- Day 8 Suit (Grey Birdseye Suit by Calvin Klein; Stripped Shirt by Jos. A Bank; Polka Dot Bow Tie by Jos. A Bank; Socks by Happy Socks; Shoes by Cole Haan)
Sorry for missing Friday (my phone battery died!) and Monday (this is the post about Monday). It's been kind of a crazy week and now the Job Information List came out three days early! Augh! Time to start writing job applications! And our house may have mold! AUGH! Anyway, suit-wearing has been a nice constant and fun counterpoint to all the chaos in our lives this week. I think the ritual dimensions of putting on a suit (it's so much more work! especially if you have to fold a new pocket square for the week!) is very structuring and can really help shape a day.
In any case, I recently purchased a new pair of shoes and want to talk briefly about a few things I wouldn't have previously thought that I now think about wearing suits. If you read any sort of post or article on suits for job interviews, you get a series of rules that often look like this:
- No brown suits; brown suits are too informal.
- No black suits; black suits are too formal.
- Navy or grey, light to no pattern suits are just right.
Clearly this is the "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" of suit buying, but I digress. I always used to think navy suits looked dumb and would always buy a grey suit for interviews (I think this is a legacy of having to wear a navy blazer every day to school for three years in high school). I've recently, specifically while in England, realized that I really like navy suits. As you can see, I wear one a lot. It's my favorite suit.
Also, I always used to do the black or brown shoe thing, because I thought that as what is done. I recently read an article that pointed out that, in fact, burgundy is a good option for shoes and that it really does go with everything (I usually wear brown or cognac with navy and black with grey). I've been wearing my new pair of Cole Haan, cap toe, burgundy oxfords (above) and I have to say that they really do look nice with both suits.
While you might follow the "Three Bears" rules above when putting together an interview outfit or suit wardrobe, don't forget about burgundy.