

Ask HN: Uniforms - ratac

Hey guys, I stumbled on an article about people who wore the same outfit (Jobs, Einstein, Zuckerberg) everyday and the reasons behind it. As far as I can tell there are three reasons for this:<p>1: To reduce the amount of decisions a person must make in a day in order to retain cognitive ability.
2: To save time deciding on what do wear. 
3: To establish  personal &#x27;brand&#x27;.<p>The more I read into this the more it appealed to me (Reasons 1, 2 more so than three) and I&#x27;m wondering if people could share their thoughts on the same. Or, to make this a more pointed question:<p>If someone wore the same outfit every day and you were unaware of their reasoning what would you think?
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petercooper
It wouldn't bother me much although I would initially assume they were
rewearing the same clothes and not clean ones each day. Over time, when they
didn't stink, it would sink in.

But that said, if it's all about points 1 and 2, you don't need to spend more
than 10 seconds "deciding" what to wear. Make sure all your clothes are
neutral enough to go together (but are not necessarily identical) and then
just pick the first things at the top of the pile. They don't all have to be
identical for this to work.

~~~
shortoncash
You could probably work around the same-clothes-not-clean issue by doing what
service techs that deal with the public do: Get a patch sewn onto the shirt
with your name on it.

People's minds are conditioned to think shirts with patches on them are
uniforms.

You don't even have to use your own name. Thrift stores will sometimes have
uniforms for sale with name patches still on the shirt. Aside from being
comfortable with the sticker price, you'd just have to be comfortable using
some other guy's name patch on your shirt.

For the record, I'd be cool with a patch that says "Peter Cooper".

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anigbrowl
It's broadly positive as long as the person's clothes are clean. Occasionally
I've run into someone who seemed superficially well-dressed but when I got
close to them I realized their clothes were falling apart, which is sad in
multiple ways.

If you're going to do this, get someone to help you in figuring out what looks
good, and spend money on it, ie if you end up wearing a blazer and jeans and a
t-shirt, get the blazers tailored for a perfect fit. Fit is the difference
between looking sharp and looking like a slob, no matter what you're wearing.
Consciously or unconsciously, most people are going to judge you based on the
quality of what you wear so you might as well give off a positive impression.

And I really mean it about soliciting someone else's input. If you are not
'into' clothes - and not wanting to spend time thinking about them suggests
that you are probably not - then you are likely not a good judge of what suits
you, and you may well have become comfortable with ill-fitting or poorly-
chosen clothes through habit.

~~~
_RPM
It's not hard to tell the difference between an outfit that looks good and an
outfit that looks bad. I think you advice is flawed. Maybe people like you
seek to validate yourself by asking for others opinion about what you should
wear in order to impress other people, but you shouldn't assume everyone else
needs other persons validation.

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scholia
In the UK, it has been very common for people to wear the same basic stuff
every day for decades. It started with your school uniform, followed perhaps
by an army (etc) uniform, and then a job uniform.

The job uniform might be overalls or one chosen by a profession (eg nurses) or
a particular company (a shop or restaurant or factory, an airline, etc). Not
every job leaves you free to wear whatever you like.

In the city of London, and in companies such as IBM, many people adopted a
common uniform that they wore every day, even if each person's choice of suit,
shirt and tie might be slightly different.

The essential point is that your work clothes are not about presenting you to
your colleagues but about representing your company in public.

When I went to work for a company with a more casual dress code, I'd have been
out of place in my previous three-piece suit, shirt and tie. After a while, I
devised my own style of "uniform" so I could wear the same things every day
without having to think about it.

If anybody noticed, they didn't comment. But then, if they were wearing much
the same things every day, I didn't notice or comment either. Really, who
cares?

It makes shopping simpler: you just go out and buy a bunch of five identical
shirts at a time. I sometimes got five-for-the-price-of-four-type deals. (You
can haggle.)

I did find it was impossible to have identical outfits because clothes change
when they are washed often. Also, companies change long-running designs, even
if people don't think they do. In my case, the shirt buttons changed, though
again, probably nobody else noticed.

Most companies have an unspoken "dress code" anyway. As long as you stay
within that, nobody really cares.

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furyofantares
I spend basically zero cognitive effort or decision time on what to wear once
it's purchased. This is because I have difficulty caring about my appearance
and so I just grab the first clean thing. (Though I can care about my
appearance with some effort, either to satisfy someone else or to derive some
personal value from it.)

I was running a company, or a public figure, or both, I imagine I would place
a higher value on my appearance and would need to expend daily effort on it,
or hire someone to do so, or choose a uniform.

That said, if someone around me wore the same thing every day, it would just
be an interesting fact about them. It wouldn't reflect negatively to me.

~~~
ratac
I agree that people who run companies and thus are in the public eye are open
to much more scrutiny but this is more a societal problem. Tim Cooks most
public appearance is during a key note and has the staple dark shirt, dark
pants and black shoes. Possibly great deal of thought went into this (How the
outfit affects the viewers perception of the slides, detracts from products,
etc. but it's still seen as a strong and staple look.

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getdavidhiggins
Joshua Klein does this:
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXQAgzfwuNQ](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXQAgzfwuNQ)
I remember him saying why he does it, for the exact reasons you state. In
terms of the perception of others; different issue entirely. That's why we
have _normcore_ :
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normcore](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normcore)

~~~
ratac
That's right! I'd forgotten he did this. He calls it the Black T shirt Prject
and explains it here. [http://www.josh.is/the-black-t-shirt-
project/](http://www.josh.is/the-black-t-shirt-project/)

My only gripe with his approach is that he owns two pairs of pants? I was
thinking three would be the minimum that one would need; two in the wash, one
out?

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kszx
I do. (The number of layers varies with the temperature.)

May I ask the opposite question?

Why do many people change outfits almost every day? Do they derive
satisfaction from the process of choosing clothes? Or do they derive
satisfaction from the fact that other people notice these changes?

As you point out, choosing and owning different outfits comes at a cost, and
people who choose to do so must have a reason for this behaviour.

~~~
Rainymood
Some people just like dressing up. Other's like to feel confident and they
choose to take that confidence from their choice of clothing. Whether this is
a good or a bad thing is another discussion.

So yes. "Most" people are superficial in the sense that, given that they look
good, they are more likely to feel confident. I personally think that one
shouldn't have external influences as a source of confidence (as that can be
taken away) but that doesn't say that a lot of people don't feel that way.

Sometimes you just want to feel pretty, I figure.

On top of that, fashion is all about context. If I wear leather shoes I am
dressed-up more than 99% of my peers. However, if I wear leather shoes in ...
let's say Paris, I'm just one of many. Fashion is all about context. Imagine
Steve Jobs going to a black turtleneck and dad-jeans con ... lol

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DanBC
I probably wouldn't notice. I would want to protect them from taunting of
other colleagues although I guess that depends where you work.

If you're going to wear (eg) a Gap pocket T everyday it might be an idea to
get different colours for each day. That doesn't add to the cognitive burden.
(But I admit that I spend no time thinking about what I'm wearing)

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entreprenewb
Obama does the same thing (for reason #1):
[http://www.fastcompany.com/3026265/work-smart/always-wear-
th...](http://www.fastcompany.com/3026265/work-smart/always-wear-the-same-
suit-obamas-presidential-productivity-secrets)

It might be a bit mundane, but I can appreciate the pragmatism.

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mobiplayer
I'm sorry but it is barely believable that #1 and #2 would make a difference
in your life at all. Seriously, you could save much more cognitive ability by
not leaving your home in the first place. First thing is that you won't even
need to dress at all or even shower (bonus: no need to choose if you use gel
or shampoo first and spend all that cognitive ability on adjusting water's
temperature and pressure), then you don't need to make the +100 choices you
are unaware you make during your commute.

#3 makes a lot sense, but you could also build a brand by wearing the same
kind of clothes (e.g. hoodies, turtlenecks) but with changing details.

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bradcypert
In a way, it reminds me of Cartoon Characters who wear the same thing every
day, they're instantly recognizable, even if you can just see their
shirt/pants.

The branding is the only part really noticeable to anyone other than yourself
and once you explain the other two reasons, Im sure they'll understand.

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kwma
If someone wore the same outfit everyday, they must really enjoy what they
wear. For example, my dentist always wears scrubs and tennis shoes to work and
he does not care what people think because it is comfortable to him. He also
does not have to worry about ironing his clothes, getting his nice clothes
messy, and it looks professional. I agree with the fact that it establishes a
brand, because wearing scrubs gives the connotation of being in the health
care field. Wearing the same thing also saves a lot of money, because you can
get your outfit in bulk or on sale.

