Bow Tie Follow-up

I try not to take for granted that I am very, very fortunate to have a job doing something I enjoy and would probably spend at least some of my day doing even if I didn't get paid for it.

I also try not to take for granted the fact that throughout my career I have largely avoided environments where one has to worry about things like the following responses to the question, "What about wearing a bow tie to an interview for a job at a bank?"

Dr James Ryan:

February 12th, 2006, 17:05

A bow tie would not be appropriate for a banking interview, or really any kind of interview I can imagine.

forsbergacct2000:

February 12th, 2006, 17:07

A bow tie for a conservative job interview would definitely be way too foppish. It could cost you the job and even cause an interview to end prematurely.

You are announcing to the interviewer that you don't know how to dress. Unless your name is Tucker Carlson or some other nationally known figure, you will not be taken seriously.

Enjoy bow ties after you have the job if it is an environment that will accept them (and ONLY if it is an environment that will accept them.) In conservative business and banking circles, you need to fit in, not stand out.

(The whole discussion is at http://www.askandyaboutclothes.com/forum/archive/index.php?t-47270.html)

It's not like the guy asked "what if I wore a novelty oversized red and white polka-dot bow tie that spins around when I squeeze a bulb hidden in my sleeve to a bank interview?"

When I was traipsing around Wall Street as a tourist last fall, I saw an extraordinary number of impeccably dressed, miserable looking people. Thanks, but no thanks.

(No discussion about uptight financiers would be complete without a link to the business card scene from American Psycho.)