Silicon Valley Style Gets Silly
- Someone thinks this sort of look, along with a dark jacket when necessary, is the look of “Valley Formal.” I say the whole concept is bull crap!
Silicon Valley sure is the target of some interesting bull crap, even in my realm of style!
Though I have basically given up on posting comments to information sharing websites like Quora, I’ll occasionally drop by to see what topics people are asking about, and how people are answering those questions.
My Plea For Pleated Pants
A life coach, whose practice specializes in helping get people employed, wrote me a note recently. It caught my attention to the point that if I had to write him back a free answer, I was going to post it to my blog for everyone’s benefit.
Men’s Shirts For The Office
A colleague wanted my opinion about wearing open neck dress shirts and t-shirts in a business casual work environment. Rather than just sharing my thoughts privately, I decided to publish them publicly. To support my comments, I have photos of wardrobe items I selected only last week for a client that illustrate the subtle nuances of dressing successfully in today’s modern business environment.
Facing the Real Mark Zuckerberg
It’s striking how Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg hasn’t evolved his image and style one bit, despite his immense business success. Though his character portrayal was fascinating in the Golden Globe-winning movie, The Social Network, it’s not the basis of my assessment. The real life Mark Zuckerberg still dresses like a scrappy college dormitory resident, despite his meteoric ascent to the height of the business world. Age notwithstanding, it’s time for him to put effort and intention into his image and show that he’s not just grown up, but a leader.
Men: Modernize and ‘Man-age’ Your Image for Interviews
For men who’ve hit the big 5-0 who are looking for that new job, it can be a challenge envisioning how a modernized appearance leads to a positive result. Far from fresh out of college senior year, you don’t feel like a senior citizen either. No man I know wants to be perceived as old, and values his life experience. These tips will help modernize a man’s image, to make the most of his experience, and minimize the effects of aging.
A Hairy Situation
Last week a writer contacted me because he wanted to interview an image consultant about men’s proper body grooming habits. He provided the name of the website where the interview would be published along with a list of intended questions. I was prepared to give an interview worthy of my reputation as a men’s image expert.
Men Dropping Trou: Lessons from the Superbowl ads
The advertising companies hired by Careerbuilder and Docker’s are supposed to create messages to build the brands of their clients. But what they did in the process is create a profile about the average American man. Their picture isn’t too pretty.
Men, Media, and My Full Monty Opinion
I formally declare war on all mainstream media that is trying to feminize men’s bodies! And you should, too.
Men’s Holiday Style: Comfort and Joy
The holiday season is fast approaching and some wardrobe planning will go a long way toward making the most of your holiday experience. Once you know your holiday plans, the next thing you should get in order is what you’ll wear for your various holiday occasions. If you’re looking for ideas on what to wear for the holidays, I offer these helpful suggestions to take you from Thanksgiving through New Year’s Eve.
Wardrobe Games
An acquaintance in Ithaca, New York alerted me to a Wall Street Journal blog post written by a Silicon Valley-based thirtysomething man entitled, “The Perils of Interview Attire.” Writing about one of my favorite topics – how Silicon Valley engineers are known to have a style all their own – Jon Gray tells of his perilous job interviewing wardrobe experiences. In Gray’s situations, intentionally wearing an item – or not – moves beyond the physical. It’s a head-trip.
Among three of Gray’s buddies who have interviewed at startup companies, none have worn ties to job interviews in years, he says. Welcome to Silicon Valley, home of the dress for success counterculture, where success is measured not by the noose around your neck but based on other factors. Now you might be thinking with this comment that I’ve gone soft and that the Silicon Valley is an altruistic place where qualifications, merit, degrees, and diplomas are all that count. Cough. Cough. Image still matters heavily, but it matters in a different way than in other parts of the country.
In Gray’s post he explained how he went to an interview wearing a suit with no tie, and unbuttoned his dress shirt at the collar. The company vice president gave him a sartorial thumb’s down, even though the recruiter’s feedback was flying high. He promised to dress more appropriately for additional interviews. When he went back to meet with the president and the CEO, he wore a suit, tie, and even shined his shoes for the occasion. When the CEO showed Gray out of the building he told him to “never wear a tie to an interview at a startup!”
There are all sorts of issues with this story. One is that he took advice from two sets of colleagues but didn’t get more insight. A second issue is that he didn’t know more about the startup company’s culture. A third issue is that after meeting with the company vice president he should have had some ideas of how to dress for subsequent interviews based on how the vice president was dressed and based on the vice president’s feedback about the way he showed up for the interview. A fourth issue is that the recruiter should have provided better information to Mr. Gray about the way he should dress for subsequent interviews.
Jon Gray got caught in a wardrobe game played by many men in the Silicon Valley counterculture. How does a guy be an individual and still fit in to the culture of the Valley, and the technology sector culture?
The simple answer is the complex answer: Guys like Jon Gray have to know themselves and have to know the company they are [going to be] employed by.
As I said in my comment response to Gray’s blog post, “A self-assured man dresses for the purpose of achieving his goals, and goal number one is being able to look at yourself in the mirror knowing you represented yourself properly.” This answers the part of knowing yourself. “The idea of dressing appropriately for an occasion means balancing your own needs and goals with the expectations of your audience.” Without losing your sense of self, you need to know your audience. “If you don’t know your audience’s expectations, you need to inquire.” This means, do your due diligence and research a company even if it means parking your car in the lot and watching the comings and goings of the people.
Jon and others might wish for the good old days of rules – as we knew them to be. In fact, there are ‘rules’ of dress that apply to Jon’s situation but they aren’t the classic rules found in dog-eared copies of published books. These rules are experiential and are ever-changing. It only makes sense this is happening here in Silicon Valley, a place where game playing is an art form.
Designing and managing your image is the secret science of your success.
Joseph Rosenfeld helps professional men and corporate workgroups create effective visual brands. Visit JosephRosenfeld.com for details.
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