Work clothes
Work clothes
(OP)
Well Black Friday is coming up and I am thinking and I am thinking it would be the perfect time to buy some sets of work clothes. I am a reliability engineer, so I am looking for some clothes that are both business professional but can also hold up to inspecting equipment. Something in-between the office and the shop. Any suggestions. Jeans are fine for my job.
I've got a PHD is Broscience





RE: Work clothes
My brother is a tradesman. He says Levi's Dockers are actually quite durable and suitable for light grunt work.
RE: Work clothes
Maine EIT, Civil/Structural.
RE: Work clothes
I have worn both Dickies and Dockers in both shop environments. The Dickies seem to hold up the best in the shop.
Chris, CSWA
SolidWorks 14
SolidWorks Legion
RE: Work clothes
I had a company logo sewed on mine so it doesn't look too dorky. A lot of people ask me who pays me to go fishing.
RE: Work clothes
RE: Work clothes
They are a little on the pricy side - but work well if you are in a formal office and need to go out to the field on a moment's notice. In-office only clothing is your run of the mill suit pants & collard shirts from anywhere in general.
If you don't mind looking like a dork the best thing you can get is a pair of steel toed boots with a long cuff (almost like a rubber boot). They save your pants in mud & water.
RE: Work clothes
Maine EIT, Civil/Structural.
RE: Work clothes
https://www.acklandsgrainger.com/images/items/zoom... >> http://workingperson.com/media/catalog/product/cac...
RE: Work clothes
I've got a PHD is Broscience
RE: Work clothes
Jeff Mirisola, CSWE
My Blog
RE: Work clothes
They have the widest sets of uniforms with pants in all colors from polyester to cotton twill, from airline captains uniforms with white oxford shirts with epaulettes and dark blue polyester slacks, to nurses uniforms to boiler suits, and everything in between.
For steel tipped shoes or boots I strongly endorse Redwing.
B.E.
You are judged not by what you know, but by what you can do.
RE: Work clothes
B.E.
You are judged not by what you know, but by what you can do.
RE: Work clothes
I've found jeans to be more durable than khakis or chinos of any brand and they don't show stains as badly.
My meeting clothes are usually upscale khakis or lightweight wool in khaki or dark gray, dress shirt and blazer. Same usually for client presentations. For video depositions I usually wear a dark suit, white shirt and subtle tie. Same for court testimony. For non-video depositions, I usually just wear khakis and a dress shirt.
As for shoes, if I'm doing destructive observation where there is heavy stuff involved, standard work boots. Otherwise, I'm partial to Timberland Boat shoes....the ones with an extra lacing eyelet so they don't slide off your feet when climbing around on stuff. Dress shoes are standard engineering stereotype....tassel loafers. I only wear socks when I have to!
Over the years I've ruined many clothes from suits on down....trying to make my "uniform" fit all applications....won't work.
RE: Work clothes
only with a jean I give my utmost intellectual performance. strange situation but thats the way it has always been for me.
"If you want to acquire a knowledge or skill, read a book and practice the skill".
RE: Work clothes
RE: Work clothes
I wear jeans and a cotton shirt with a collar, every day, meetings or no meetings. The only time you'll see me in a suit IS at a wedding or a funeral- or at the Christmas party.
RE: Work clothes
I wear Blundstone boots, black skinny Levis jeans, white business shirt, and a navy jacket practically no matter what. This includes site visits where I am crawling around scaffolding, charettes at an architect's studio, lab tests, presentations to billionaire clients, and of course office time. For me this projects the right mix of creativity, boots on the ground practicality, executive strength, and approachability. Perhaps these things a a little bit aspirational in my case, but you dress for the job you want!
moltenmetal: I consider the title "manager" to be a demotion from "engineer", so would not be caught dead in a tie.
RE: Work clothes
Do you also feel that your productivity would drop if you wear suit and tie for regular work?
Just wanted to know if it is just me.
"If you want to acquire a knowledge or skill, read a book and practice the skill".
RE: Work clothes
The reality is, if you dress well, you're not going to spend as much time in the shop- and in my business, that actually makes you less competent and WAY less useful to the company.
As to why I don't dress up for meetings with clients, if they're coming here they need to see that even the senior people aren't afraid to get their hands dirty, and that our engineers aren't just CAD station jockeys or pencil-pushers- we're selling finished units, not paper drawings and specs. When I visit clients, they see me the same way they'd see me if they came to visit, although perhaps without quite so much dirt on the knees. Our work day here can't be compartmentalized into "office days" and "shop days"- I'm in the shop every day, whether clients are here or not.
My clients aren't in suits either- they almost never are. If they were, I'd probably have to dress better and put on a boiler suit every time I went into the shop, which would suck in the summer. One of my clients has hundreds of millions in personal wealth and I've never seen him in a tie much less a suit on the job.
RE: Work clothes
RE: Work clothes
I showed up the first day on a contract drafting job in a Golf shirt and Dockers blue jeans.
After a couple of hours on the job I was invited to the managers office, and given a copy of their dress code which required Oxford shirts and polyester pants of " Subdued" colors.
The office manager apologized to me saying that "quite obviously" my contract manager had failed to pass on the dress code , would I please read the paper and come to work properly dressed in future, and to "please" let my manager know what was required of contract hires.
B.E.
You are judged not by what you know, but by what you can do.
RE: Work clothes
RE: Work clothes
RE: Work clothes
"If you want to acquire a knowledge or skill, read a book and practice the skill".
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Lesson learned.
STF
RE: Work clothes
Exactly dh....that's why I get to wear what I want. Most of my clients don't give a damn what I wear...they want me to solve problems and issues. It's a lost cause for me to look pretty! The only reason I dress so for testimony is to respect the norms of the court system.
RE: Work clothes
RE: Work clothes
I think I see your point...
"If you want to acquire a knowledge or skill, read a book and practice the skill".
RE: Work clothes
At my current job most days it's DARK blue jeans (mostly Levi's 569 for the last few years if you care) and button shirt with collar. Used to be mostly short sleeve but I've started adding in long sleeves more often as I seem to be at more meetings with management etc. (and today happen to be wearing my long sleeve Eng-Tips shirt). I haven't yet emulated Jeremy Clarkson with the infamous 'Jacket & Jeans'.
Jeans come in handy when I do have to crawl around on the floor running cables & hoses etc.
(First day here I wore same as at my interview but my then manager pulled me aside and told me to remove the tie I was wearing and not to put one on again!)
At my first job it was suit & tie everyday regardless of if I had to crawl around on the shop floor or not. After a couple of year I cut back to black heavy cotton pseudo dress pants, shirt with collar and a tie in my top draw in case it was required. I still wore a suit if I knew we had a customer visit or similar.
What do your more senior colleagues wear, if you follow the paradigm of dressing for the job you want not the job you have then you may want to emulate them. (I gave up on this nonsense long ago when people laughed at me for coming in wearing a flight suit. I'll skip any 'bikini inspector' jokes along the same lines due to danger of causing offense.)
What is Engineering anyway: FAQ1088-1484: In layman terms, what is "engineering"?
RE: Work clothes
RE: Work clothes
RE: Work clothes
I know it's past Black Friday but the analysts have been saying that the best deals are actually closer to Christmas!
Please remember: we're not all guys!
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--
JHG
RE: Work clothes
"Art without engineering is dreaming; Engineering without art is calculating."
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RE: Work clothes
RE: Work clothes
Steel toes, polo or button up. Jeans on Friday, but then I would come home and change into work pants to tackle some projects around the house.