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Mondak · 05-15-2006, 07:04 PM

Ok I'll bite. This whole business casual thing puts me in a tizzy at times. If you have seen pictures of me from around the board, I have a couple challenges when conducting business. One is that I am short (5'9" soaking wet) and the other is that I look like I am 19 (I am 32).

I regularly meet with senior executives when doing buisiness and so to combat this I try to dress very professionally. The thing is that a suit (paticularly in California) makes people sometimes uncomfortable. You see they have this whole business casual thing - even when I work with banks and insurance companies sometimes. Especially when I am in the IT or Opperations portion of a sales cycle. Suits I understand:

1. You get what you pay for
2. The guys who work in the mens section at Nordstrom know what they are doing

So I am not going to show up in jeans like some of the people I meet with, but the solid button down with dress pants has not been cutting it of late. I feel that the time is come for (must resist fist of death...) A Sportcoat (gasp)!!!

Ok now I always thought of these things as the elbow / shooting patches on a thick tweed jacket type of thing. I have seen some people pull these things off and it is a nice alternative to dress things up on a moments notice. For example, I was at a conference the other day in ARIZONA where it was like 150thousand degrees out during the day. Ties were clearly out, but I had a speaking engagement in which I could have slipped on the sportcoat and then went back to my button down (By the way - when did dress shirts start costing $150???) dress shirt and dress pants. Or transitioning from daytime to dinner as another example.

So does anyone have a sport coat primer for me? I don't want a navy sport coat with gold buttons either here. I don't want a staple that will last. I want to have something that might be out of fashion in a few years possibly, but for now it is very nice. What I am looking for:

1. What pants to wear with it (and how to choose). I have seen jeans but I will never do that. With a suit, they are exactly the same. With this? No idea.

2. How to choose a shirt. If I have a shirt with some stripes, how do I make sure it is not too much?

3. What is in? I am still tying an onion to my belt (since that was the style back then). What the heck am I looking for?

4. Shoes? Dress shoes I understand. In between (rubber soles are blasphemy but that could be its own response on this thread) I don't really have a grip on this.

5. Where to buy. While I have done well with Nordstrom, I am not married to them. If you are about to post that I go to a thrift shop and check out the racks for deals - you are responding to the wrong post.

6. Anything else that might be useful.

Thanks very much for reading all that and any help you have for me.

05-15-2006, 07:04 PM	#112 (permalink)
Mondak Industrialist Location: Southern California	A Sport Coat? Ok I'll bite. This whole business casual thing puts me in a tizzy at times. If you have seen pictures of me from around the board, I have a couple challenges when conducting business. One is that I am short (5'9" soaking wet) and the other is that I look like I am 19 (I am 32). I regularly meet with senior executives when doing buisiness and so to combat this I try to dress very professionally. The thing is that a suit (paticularly in California) makes people sometimes uncomfortable. You see they have this whole business casual thing - even when I work with banks and insurance companies sometimes. Especially when I am in the IT or Opperations portion of a sales cycle. Suits I understand: 1. You get what you pay for 2. The guys who work in the mens section at Nordstrom know what they are doing So I am not going to show up in jeans like some of the people I meet with, but the solid button down with dress pants has not been cutting it of late. I feel that the time is come for (must resist fist of death...) A Sportcoat (gasp)!!! Ok now I always thought of these things as the elbow / shooting patches on a thick tweed jacket type of thing. I have seen some people pull these things off and it is a nice alternative to dress things up on a moments notice. For example, I was at a conference the other day in ARIZONA where it was like 150thousand degrees out during the day. Ties were clearly out, but I had a speaking engagement in which I could have slipped on the sportcoat and then went back to my button down (By the way - when did dress shirts start costing $150???) dress shirt and dress pants. Or transitioning from daytime to dinner as another example. So does anyone have a sport coat primer for me? I don't want a navy sport coat with gold buttons either here. I don't want a staple that will last. I want to have something that might be out of fashion in a few years possibly, but for now it is very nice. What I am looking for: 1. What pants to wear with it (and how to choose). I have seen jeans but I will never do that. With a suit, they are exactly the same. With this? No idea. 2. How to choose a shirt. If I have a shirt with some stripes, how do I make sure it is not too much? 3. What is in? I am still tying an onion to my belt (since that was the style back then). What the heck am I looking for? 4. Shoes? Dress shoes I understand. In between (rubber soles are blasphemy but that could be its own response on this thread) I don't really have a grip on this. 5. Where to buy. While I have done well with Nordstrom, I am not married to them. If you are about to post that I go to a thrift shop and check out the racks for deals - you are responding to the wrong post. 6. Anything else that might be useful. Thanks very much for reading all that and any help you have for me. __________________ All truth passes through three stages: First it is ridiculed Second, it is violently opposed and Third, it is accepted as self-evident. ARTHUR SCHOPENHAUER (1788-1860)