Men's Interview Clothing Thread

[southernIM]

Originally Posted by brooklynblunder

in all honesty captainnerd, people at interviews usually look good. yes we are bland, but at the same time its kinda hard juggling so many different things.

I disagree. I'm a fourth year who (a) gives med school interview tours and (b) is interviewing for residency myself; I've been seeing a large number of interviewees lately. With any group of interviewees, the majority do not "look good" - most look "acceptable" at best with a solid number that look downright shabby (poorly fitting suit and/or crummy shoes) and another solid number wearing horribly chosen color combinations. There are usually one or two sharply dressed people per group at best. The groups tend to look more like kids playing dress-up than adults going on professional interviews.

[captainnerd]

Originally Posted by FlowRate

Okay; you've usually given advice I agree with, so I wasn't sure what was up.

Why don't you like purple? Or stripes? My favorite tie is purple with a nice fabric pattern and white stripes. =\

Stripes should be kept simple. Good luck finding a shirt with simple striping. I like stripes but only when they are simple. Which means only about 10% of my shirts are stripes. The average American probably has 70% of their shirts as stripes.

Most Americans like something called "mattress striping." Well, I'm not sure if they "like" mattress striping or if it's the only thing they can find on the market. Paul Smith admits that when he was first entering the design business, he had very little working capital so instead of going to shirting fabric producers, he got a lot of fabric from producers who generally produced inferior stuff for mattress sheets and bedding. And that's why they call it mattress striping. It's the ugly stuff used for bed sheets.

I have nothing against purple. But regal purple is rather dark. Too dark for a dress shirt. Dress shirts should be light in saturation when it is a solid dress shirt. The only time you're allowed to wear dark colors is if it is in a pattern such as when it is gingham or if the dark color is part of a stripe. A dark red shirt would be awful. But a white shirt with a dark red stripe is okay. Your tie and your socks should be the two places that you're allowed to really inject bold saturated colors. However, any pattern should contain white or a light color as a main part. A black and blue gingham would NOT be acceptable. A black and blue striped shirt would NOT be acceptable. A light pink shirt with gray stripes is acceptable but is less conservative than a white shirt with blue stripes. In essence, the more "white" a shirt becomes, the more conservative it is. Dark blue: no. Light blue: yes.

Matching is also something the avg person lacks. I see fellow students wearing microstriped shirts with microstriped ties all the time. I once saw a guy wearing a microstriped suit/microstriped shirt/microstriped tie. I told you; you Americans love stripes.

Originally Posted by brooklynblunder

but as he said its an interview, some faculty are conservative

light pink is rather conservative. So is light lavenders and light purples. All light colors are generally conservative. Not as conservative as white or light blue. But still very conservative compared to what people this age normally wear. I see people in clinic wearing dark shirts or dark striping (black shirt with dark purple, silver, blue stripes) and wonder if they also wore that to interviews. And I've seen way too many saturated shirts to recall. Incredibly saturated green was the worst. I interviewed alone so I don't know what people wear to interviews. But from what I've seen at clinic, I'm a bit worried people have no sense of what is correct. And to think this takes much effort is not true. I don't read GQ or Esquire. I simply watch the news and see what politicians wear (generally not American politicians).

[FlowRate]

Oh.. the tie is purple. The shirt I'd wear it with is white or and almost-white lavender. I don't like dark shirts either. I can't remember if I posted a pic of it anywhere... I don't think I did =(

Can't stand stripes on more than one piece of the suit unless they're very different (very subtle blue pinstrips on suit versus thick stripes on tie and a solid shirt).

[junjinie]

captainnerd?
light pink is conservative? purple is conservative?
im not an expert but i dont think thats true..
i really dont think its a good idea to wear a pink or purple shirt to an interview.. right?
or am i wrong?

[FeatherPen]

black suit/white shirt/solid tie = so boring

a good substitute for white is "ekru" (see link)

http://store.jacksonsmenswear.com/catalog/Dsc_6654.jpg

black suits are a bit flashy and a bit too "formal" (try dark gray or navy blue)
pin-stripes should be so subtle that they are not noticeable from several feet away

shoes:
burgandy/oxblood shoes go with ANY color suit
avoid black shoes with navy suit

if the school has distinct colors (i.e. electric blue/yellow), consider wearing a tie of those colors

[rockymhs]

I wore bright pink shirt with stripes.....

And I got in.

It was my only interview......


At the time, I didn't realize the importance of dressing up conservatively, so I just wore my grey pinstripe suit with a pink shirt I enjoy wearing, and I was the only one in the group who was not wearing black/dark suit with blue/white shirt.

But nobody cared. My first interviewer was an old MD and second was a young MD who just graduate last year.

So my suggestion is wear whatever colored shirt you want. I don't think it matters too much.

[captainnerd]

Originally Posted by junjinie

captainnerd?
light pink is conservative? purple is conservative?
im not an expert but i dont think thats true..
i really dont think its a good idea to wear a pink or purple shirt to an interview.. right?
or am i wrong?

Yes, light pink is conservative and light purple (more like light lavender) can also be conservative. If done correctly. Not as conservative as white or light blue. But still conservative compared to the crap I've seen. Mattress striping is never conservative. I think it is perfectly okay to wear light pink or light lavender. For the purpose of this thread and to simplify advice to pre-med students, it's probably best to just tell you guys to wear white and light blue. But light pink and light lavender is perfectly okay.

Fit has an amazing ability to make things appear more conservative. By having a shirt that fits well, it appears as though the person is well-off enough to have their shirts tailored, ironed, and pressed. Appearing sloppy gives the sense of being a thug.

I think luck is really important. If you get someone who doesn't care, then you can dress anyway you like. But what happens if you get someone who does care (and even if they don't care, how do you know the subconscious disagrees? How do you know what the subconscious is thinking? If you did, it wouldn't be the subconscious. If you refute the importance of the subconscious, then how do you explain the advertising industry?)? For some reason, my school puts a huge emphasis on presentation, maybe because optometry has a huge retail/business aspect to it (one of my professors owns a ton of windowpane odd jackets that look very expensive). All of the optometry professors seem to dress well. It's the associate professors that they hire to teach biochemistry and public health that seem to be way off.

Do you guys think there is emotional asymmetry when it comes to the way people respond to others' attire? Does seeing someone dressed well increase your positive emotions while seeing someone dressed poorly have no effect? Or does seeing someone dressed well produce no effect while seeing someone dressed poorly produce huge negative emotion? Or does both have an effect in their respective direction? Are these emotions quantifiable? If the studies that show obese people and unattractive people are subconsciously discriminated against, I'm pretty sure there's a subconscious affect to how people dress. Let's face it America, we're a pretty shallow country.

To Featherpen, ecru= no. Stay away from off-white. It looks like white that has been stained or worn down. White is a staple in the business world so if you can't stand it, tough. As for it being boring, the correct tie and pocket square can make your white shirt days interesting. Or wear a nice suit and your shirt will get none of the credit/attention. Sometimes, a flashy suit is best worn with a plain shirt or a flashy shirt requires a plain tie or suit.

Never wear a yellow tie. It can be done, but yellow is an awful color for men's clothing. It doesn't match well with anything. Google "yellow tie" and try to find a tie that is nice. It can't be done.

As for black suits, it has nothing to do with flashy. Black is generally reserved for very formal affairs such as evening wear or funerals. Black is simply a very poor investment. Black is not flashy. Black is formal. Interviews are business-like, not formal-like. Formal is going to awards, the ballet, the theatre, accepting awards, etc. These types of events may seem "flashy" but in actuality, they require everyone to dress the same. Black is simply a poor investment because dark gray is perfectly acceptable at funerals. At formal events, black must contrast with white. The reason why black is a poor investment is because black only seems to match with white. And no, black does not go well with black. In Japan, the black suit is a must-own.

And I disagree that boring necessarily means bad. Look how boring this guy is below:

Solid suit, solid shirt, simple tie with only two colors. Boring is good as long as fit is perfect.