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Nightrunner wrote:Props to whomever recommended The Tie Bar (sorry, I can't remember who). Got my order today, and I'm satisfied with the quality and selection - and second the recommendation.

Wow that is pretty sweet. Have you seen anything in stores for $15-20 that would match the quality?

I might take some flack for this, but you can find some damn good ties at thrift stores with a little patience. I have 15-20 vintage ties that are all handmade in italy. Most of them I got for 25-50 cents a pop.

leobowski wrote:I might take some flack for this, but you can find some damn good ties at thrift stores with a little patience. I have 15-20 vintage ties that are all handmade in italy. Most of them I got for 25-50 cents a pop.

Why would you take flak for that? We're a bunch of cheap bastards that wait all year for 3 for 1 suit sales at JAB.

leobowski wrote:

Cupidity wrote:How liberal is too liberal for an OCI suit? I'm working in Florida and have gotten a nice collection of light colored summer suits. My best suit is a light brown, sort of a weak coffee color. Can I get away with wearing this, or should I go for a more conservative Charcoal? Interviewing for Boston/NYC firms.
(I think this is it?)

I would go with a light grey (ie lighter than charcoal) suit over that. If you have one. Light grey+ white shirt+ red or blue tie is a very classy look.

Veyron wrote: There is no way you would ever, ever, ever get dinged for wearing a 3 roll 2 (yes, my mistake) at OCI. I rocked one at 1LOCI and did quite well. 2 button suits just look strange on some tall and thin people.

Agreed. I'm 6'3" and 3 button suits just suit me better (bad pun intended). I'm not the biggest fan of 3 button blazers, but 3 button suits are perfectly acceptable for a tall person.

Blazers yes. 3 button sport coats, on the other hand, can be bomb. See Zegna, 90s.

D-hops wrote:
I don't think the light grey suit is a huge deal, but I don't think you should want to be memorable because of what you are wearing. Be memorable for your interviewing skills. What you wear should be about not making an impression so the rest of your credentials can make one.

I'd think making an impression both with your credentials AND your appearance would be the best, if you could pull it off?

Emma. wrote: I think TLS overemphasizes the importance of fitting in with everyone else at OCI, whereas hiring partners I have talked to say they appreciate the memorable candidates. To me it doesn't seem like wearing a lighter suit than what is worn by the majority of interviewers, especially if it is a well fitting suit, paired with a conservative suit and tie and quality dress shoes, would ever be a problem.

Please, please do not do this. I know first hand people who had this line of reasoning and had it bite them in the ass hard.

Nightrunner wrote:I haven't, but I'm not the world's greatest shopper or anything. They seem superior to the $15 ties you'd find at most places.

I suspect that the super style snobs of the world will think these are "okay" ties, but 100% silk, in that selection, for $15 is a win in my book. I went from having one good tie and some shitty hand-me-downs to having a solid rotation for under $100.

I love the ties I've bought from them. They are a great deal. However, I think once you go outside their more basic patterns, their patterns can be a bit tacky. It's great for essentially a starter set of ties in the classic colors and patterns. When you move into more diverse patterns, I think it's better to go elsewhere, but that's just a preference. I've recommended them a number of times in OCI thread, but I think I first heard of them many pages back in this thread.

It's http://www.thetiebar.com/, for anyone wondering.

thesealocust wrote:

Emma. wrote: I think TLS overemphasizes the importance of fitting in with everyone else at OCI, whereas hiring partners I have talked to say they appreciate the memorable candidates. To me it doesn't seem like wearing a lighter suit than what is worn by the majority of interviewers, especially if it is a well fitting suit, paired with a conservative suit and tie and quality dress shoes, would ever be a problem.

Please, please do not do this. I know first hand people who had this line of reasoning and had it bite them in the ass hard.

Don't wear a lighter than charcoal suit? You really think people suffered at OCI just based on something like this?

Emma. wrote:

thesealocust wrote:

Emma. wrote: I think TLS overemphasizes the importance of fitting in with everyone else at OCI, whereas hiring partners I have talked to say they appreciate the memorable candidates. To me it doesn't seem like wearing a lighter suit than what is worn by the majority of interviewers, especially if it is a well fitting suit, paired with a conservative suit and tie and quality dress shoes, would ever be a problem.

Please, please do not do this. I know first hand people who had this line of reasoning and had it bite them in the ass hard.

Don't wear a lighter than charcoal suit? You really think people suffered at OCI just based on something like this?

I think you can get away with it, but I wouldn't do it. The real question is not did anyone suffer, but did anyone benefit? I think the answer the first question is maybe and the answer to the second question is definitely not.

Bronte wrote:

Emma. wrote:

thesealocust wrote:

Emma. wrote: I think TLS overemphasizes the importance of fitting in with everyone else at OCI, whereas hiring partners I have talked to say they appreciate the memorable candidates. To me it doesn't seem like wearing a lighter suit than what is worn by the majority of interviewers, especially if it is a well fitting suit, paired with a conservative suit and tie and quality dress shoes, would ever be a problem.

Please, please do not do this. I know first hand people who had this line of reasoning and had it bite them in the ass hard.

Don't wear a lighter than charcoal suit? You really think people suffered at OCI just based on something like this?

I think you can get away with it, but I wouldn't do it. The real question is not did anyone suffer, but did anyone benefit? I think the answer the first question is maybe and the answer to the second question is definitely not.

Good point. I just don't want to have to wear the same two suits for 2 weeks of interviews.

Emma. wrote:Good point. I just don't want to have to wear the same two suits for 2 weeks of interviews.

I think you'd be fine wearing the same suit all the way through. No one is going to know the difference. I don't think a medium gray suit is going to significantly hurt you, but thesealocust has gone through OCI and I haven't.

I want to know thesealocust's story about people who got burned because of their dress. I wonder how they would know that;s the reason.

Bronte wrote:I think you can get away with it, but I wouldn't do it. The real question is not did anyone suffer, but did anyone benefit? I think the answer the first question is maybe and the answer to the second question is definitely not.

+infinity. Why do something that could potentially be seen as a negative by employers? It's a conservative industry, dress for that standard.

Does my tailor suck?

(anecdote follows)

Just went to Jos A Bank because the suits I ordered last week came in. Given that wearing unaltered is generally portrayed ITT as the mother of all faux pas, I went in expecting to get the suit altered. This is especially true because I'm considerably more narrow than average.

I put on the first suit and the tailor looked me over. She quickly determined the jacket didn't need any altering. I gave an inquisitive look and asked a few probing questions, i.e. "It looks good in the shoulders?" and "The sides don't need to come in or anything?" She dismissed them quickly. The jacket is a 38R and, in her defense, is a "tailored fit" style. Maybe I'm just build like the prototypical thin person with regular length arms?

My other question, besides competence, relates to price. She ultimately decided she would move the buttons on the jacket over ever-so-slightly, presumably so the jacket comes together a bit tighter. Other than that, the only alterations I'm paying for are on the pants. So, to summarize:

2x Move the suit buttons
2x Straight bottoms
2x Take ~an inch out of the waist (32" is too loose)
2x Traveler's crease

Price: $62

For some reason, I was expecting a bit less. Thoughts?

Dude, for $62 you could actually buy an entire shipping container full of Jos. A. Bank suits and just rummage through them until you found ones that fit properly.

thesealocust wrote:Dude, for $62 you could actually buy an entire shipping container full of Jos. A. Bank suits and just rummage through them until you found ones that fit properly.

Lol! But seriously, though?

Lieut Kaffee wrote:

thesealocust wrote:Dude, for $62 you could actually buy an entire shipping container full of Jos. A. Bank suits and just rummage through them until you found ones that fit properly.

Lol! But seriously, though?

Never gotten anything tailored, but $62 seems ballpark right, something like $30 for alterations per suit is what I would expect, and I'm not surprised it's not cheaper if there's less to do. Really have no idea though.

I actually had a tailor recommended to me by my judge. He told me the location of the one rated best in Chicago by some publication or another. I just figured someone so good would be expensive, and since I'm pretty low-maintenance I thought using the JAB tailor would save me time and money.

Lieut Kaffee wrote:Does my tailor suck?

(anecdote follows)

Just went to Jos A Bank because the suits I ordered last week came in. Given that wearing unaltered is generally portrayed ITT as the mother of all faux pas, I went in expecting to get the suit altered. This is especially true because I'm considerably more narrow than average.

I put on the first suit and the tailor looked me over. She quickly determined the jacket didn't need any altering. I gave an inquisitive look and asked a few probing questions, i.e. "It looks good in the shoulders?" and "The sides don't need to come in or anything?" She dismissed them quickly. The jacket is a 38R and, in her defense, is a "tailored fit" style. Maybe I'm just build like the prototypical thin person with regular length arms?

My other question, besides competence, relates to price. She ultimately decided she would move the buttons on the jacket over ever-so-slightly, presumably so the jacket comes together a bit tighter. Other than that, the only alterations I'm paying for are on the pants. So, to summarize:

2x Move the suit buttons
2x Straight bottoms
2x Take ~an inch out of the waist (32" is too loose)
2x Traveler's crease

Price: $62

For some reason, I was expecting a bit less. Thoughts?

That is about what I paid for alterations at brooks bros.

Desert Fox wrote:

Lieut Kaffee wrote:Does my tailor suck?

(anecdote follows)

Just went to Jos A Bank because the suits I ordered last week came in. Given that wearing unaltered is generally portrayed ITT as the mother of all faux pas, I went in expecting to get the suit altered. This is especially true because I'm considerably more narrow than average.

I put on the first suit and the tailor looked me over. She quickly determined the jacket didn't need any altering. I gave an inquisitive look and asked a few probing questions, i.e. "It looks good in the shoulders?" and "The sides don't need to come in or anything?" She dismissed them quickly. The jacket is a 38R and, in her defense, is a "tailored fit" style. Maybe I'm just build like the prototypical thin person with regular length arms?

My other question, besides competence, relates to price. She ultimately decided she would move the buttons on the jacket over ever-so-slightly, presumably so the jacket comes together a bit tighter. Other than that, the only alterations I'm paying for are on the pants. So, to summarize:

2x Move the suit buttons
2x Straight bottoms
2x Take ~an inch out of the waist (32" is too loose)
2x Traveler's crease

Price: $62

For some reason, I was expecting a bit less. Thoughts?

That is about what I paid for alterations at brooks bros.

Good to know, thanks.

Lieut Kaffee wrote:I actually had a tailor recommended to me by my judge. He told me the location of the one rated best in Chicago by some publication or another. I just figured someone so good would be expensive, and since I'm pretty low-maintenance I thought using the JAB tailor would save me time and money.

Probably a bad call.

Nothing worse than a TTT tailor. If you can find a good one, you scored. The cost differential will be minimal and the rewards will be enormous.

How about black suits?

shepdawg wrote:How about black suits?

I would recommend against it if at all possible.

shepdawg wrote:How about black suits?

Nope.

shepdawg wrote:How about black suits?

Charcoal really is pretty dark.