Can you help me out with what to wear to work, because I go to work, like, almost every day.
(Laughter) That was good.
All right, hey guys, welcome back to Cladwell's Style Tips for the Everyday Guy.
I'm Eric.
(I'm Chris).
And today, we're talking about what to wear to work.
(Yeah).
And we've got kind of a simple answer to this question and a longer, but very intriguing
answer to this question.
And, stick around to the end because actually, we're trying something new today.
At the end of this video, we're going to be answering one of your questions.
One of you, are loyal fan's style questions at the end of this video.
So, Chris, I do go to work almost every day, and I usually wear clothes.
(Yeah, thank goodness).
I'm always wearing clothes.
And my question is how do I know what to wear to work?
Yeah, I think a lot of guys are asking that question.
I've been asked this question a lot, trying to help people out.
Frankly, it's too hard to address every guy in a short YouTube video here, but the good
news is, that's what we do at Cladwell.
Go to Cladwell.com.
Get your free personal roadmap to dress better.
(We've done this!
We've built this for you guys!).
This is literally, other than making YouTube videos, this is all we do.
Video done!
Stop watching!
Don't stop watching ... we actually haven't had ... But seriously, go to Cladwell!
It's a free thing.
It builds all of the clothes you actually will look great on you.
That will fit you.
It's instant.
It's free.
And we even just launched a brand new feature, Occasions View, where it will tell you, depending
on your work environment, it will tell you what clothes you can wear in that occasion.
It's all done for you.
(Yes).
It's a cool thing.
Ok, all right.
So, that's the short answer.
Now, the longer answer is, and this is very cool, you came up with this kind of a spectrum
of different work environments and what to wear.
Can you walk me through that?
Yeah, so, as I started thinking about.
Yeah, as I started thinking about how we think about what we wear to work, and we knew couldn't
address every single guy because people just have so many different jobs, let's place it
on a spectrum.
And let's think about things in terms of clearly defined standards of dress.
So, on one hand, and I'll illustrate that.
On one hand we have uniforms.
So, those are very clearly defined standards.
Literally, you're wearing this article of clothing probably in this color.
(Right, there's no wiggle room.
It's told for you what to do.
Highest standards on that side.)
And we think about what we can control at that level of high standards.
So, you can control things probably like your hair and you can maybe control the size and
the cut of the thing.
At least somebody is going to ask you, what size do you wear when I order your uniform.
You can say, whatever.
So, your grooming, your fit of the uniform, but other than that, you're pretty limited
in what you can choose.
Yeah, it is what it is.
Take it or leave it.
Right.
So, then if we move down to a little bit less of clearly defined standards but still a lot
of expectations.
This might be somebody in the legal profession who appears before a judge, is involved in
litigation and that sort of thing.
You have to wear a blazer and dress pants.
Professional work environment for sure.
And so, you still have to wear those types of things, but you may have a little more
control over the color.
So, you may be able to wear a navy or a black blazer.
Or, a light blue shirt or a white dress shirt.
That sort of thing.
So, a little bit less standards, but you're also getting a little bit more control over
what you can choose.
(Yeah, in terms of color).
So, if we move our way down the spectrum, the next level is maybe a teacher lives in
this category where you not only are thinking about grooming, the cuts and the color, you
start actually thinking about what you're actually wearing.
So, you don't have to wear a tie.
You might wear a polo shirt.
You might wear a sweater.
That sort of thing.
So, you get a little bit more freedom that way.
This is a semi-casual work environment?
Yeah, exactly.
And, there's probably a lot of freedom there, but still definitely expectations that you
have to dress professionally.
Ok, so less clearly defined standards and a little bit more control because not only
are you thinking about color, but you can start to pick out your item selections vs.
I'm wearing a suit every day in a professional environment.
(Exactly, or a uniform if you go even further).
Right, the options start to open up in terms of items in a semi-casual work environment.
Ok, so what's last on the spectrum?
So, last we've got the most casual.
This is probably the environment we work in in a startup.
It could be someone who works in a casual retail environment, where they can kind of
wear whatever they want.
It doesn't matter a whole lot.
And there aren't clearly defined expectations.
It's a little bit harder to know what to wear.
So, you might be able to wear a t-shirt.
You might be able to wear a tie.
It might be all over the place.
(You're all over the man).
Exactly.
(You can wear whatever you want).
That's right.
And at this level, you have the most freedom to express your personality or individuality.
Ok, so the least amount of defined standards in the casual workplace, but the most amount
of options and freedom.
Yeah, the scale has tipped.
Ok, so working on that spectrum, how would I know which areas I'm in if I'm going to
work.
Maybe I have a new job or something.
How do I figure out where I land on the spectrum and what are the rules?
Yeah, it may sound obvious, but for someone who has never done this before, just look
around and actually make notes about the things other guys are wearing.
Are they wearing blazers?
Are they wearing ties?
Are they just wearing jeans or shorts?
Whatever.
Just be very deliberate about paying attention to that.
And secondly I would say, ask.
You know it's a great way to get direct feedback.
Ask your supervisor or a friend you trust at work what's expected of you.
That's great.
And so, the other question I have is if we look at the scale again, which of those ends
of the spectrum.
Or, which work environment is the most complex to actually think through and prepare for
each day?
Yeah, and it may be a little surprising, but I think it's actually the most casual environment.
In a way, I think that's when the most pressure is on you because you have the most decisions
to make as you get dressed in the morning.
You have the most freedom.
You can't rely on a standard and just wear the same thing every day.
So, the casual.
This is actually making me feel better about myself.
I've got the most pressure on what to figure out in the casual work environment, because
there's more options whereas I probably, in my mind, I would have thought the professional
environment was the most complex.
Because you have to look the best or something.
You have to do the suit.
But you're saying since there are more factors you have to consider in the casual work environment
on a day in day out basis, it's probably the most complex and most confusing.
Definitely.
And, there's probably the most variety among the people you work with.
You probably see people dressed all different ways.
Suits.
Shorts.
Everything in between.
Right.
So, wouldn't it be great if you had a guide to kind of help you through with all of your
clothes.
To help you make decisions about what to purchase, what to wear.
We're being a little joking.
We've done this for you.
It exists at Cladwell.com.
We've laid out if you want to know what clothes to wear.
If you want some fresh clothes that are going to look good for you and your colors and your
style personality.
And for a specific occasion.
It's all there.
Go check it out.
So, we're going to end today with our question of the day.
(Let's do it.)
All right, from jzeeder.
Jzeeder from our How to Layer Clothes video said, "I really enjoy the positive energy
and friendly banter in this video."
Thanks Jzeeder!
Man, that's great!
Here's his question, "I generally wear a patterned button down underneath a solid colored sweater.
What are your thoughts about a solid on solid, such as a solid maroon crew neck sweater over
a dark grey button down?".
That's a great question, jzeeder!
Totally cool.
Continue doing the solid on solid.
I think anytime you introduce a pattern into the sweater or the shirt, what have you, you're
pushing the look a little bit more casual.
So, a solid on solid tends to be a little bit more dressier.
And it tends to add a sophisticated air to an outfit.
So, it's totally cool.
Keep doing it!
That's great.
Thanks for your question jzeeeder.
If you guys have a style question you want answered, we'll do it.
Send it to us.
We'll have Chris answer your question here.
So, that's it for today guys, if you liked the video and it's helpful, give us a thumbs
up.
Subscribe.
We'd love to keep growing this channel out, bringing you guys great content.
And go check out Cladwell, in case we didn't plug it an obscenely amount of times in this
video already.
But, thanks so much for watching these guys.
We'll see you next time.