The Suits
Mark Cuban’s take on suits is the best post I’ve read in weeks.
Wearing a suit in Portugal is almost a religion, workers wear them every day, even if their jobs don’t imply contacting with clients in person. People believe that a suit really gives them status, make them look better and more confident, but really, where’s your confidence when you get home and sleep on the ground (like Mark did, and I bet lots of Portuguese workers do the same)?
A suit gives you confidence when you need it, makes you part of the “tribe” when you’re among peers, but in the end it it’s just a “mask”, a gimmick to be accepted. Suits should be used in celebrations, events, and not as working uniforms. Go casual, go real, break the distance between you and the others by letting the suit go.
[tags]suits, people[/tags]
IMHO it’s not about the way you look to yourself, but to others. A suit _and a tie_ is a synonym of professionalism, power and therefore respect. Nonetheless I don’t use any of them, unless my employer specifies so, but I’m a geek, it’s in my blood to hate all of those things even though I do realize that’s important to wear a suit in “proper” occasions.
Já estive numa empresa que passou do casual, depois para a gravata e agora têm farda oficial de casaco e gravata.
Numa outra por onde passei muitas vezes tive de tirar a gravata e despir o casaco para conseguir chegar melhor ás pessoas, o fato e gravata está mal visto.
Felizmente agora uso um guarda roupa informal.
Experimentem andar de sapatinhos no campo ou andar a visitar obras 😀
Saúde e bons negócios.
I don’t really think that suits are “a gimmick to be accepted” but rather a “must have” in many of the portuguese companies.
I work as a software developer and gladly at the place I work we can go casual, although I have many friends who work in companies that “invite” (notice the “”) them to wear suits. The only thing they do is sitting in front of the computer developing software, not talking to the client!
And I also think that even if you have interaction with the client, there are other ways of dressing that can still make you look profissional without using a suit. But maybe I just say that because I’m still young and naive 😀
Also, great link about Mark Cuban’s blog.
My two cents,
Paulo