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Comment by DanI-S | Hacker News Reader

The idea that here, in the 21st century, any successful entrepreneur must garb oneself in rarely-worn, extremely expensive and generally inconvenient Victorian-era ceremonial dress in order to arrange a business transaction is utterly ludicrous.

I'm most effective when I'm at my most confident, and I'm most confident when wearing the clothing that I am used to wearing every day. That might be a suit, and it might be the affordable and well-designed utility clothing that 99% of humanity wears.

If it's good enough to wear whilst creating a company worth billions of dollars, it's good enough to wear whilst selling it.

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> rarely-worn, extremely expensive and generally inconvenient Victorian-era ceremonial dress

This annoys me. The 'dev-uniform' of t-shirt, jeans and sneakers is just as constraining as the 'business-uniform' of suits and button downs.

You rarely wear one, they are not necessarily expensive, and they are not inconvenient.

Basically, there is nothing inherently better about jeans and a t-shirt, and nothing inherently bad about suits or anything else that isn't in either category. The key is to not expect others to comply to your weird ideas about dress code and let everyone express themselves without stereotyping them.

"Basically, there is nothing inherently better about jeans and a t-shirt"

More comfortable, more durable, cheaper, better selection of comfortable footwear that doesn't need servicing by a person at the airport or the main floor of an office building... need I go on?

You are wrong here.

If you pay $300 for well constructed leather boots, they will last you for years, even if you wear them almost every day. They are also much more easily repaired than sneakers, which gives you another nine months of life. So proper boots are actually a better investment than sneakers.

I was really skeptical until I bought really nice boots from Fluevog. Additionally, a good company will stand behind their boots, and give a warranty. Fluevog replaced my boots for free because there was a manufacturing error in the first pair.

Try it. Every man deserves a decent pair of boots. They provide great support and feel amazing.

Ummm ... since when are leather boots considered business attire? I'd also call that dressing down, though in a more rugged style.

Same concept applies to dress shoes - Allen Edmonds and Aldens will last years to decades if properly maintained. You will need to replace the soles periodically, but that is not expensive.

As a bonus, good low cut boots go just as well as sneakers to with jeans and a tshirt. I am utterly convinced that the persistence of sneakers is either the product of ignorance when it comes to boot alternatives, or due to non-utilitarian forces that so many HN types deny are a factor in the standard 'dressed down' look.

Agreed. Plus leather lets your feet breath. Synthetics make my feet sweat.

My suit is very comfortable. It doesn't fall apart. I paid under $100 for an entire outfit (I paid $120 for my jeans sans t-shirt). My shoes are super comfy and I've never had to get them serviced?

You overpaid for your jeans.

He didn't overpay for his jeans. He made the decision to wear branded jeans rather than getting $10 walmart/kmart jeans that is allright.

If he paid more the same pair (brand, size) and at the same time

I think it's worse than that. Ever been in DC on a sweltering day watching everyone in business suits on the street? WTF?

I wonder what the national savings would be by raising the AC a few degrees and ditching the jacket and ties.

They tried this in Japan[1] and apparently it was a success.

[1] http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1402425...

I would argue that suit paints are actually much more confortable than jeans.

Jeans are just nice because you don't have to worry about tearing them etc.

I personally find jeans and nice walking boots more comfortable than a formal suit. The most comfortable clothing I have seen recently is the uniforms worn by male porters in a hospital I'm visiting a relative in. Loose cotton, wide sleeved, with simple deck shoes, no contraints. I'm not sure I'd get away teaching in that kit though.

I believe it's inherently better _not_ to have a length of fabric wound tightly around my neck.

When I wore business casual to work for a little over a year (East Coast job), I never wore a tie except for the interview day. I did, however, wear nice shoes, business pants, and a button-down, long sleeve, collared shirt.

> This annoys me. The 'dev-uniform' of t-shirt, jeans and sneakers is just as constraining as the 'business-uniform' of suits and button downs.

Have you ever tried to run or climb or do anything physical in a suit?

Have you ever tried to run in jeans? It sucks. Generally I do it in athletic shorts, but feel free to do what works for you.

Also, by similarly irrelevant logic, flip flops should be a developer faux pas. They aren't.

I work in software. The occasions on which I have to run or climb in my work clothes are rare.

That said, those activities make you sweat. Sweaty people smell. While wearing a suit to work doesn't affect your ability to work professionally, smelling bloody well does.

Depending on the suit, it's actually easier than jeans.

Also, what kind of software development job requires any amount of running or climbing.

I don't often wear a coat but I do often wear dress pants, collared shirts and dress shoes. I also often hop/climb fences while wearing them, so... yes.

Suits don't have to be rarely worn, expensive, inconvenient or uncomfortable.

> The idea that here, in the 21st century, any successful entrepreneur must garb oneself in rarely-worn, extremely expensive and generally inconvenient Victorian-era ceremonial dress in order to arrange a business transaction is utterly ludicrous.

Welcome to the industry wide corporate culture of banks! As absolutely ludicrous as this is to you and me, I can tell you first-handedly that this is the bread-and-butter in banking. This goes so far that (hearsay) places like Deutsche Bank have rules where the color/brightness of the tie signals how high up the ranks you are and dark colors must not be worn by youngens.

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