kids get new shoes they day it enters my awareness they need them, lol. 

[Kanin]

Work clothing, a problem I've had since I started working! When I was in my 20s, I could only afford thrift store clothing, or super on sale clothing, so I was limited to that. Now that I can actually afford to buy clothes, I have no idea what I'm doing. Luckily I teach at an elementary school, so unusual combinations are forgiven 🙂 And we can wear jeans! 

As for how many tops... I have probably 5 outfits that I actually like, and I would have no hesitation about wearing the same thing on a Friday as I did on Monday. Perhaps my coworkers notice, but I doubt it. I don't recall what they wear on any given day. 

I would love a capsule wardrobe. I just don't know how to go about making one. Even more than that, I would LOVE a work uniform. 

[Guest]

Quote

Is it possible she has a style uniform instead of a capsule wardrobe?  An example of a style uniform would be tops all in the same color or a couple of colors (either white, cream, or black) but 2 are sleeveless, 2 are short sleeves, 2 are 3/4 sleeves, 2 are long sleeves, which could look like maybe 4 tops if each top that makes up the pair looks similar in cut to the other.

Anything’s possible, of course, but my general impression from what he said was that she has four tops which are distinct enough that he doesn’t doubt those are the only four tops she wears.

I have a feeling the cigarette smoking bothers him more and it probably makes him focus on her clothes to a greater degree than he would have otherwise. I imagine he spends some part of most days looking at a computer screen beside or behind her while she shows him something and he probably smells the cigs and thinks about her shirt because the smell of smoke focused his attention on it yet again. <<<_All this part is pure conjecture, but it seems within the scope of likelihood. 

 

[Guest]

Quote

Quote

Speaking of school uniforms - my next door neighbor was Catholic and as far as I knew, she only had 1 school uniform, and it was wool, so not washable.  The uniforms were so expensive that buying 2 or more was unrealistic for many.

 

When I was in private school, I had one uniform and usually only two uniform shirts. I was one of four kids attending the school and my parents did not buy extras. I couldn’t even tell you how often the jumper was washed - rarely, I know. We also had to wear specific socks and shoes, so really there was no extra money for back-ups. 

[Pen]

48 minutes ago, Homeschool Mom in AZ said:

As long as someone shows up in clean, office appropriate clothing, I don't think it really matters if it's just 2 outfits.  Who cares? Why do I have the feeling we wouldn't have this conversation about a man with 2 suits, one in dark grey, the other in navy blue, a white button down dress shirt, a light blue button down dress shirt, and 4 ties with different prints on them?

 

That was what I was thinking when I commented that something seemed sexist about it.  

Unless maybe the man had two suits, one a memorable navy chalk stripe, and one in blue seersucker. A light lavender button down dress shirt, and a light gray dress shirt. And 4 patterned bow ties.   But even then, I think perhaps not...

[Bluegoat]

13 minutes ago, Pen said:

 

That was what I was thinking when I commented that something seemed sexist about it.  

Unless maybe the man had two suits, one a memorable navy chalk stripe, and one in blue seersucker. A light lavender button down dress shirt, and a light gray dress shirt. And 4 patterned bow ties.   But even then, I think perhaps not...

 

Gosh, this post reminds me a bit of when I was a student.  The dean of men then was a bit of a fop, and in the summer he sometimes wore a seersucker suit, with a lavender shirt and green bow tie, and a white straw hat.  And in winter, he sometimes wore a tweed suit with a deerstalker cap.

[Liz CA]

16 hours ago, HeighHo said:

How does he know they are the same four tops?  Perhaps she has doubles; some people do, as they stick with what fits.

Remember, if he's talking about her, he's talking about you.

 

Oh yes. I have two gray pants and two black pants that are identical - bought together. Wonder what they are saying about me - but I am not in the office every day or at the same office. This may change mid March. I need to flag this thread.

[moonflower]

When I was in elementary school I read a Sweet Valley High book in which Lila (the rich one) says something about how she can't wear that shirt, she wore it just two weeks ago! and forever after that, I was convinced that the socially appropriate time in which you could repeat an outfit was a minimum of 2 weeks.  We were not rich and I was terrible with clothes, so it was a constant struggle.  I would have loved a uniform if it were comfortable - mostly they don't look comfortable, though.

[Kanin]

13 hours ago, Quill said:

 Too many bad memories of, “Garga is wearing that shirt *again*?!  Garga, didn’t you wear that on Monday?!”  Sneer, sneer.

I'm sorry 😞 This happened to me in school, too.

[CAJinBE]

When I was working as an engineer I had five suits on rotation in various shades of blue and grey. I always wore white blouses that were very similar. All the men wore similar suits. White shirts weren't mandatory, but that was the reality at that company. The shirts were washable, but the suits were dry clean only but I found with the rotation they didn't need to be cleaned very often. During the same period of time my dh was military so obviously wore a uniform every day. Very easy to wash and iron. No worries about which shirt he wanted to wear on which day and if it was clean or not. After he retired from the military he needed to buy a bunch of suits and dress shirts. Now we seem to be constantly having to buy new shirts as the collars fray. The suits have lasted a long time and are probably out of fashion, but we have only replaced them as they wear out. So I guess I'm saying that the work uniform whether an actual uniform or a self-imposed one is the way to go for me. 

[Guest]

8 hours ago, moonflower said:

When I was in elementary school I read a Sweet Valley High book in which Lila (the rich one) says something about how she can't wear that shirt, she wore it just two weeks ago! and forever after that, I was convinced that the socially appropriate time in which you could repeat an outfit was a minimum of 2 weeks.  We were not rich and I was terrible with clothes, so it was a constant struggle.  I would have loved a uniform if it were comfortable - mostly they don't look comfortable, though.

Do you remember the Seinfeld episode where Jerry meets a woman and he loves the dress she’s wearing, but then they go on a date and she is wearing it again...and again, and he goes to her apartment and all the photos of her on display show her in that dress. He purposefully spills something on her dress and then she claims she cannot go back out. 

It’s a whole riff on the outfit repeater. 

[SKL]

Speaking about repeating clothes - my ex-boss's wife lived in a different city, so he used to fly there to see her every Friday.  Well I could tell which shirt she liked best on him, because he wore it literally every Friday.  It was a tight, thin long-sleeve black knit - she must have bought it for him - totally different from his usual style.

That guy is one of the many guys who would notice what people wore, much more than I ever did.  Though I'm sure he wouldn't blab about it to anyone he didn't trust.

[fairfarmhand]

Wading into this topic...

My dh's mentor when my dh was right out of engineering school kinda got on my dh in his wardrobe department. This guy was an engineer, the consummate professional. He also had to try very hard to learn the ropes of fashion. This didn't come naturally for this fellow (he was in his early 60s at that time). His take on it was this:  You want clients to take you seriously. If a client comes in every Friday and the person there is wearing the same thing they wore last Friday or it's not ironed, or not in good repair, etc. , some clients might think "This place can't be that successful or they'd pay their people well enough to buy a few more different blouses or have more professionally attired people. " In other words, the attire of the employees does say something about the success or perceived success of the organization. Whether that's right or wrong is irrelevant if your goal is to present yourself to clients in a professional manner. If you're looking for work, you want to make yourself as appealing as possible and not allow something to distract from your professionalism. 

And this guy walked the walk. He did mix up his wardrobe, ties, shirt colors, suits, and sports jackets. It wasn't just for women. (He would never have gossiped about women though.) 

So he asked my dh to start ironing his clothes, and buy a few more items. 

Also, now that my dh is in a more supervisory position, we have had to upgrade his stuff. Not necessarily brands, but he definitely wears more button up dress shirts rather than the polos that he once wore. My dh would honestly prefer soft knit shirts to stiff button ups, but as the boss and sometimes the one who interfaces with the public, he needs people to take him seriously. And yes, he doesn't wear the same shirt more often than once every ten days or so. He'll ask me. I hang his shirts in a particular order in his closet, with more recently worn items in the back so he doesn't repeat. I do doubt though that my dh cares what everyone else is wearing. I doubt he noticed. But, certain people, men or women, would notice a frequent repeat, and maybe comment on it in a joking manner. I think for my dh, it's that he leads meetings so often, he doesn't want people sitting there daydreaming "Boss is wearing that same old red shirt. I wonder how many shirts he has. You'd think that he could afford more shirts." 

[Bluegoat]

2 hours ago, fairfarmhand said:

Wading into this topic...

My dh's mentor when my dh was right out of engineering school kinda got on my dh in his wardrobe department. This guy was an engineer, the consummate professional. He also had to try very hard to learn the ropes of fashion. This didn't come naturally for this fellow (he was in his early 60s at that time). His take on it was this:  You want clients to take you seriously. If a client comes in every Friday and the person there is wearing the same thing they wore last Friday or it's not ironed, or not in good repair, etc. , some clients might think "This place can't be that successful or they'd pay their people well enough to buy a few more different blouses or have more professionally attired people. " In other words, the attire of the employees does say something about the success or perceived success of the organization. Whether that's right or wrong is irrelevant if your goal is to present yourself to clients in a professional manner. If you're looking for work, you want to make yourself as appealing as possible and not allow something to distract from your professionalism. 

And this guy walked the walk. He did mix up his wardrobe, ties, shirt colors, suits, and sports jackets. It wasn't just for women. (He would never have gossiped about women though.) 

So he asked my dh to start ironing his clothes, and buy a few more items. 

Also, now that my dh is in a more supervisory position, we have had to upgrade his stuff. Not necessarily brands, but he definitely wears more button up dress shirts rather than the polos that he once wore. My dh would honestly prefer soft knit shirts to stiff button ups, but as the boss and sometimes the one who interfaces with the public, he needs people to take him seriously. And yes, he doesn't wear the same shirt more often than once every ten days or so. He'll ask me. I hang his shirts in a particular order in his closet, with more recently worn items in the back so he doesn't repeat. I do doubt though that my dh cares what everyone else is wearing. I doubt he noticed. But, certain people, men or women, would notice a frequent repeat, and maybe comment on it in a joking manner. I think for my dh, it's that he leads meetings so often, he doesn't want people sitting there daydreaming "Boss is wearing that same old red shirt. I wonder how many shirts he has. You'd think that he could afford more shirts." 

 

I agree with this in a lot of ways - I think there are good reasons to put some thought into work clothes.

It's really the repeating thing that I wouldn't have thought of though.  Maybe because a lot of the people I knew growing up in more high-end jobs seemed to wear pretty much the same thing to work every day - which is to say, a conservative suit and shirt.  Only the ties seemed variable.

I mean, that link up-thread about people who wore the same thing to work every day - quite a few were snazzy in their dress, but I'd not even have said that Steve Jobs, who wore mock turtlenecks for goodness sake, looked poor because he always wore the same thing.  The uniform approach to business wear seems pretty solid to me, if the pieces of clothing are actually good quality.  A person in a chanel suit doesn't look cheap, even if it's always the same suit.

[Guest]

2 hours ago, Bluegoat said:

 

I agree with this in a lot of ways - I think there are good reasons to put some thought into work clothes.

It's really the repeating thing that I wouldn't have thought of though.  Maybe because a lot of the people I knew growing up in more high-end jobs seemed to wear pretty much the same thing to work every day - which is to say, a conservative suit and shirt.  Only the ties seemed variable.

I mean, that link up-thread about people who wore the same thing to work every day - quite a few were snazzy in their dress, but I'd not even have said that Steve Jobs, who wore mock turtlenecks for goodness sake, looked poor because he always wore the same thing.  The uniform approach to business wear seems pretty solid to me, if the pieces of clothing are actually good quality.  A person in a chanel suit doesn't look cheap, even if it's always the same suit.

I do think this makes sense, but I still wouldn’t want to wear literally the same four tops over and over and over while working in a professional office. I have a feeling if the woman he commented on was dressing well overall but was wearing a similar look over and over, I don’t think that would have attracted his negative attention. I don’t think his issue was merely that she seems to be dressed with no variety. IOW, I have a feeling she is not smartly dressed but in a narrow variety of looks. 

[Guest]

BTW, for anyone interested, there is a great free app called Stylebook which lets you create a digital closet with the clothes you own. You can create looks from your items; you can even use a shuffle feature which might lead to you discovering a way to combine separate items in a novel way. But I think the best feature of all is a calendar on which you can log the “look” you wore to such-and-such event. If I worked in a professional office, I would use this feature faithfully, to help avoid wearing the same thing with the same clients. Even in my current life, I use it for social events so I don’t keep turning up at Book Club wearing the same outfit. 

There are other fun features in it. You can log the price you paid for an article and then you will see what your cost-per-wear is. You can display it by worst cost per wear or best CPW. The darned dress and shoes I bought for a wedding keep steady as my worst CPW, lol. 

[Pen]

 

5 hours ago, fairfarmhand said:

His take on it was this:  You want clients to take you seriously. If a client comes in every Friday and the person there is wearing the same thing they wore last Friday or it's not ironed, or not in good repair, etc. , some clients might think "This place can't be that successful or they'd pay their people well enough to buy a few more different blouses or have more professionally attired people. "

 

I think there is some potential importance to this.  Yes. 

 

 I also think there’s a difference between Not ironed, in  disrepair, (or worse, dirty), and having a multiplicity of outfits.  

5 hours ago, fairfarmhand said:

In other words, the attire of the employees does say something about the success or perceived success of the organization. Whether that's right or wrong is irrelevant if your goal is to present yourself to clients in a professional manner. If you're looking for work, you want to make yourself as appealing as possible and not allow something to distract from your professionalism. 

 

Okay.  I’ll agree with that.

 

5 hours ago, fairfarmhand said:

So he asked my dh to start ironing his clothes, and buy a few more items. 

 

Crisply ironed seems basic to being professional.  

 

5 hours ago, fairfarmhand said:

"Boss is wearing that same old red shirt. I wonder how many shirts he has. You'd think that he could afford more shirts." 

 

Red though,  would stand out a lot and isn’t a standard business wear color for a man.  

 

And, mathematically,  if in a business that isn’t formal enough to require a full matched suit, there are a lot of combinations that can be achieved from just 2 sets of 4 items (2 suits, 2 shirts 2 ties) that all can be changed in all possible orders and look good together.  A few more, say shirts and ties, or addition of a vest or pocket square option,  hugely increases the possible combinations.  

How many different outfits (and how varied they need to be) are needed to some degree depends on the job, not only how much client contact, whether boss, or not, but level of conservativeness (if that’s a word), and where it is.  A Los Angeles entertainment industry lawyer versus a London barrister, for example.  Or an accountant in Boston  vs  a real estate agent in Hawaii.  

A little ditty comes to mind:

When doing work in Boston/Home of the bean and the cod/Wear blue or grey for business/And brown for talking to God 

 

[Arcadia]

21 minutes ago, Pen said:

A little ditty comes to mind:

When doing work in Boston/Home of the bean and the cod/Wear blue or grey for business/And brown for talking to God 

 

I have not heard that ditty before but my husband does stick to blue or grey for work attire. My friend who is a lawyer jokes that lawyers wear “penguin” attire (white and black). 

Edited February 21, 2019 by Arcadia

[Pen]

18 minutes ago, Arcadia said:

 

I have not heard that ditty before but my husband does stick to blue or grey for work attire. My friend who is a lawyer jokes that lawyers wear “penguin” attire (white and black). 

 

Was true for a London barristers IME, not a Los Angeles lawyer.  

[gardenmom5]

four tops for a women would mean she's rewearing one of them during the week.  and it has been noticed.

there is "basic", dress up/down with accessories to change things up - and there's what it is.  it sounds like her tops are "it".

 

 

[DawnM]

I can't imagine someone figuring out my wardrobe and knowing how many shirts I have.  I honestly just have the same look for the most part.  Some of this is because I am overweight and don't think that much looks good on me, and the rest is because I am not really into fashion and don't care.

I am guessing I have 10 tops, but they are similar tops, just nicer T-shirts, knit V-neck and scoop neck different colored Tees that I pair with a light jacket and typically black or navy pants.  I even have multiple pairs of the same pants.  People might think I wear the same thing, whatever.

I rarely wear scarves.  I don't like the feel of them.  But I work in a public school, so I don't have to dress up, but I can't wear jeans every day either (Fridays are jeans days and then there are occasional other days we can wear jeans.)