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Nathan Tamez
Nathan Tamez

Posted on • Updated on

What do you wear to work?

The company I worked for before starting university have a casual/smart casual dress code; shorts, jeans, hoodies, and t-shirts. that sort of thing. which was good as that summer we were hit by a heatwave and the office had no air con. but when I went for the interview I did feel awkward as I was wearing a suit.
I was just wanted to ask the DEV community about there experiences with different companies dress codes.

Oldest comments (48)

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lbonanomi profile image
lbonanomi

Black carpenter jeans and black or gray "workwear" shirts.

I think this allows for a neater appearance than a tshirt without being in-your-face formal. The clothes are cheap, forgiving of wrinkles from sitting all day and don't show intraday stains so much.

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natonathan profile image
Nathan Tamez

I completely understand, a bit more of a professional look to industry outsiders.

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j_mplourde profile image
Jean-Michel Plourde

The company I do my internship at has no dress code. Most of the time, I'm wearing jeans/t-shirts and a hoodie because I'm always cold. It is pretty basic, but I'm limited in my choices since I'm 6'8". I can't easily find variety in clothes that fit me.

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natonathan profile image
Nathan Tamez

☹️ I guess work hard you could afford to have custom made clothes. but thanks for sharing.

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panditapan profile image
Pandita

no dress code here! Right now it's summer sooo, I'm currently wearing a panda stamped t-shirt, light faded blue skinny jeans, opalite earrings with gold touches (they're my fave!) and and grey vans like shoes from steve madden that are super worn out cause they're mega comfy (which is what the sales lady told me, so I can recommend them).

When I'm cold I use a jacket that is a gift I received from the receptionists at my first internship :D

Coding comfy is really nice ~

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natonathan profile image
Nathan Tamez

I like being comfy when coding as well, but too comfy then I risk doing no work. Thanks for sharing

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michaeltharrington profile image
Michael Tharrington

I'm working from home so I do tend to lean toward the casual side, BUT, I definitely make a point to get out of my PJs and into some normal clothes everyday... even if my normal clothes include cotton shorts with a draw string, haha! 😀

It's good to get into the mindset of work versus non-work and I can see how clothes might help some folks get into that mode. But, I'm so happy we don't have a dress code. I mean I'd be pretty bummed if I had to wear a suit while working from home. Kidding... 😝

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natonathan profile image
Nathan Tamez

I agree its essential switch your mindset to work from non-work, allows for complete focus and concentration. I tend to get distracted if I study or work from home, so take full use of my university's 24/7 library. Haha. Thanks for the input.

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gualtierofr profile image
Gualtiero Frigerio

I've never been asked to wear a suite in my career, I wore them only during interviews. I've never worked for a bank or an insurance company though, sometimes if you consult for them you're asked to wear office attire.
I remember having to wear a lab coat back in the days when I worked for Nokia and Alcatel, I looked like a doctor :D

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natonathan profile image
Nathan Tamez

That’s cool, being the scientist part of computer science.

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vgrovestine profile image
Vincent Grovestine • Edited

The dress code at my workplace is basically "use your common sense"--aka just don't come to work naked (or smelly)!

T-shirt, jeans and sneakers comprise my day-to-day wear. I'll swap the t-shirt for a collared button-up shirt and sneakers for casual shoes if I have to meet with upper management or other important folk.

Generally, no one here bats an eye about what people choose to wear to work. Heck, I'm 40+ and the majority of my t-shirts are not just understated and plain, but full graphic tees from The Mountain and bygone Disney World vacations! :)

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natonathan profile image
Nathan Tamez

I think most tech companies understand that people perform better when comfortable. I should probably get some smart looking shoes if I want to work freelance, to be honest, currently wear vans. I was great reading your comment, thanks.

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pinotattari profile image
Riccardo Bernardini

I am not really a programmer (I do research in DSP in university). Also in my place there is not a dress code, but I actually like to wear a tie and a jacket. The only exception is in deep summer when it is too hot for that.

I began wearing a tie more than 30 year ago, when i was 18 (really!) after watching "the blues brothers." I borrowed ties and jackets from my dad and... I liked as I looked.

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natonathan profile image
Nathan Tamez

Cool, Thanks for sharing. It doesn’t matter that your not a programmer.

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matteojoliveau profile image
Matteo Joliveau

No dress code, I wear the same I always wear.
Black jeans, black T-shirt with some kind of snarky quote, movie graphic or just a cool design, black sweater and black Converse.

I'm starting to see a pattern here...

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natonathan profile image
Nathan Tamez

I know, right. 😂

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avasconcelos114 profile image
Andre Vasconcelos

I'm currently wearing:

  • Black converse shoes
  • Black jeans
  • Dark gray Github shirt

I think we may be spotting a trend here

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matteojoliveau profile image
Matteo Joliveau

Can we establish some kind of "developer alliance standard uniform"? 😂

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anaganisk profile image
Sai Kiran

No dresscode, but I stick to same ol casual attire of jeans and graphic t-shirt

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i_maka profile image
Diego Perez

When I started I had to wear a suit... which was crazy because the only people that I saw everyday was a bunch of other suited-up programmers. After that: jeans and a t-shirt. Now I work from home, so comfortable clothes, but when I'm in the office I wear jeans and a smart shirt, as I have a lot of visibility to the business.

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jsrn profile image
James • Edited

Usually a t-shirt or button up, jeans, and trainers or boots.

In the hot months I'll just wear shorts and a t-shirt, sometimes I feel like jazzing it up a bit and I'll throw on a blazer.

We don't really have a dress code other than making sure all the bits are covered.

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misscypher profile image
Rey - MissCypher

Well, we've got no actual dress code aswell. When I started here I just got told to "keep my political view" to myself, so no merchandise of any political group. Besides that.. nothing. My best friend (also a colleague of mine) and I usually run around as we do outside of work. Black shoes, jeans and some Band-Merchandise (even some kinda special artworks like Rammstein, Slipknot or Chelsea Grin). We also have some co-workers, who wear actual suits, because they have to work with our companies' bosses sometimes, but most of us are just like I said before. Some non-politics shirt or hoodie, jeans or shorts and comfy shoes.

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davecranwell profile image
Dave Cranwell • Edited

Jeans and t-shirt.

I've worked at one tech company in a department that was particularly desirable, doing crazy R&D projects, and we were required to dress more smartly. The CTO was also apparently quite unhappy about people dressing down more widely in the dept. I was once lightly reprimanded for attending a standup without shoes on.

I can see some reasoning in it, but it was never an official part of the dress code. As a result it felt awkward, elitist and made the whole company feel a tad fusty and out-moded. It ultimately formed a small part of my reasoning to leave.

Counterpoint: I still dress up to speak/present to the C-team. It just seems like a good idea. It's a bit contradictory given my previous points, but to an extent it puts me in the right frame of mind. And at appropriate times I also follow the Dress For The Job You Want ethos.

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mercier_remi profile image
Rémi Mercier

When I looked for my first dev job a few months ago, I wore mended gray jeans, a denim shirt (mended too) and a blue chinchilla with pink paint stains (my kids' fault 😁).

Mostly, nobody even bothered to look at my clothes twice. We were here to discuss my bringing value to the company. Not auditioning for a catwalk. And since I was still looking clean and dapper (yes, this is possible, even with a chinchilla), all went well.

Of course, I felt in a couple of interviews that my style wasn't really appreciated by people wearing this casual-yet-really-expensive look that you find in Paris (people are putting a LOT of effort in the effortless chic). But 🤷‍♂️ meh, I didn't care much for 'em.

I used to wear classy clothes for work for years! Double breast jackets, always new denims, tailor-made shirts... I felt at the time that it was bringing me a lot of control in my work environments. But in the end, this control was just an illusion.

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ianturton profile image
Ian Turton

Dress code when we go to the office or meet clients is no shorts. The rest of the time we're remote so the rule is turn off your camera if you aren't dressed.

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