Comments on: I wore jeans. Civilization ended. It was AWESOME!

By: A.J. Aranyosi

A.J. Aranyosi — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 15:51:57 +0000

About 8 years ago I was out in the Bay Area visiting a friend. He had taken some time off, and just for a lark we decided to go to some open houses at some of the multi-million dollar homes for sale up in the hills. We were both in shorts, t-shirts, and sandals. Somehow that combination convinced people that we were a couple who had made billions in the dot-com boom, so the brokers actually paid more attention to us than to anyone else!

By: Michelle Muto

Michelle Muto — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 22:49:54 +0000

Jeans and casual work for Apple. I say less stuffy, more casual. To me, Dressy = fussy & high maintenance. Casual but neat = relaxed, self assured without being arrogant.

By: TJ Anderson

TJ Anderson — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 17:05:12 +0000

I imagined that it wouldn’t work out poorly. I guess to me the question is, how uncomfortable are you in a tie, or polo? I think your casual style may have something to do with it as well. The bright shoes were a nice step outside the lines, but was the rest of the attire pretty basic? If you are the type of person that fits into a non white bread catagory in your personal attire, I wonder if the reaction would be different. Granted, most of the people at that meeting probably dress alike in there spare time, but what if your casual attire put you in a stereo type? I’m not talking about drag, although that would turn heads. But what if you are most comfortable with black fingernails and heavy makeup? Or you loved the 80′s and frequently sport the phanypack, wayfarers, and flock of seaguls toupee? What I’m getting at is that comfort isn’t the only issue involved. You have well proven that t-shirt and jeans are perfectly acceptable at that meeting, and probably at most. Overcoming anxiety of what people think of you, and what you wear to meetings is important. It is more important for you to feel comfortable w/ yourself than with your clothes. Your clothes don’t define you, but your apperance does affect how people see you. They frequently wont care.

But I don’t think the world is ready for the KISS fans of the world to start painting there faces on a regular basis.

By: Mario

Mario — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 15:02:53 +0000

Told ya Great job!

By: Sheila

Sheila — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 14:22:46 +0000

I’m thinking jeans and the t-shirt didn’t even cross people’s minds given your footwear! Those are amazing!

Thanks for letting us in on your social experiment.

By: Eric Harris

Eric Harris — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 14:09:12 +0000

I often interview applicants for our tech support jobs wearing jeans, t-shirt, and sandals. We have a casual company culture where being comfortable in your own cloths actually helps promote better Customer service. It usually catches the applicant off guard somewhat, but then they get the tour around the office and see that we like being who we are and it shows (virtually) over the phone when we speak with our Customers. I am a firm believer in “it is the man/woman who makes the clothes not the other way around.” Oh, and by the way GREAT shoes!

By: Larry Roth

Larry Roth — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 13:23:49 +0000

Glad it worked out! Thanks for being “the guinea pig”. After thinking about it more, reading the great comments on your previous post, and now seeing the results, I have changed my mind.

If a person feels comfortable, and a person feels like they can network, then make it doesn’t matter what they wear.

Also, I was immediately associating t-shirt and jeans with a slovenly appearance. I am sure you were neat and clean! It’s not like you wore a t-shirt that said “porn star”…right?