not long after my return from japan, the management, aka the bosses, announced a new dress-code - all employees are to dress formally. i almost fainted.
it is annoying that the rule is of immediate effect. immediately i develop some resentment towards the team of vietnamese for spoiling the market with their cheapo and tasteless POLYESTER/PLASTIC shirts. i was thinking, why don't they just wrap plastics around themselves! we are starting to look like some low-class software house located in the developing world!
after i got over the initial resentment phase, i thought, why not learn to dress properly in formal wear? i decided to go for proper formal wear, and i am glad that michael, my immediate superior, was in full support and provided ample assistance.
and so, i learnt the following pointers with regards to proper formal wear:
- proper shirts should not have a shirt pocket.
shirt pockets are more for worker level, and unless i always use the pocket, a pocketless shirt is preferred. putting a pen or whatever at the shirt pocket is distasteful imo - i am not a clerk! - shirts without the front placket(the strip of cloth along the buttons all the way from the collar to the hem) is preferred. however, most off-the-shelf shirts have the front placket, and unless i tailor my shirts, they are to stay.
- fabrics of shirts are important.
i personally like 100% cotton shirts. they go well with the hot weather in singapore, and a proper cotton shirt is easier to maintain than some plastic shirts. furthermore, proper cotton shirts are also not see-through and has a pleasant feel. - the fit and cut of the shirt shows the wearer's style.
one can immediately identify a sloppy dresser. a pocketless slim-fitting shirt always goes hand-in-hand with young wearers from my observation as it always helps to exuberate the youthfulness in them. it also looks neater. - shirt patterns give taste.
i learnt that white shirts are not as boring as i once thought them to be. the trick is to play with subtle patterns, and these subtleties do surprisingly add a touch of class to the wearer. - never match a striped shirt and a striped pants of equal width together or you end up becoming a zebra or pedestrian crossing
- belt color must match the shoes.
- when wearing a tie, the tie should be the most outstanding piece of fashion on the shirt. for this, i regretted buying some strongly striped shirts. solid-colored shirts with subtle patterns are way easier to match with ties.
- proper well-maintained leather shoes are equally significant.
people seems to almost always neglect their shoes. a well-polished shoe will at least give the wearer some decent scores. it is weird to dress well with a pair moldy shoes. i simply adore oxford shoes, and the laces adds a layer of sophistication haha. - while wearing laced shoes, the laces should NOT be tied in a criss-cross fashion, as with sneakers, but in a parallel manner.
- while in a suit, the jacket and pants should match.
i enjoyed myself so much that every now and then i will make use of my versatile looks to morph into an employee from some other industries. one day, i'll have a lawyer look, the on other days, a banker's look, a manager's look and so on. haha.
however, as there's no fashion reimbursement from the company, i wear whatever i feel like for the day. if i feel down, i may dress down. there's no obligation that i must be formal while representing the company, though i try to put on a tie sometimes. the calculative begets the calculative.
luckily i bought a burberry black label suit from japan, but i had ONLY one set. i must tailor a cheaper one from my tailor in bangkok.
some colleagues complained i am too formal, but over the course of time, some have upgraded their formal wear. i feel that it is good that people take care to make themselves look good, neat and presentable. respect people, respect yourself. of course, guys have the strongest resistance. what can u expect out of most gen-X guys anyway apart from finding excuses? just my two cents worth.
some day i hope to wear shirts with cufflinks and own at least one hermes tie.
