What bankers wear – April 21 2008
A friend working for a certain blue-blooded investment bank recently brought this to my attention. Sartorial advice for junior bankers – it really puts ‘hedge fund chic’ to shame.
I believe a certain number of points ought to be clarified for your future reference over acceptable wear for a banker working on the advisory side:
Shirt
- No breast pockets – it’s for pens and you look like you are missing a clipboard and a pair of horn-rimmed spectacles
- No single button cuffs – you’re not some provincial administrator or civil servant
- Two or three button cuffs are “informal” and should generally not be if meeting clients
- No “loud” cufflinks – you’re (hopefully) not arriviste
- No checks – you’re not a trader
- Pink or other “fruity” colours reserved for Thursday or later in the week – you’re not gay (unless you are)
- For God’s sake – no grey or dark coloured shirts – they make you look like you work in IT
- I personally wouldn’t advocate yellow shirts either although if you are clever at pairing with the right ties you can get away with it
Tie
- Nothing too colourful and complicated (a single loud colour is acceptable for later on in the week) – similarly with woven ties and cut-offs
- Nothing shiny like those awful woven polyester fire hazards, usually pink on a mauve shirt or the like
- Nothing that makes you look as if you are wearing a piece of carpet from a Travelodge motel in the north of England, or from the upholstery of an aged London Underground train (i.e tiny diamonds, squares, &c)
- No unimaginative combinations of blue shirt / pink tie and vice-versa
- ABSOLUTELY NO “JOKE” TIES e.g. cartoon characters
- Thin knots only (NOT double Windsor) – and hence generally your shirts ought to not have too cut-away collars. Thick knots are for those whose parents’ job was selling vegetable our of a wheelbarrow in the East End
- Possessing at least one Hermes tie is obligatory – the classic “H” is my personal recommendation
Suit
- Nothing light in the Ernest Hemingway style. People think you are about to flee with their money
- Plain black is a bit odd too – unless you are moonlighting as a bouncer at a night club
- No thick “chalk-stripes” – this is another capital markets faux pas
Shoes
- Full brogues ideal and should be standard. Half brogues are getting a bit playful. And no full banded brogues as they make you look as if you are wearing cowboy boots
- Oxfords acceptable for junior bankers
- Slip-ons can only be carried off by senior bankers
- Brown shoes indicate you are an accountant – “no brown in town” as they say
Socks
- The ONLY area where colour is acceptable – everyone should gave pairs of red socks on hand, and light blues or even those Duchamps ones which make you look as if you are wearing a lava lamp, are fine…
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