
The Programmer Dress Code  - borisk
http://www.codethinked.com/post/2007/12/The-Programmer-Dress-Code.aspx
======
dagw
Surely I cannot be the only programmer around who enjoys dressing well and
taking a certain amount of pride and interest in my appearance. Hacker news
and The Sartorialist are the two first bookmarks on my bookmark bar and I find
the both equally inspirational.

~~~
yummyfajitas
I do not enjoy dressing well and I have no _intrinsic_ interest in my
appearance. Nevertheless, it is sometimes useful to engage in signalling when
dealing with the outside world (e.g., superficial investors, superficial
women). For this reason, I have an _extrinsic_ interest in my appearance.

A service I'd pay for: I send you a photo of myself, my measurements and
money. You make me look good.

~~~
detst
> A service I'd pay for: I send you a photo of myself, my measurements and
> money. You make me look good.

I think this exists. I can't think of any names but I know I've heard of
basically this concept.

~~~
baltoo
Somewhat, perhaps, more cumbersome, but very workable, is to hire yourself a
personal shopper for a day. Those are available at all major cities.

That person will guide you throughout the day while you go out and buy the
stuff society at large would like to see you wear. End the day with a visit to
a, from them, suggested barber and you're set.

~~~
yummyfajitas
This is probably closer to what I'm looking for, though ideally I'd be able to
avoid the actual "going shopping with them" part. However, until my ideal
service exists, I'll probably hire a personal shopper if I lack a girlfriend.

Also, there is sometimes a principal-agent problem; many personal shoppers
work for the stores, and simply buy for you whatever the store is trying to
get rid of.

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thunk
Given that we tend to prefer low-to-no maintenance grooming choices, I'm
surprised more hackers don't shave (or closely buzz) their heads:

1) You can do it yourself. Never pay for another hair cut.

2) You don't need shampoo or conditioner. Just use whatever you're already
using on the rest of you.

3) _Nothing_ needs to be done to make it presentable.

4) It's never itchy or hot or in the way or anything.

5) Works great if you're balding -- confident, like you've accepted the
inevitable.

6) You look more like a Buddhist monk.

~~~
Dove
But you have to maintain it every couple months or it starts to look scruffy.
If you're accustomed to a long hair look, you can forget about it for several
months at a time.

I'd wager that regular maintainence is the mental cost those guys are trying
to avoid.

~~~
thunk
I've never understood that argument. Whatever time you may save on monthly
upkeep is lost many times over on daily (or at least, hopefully, weekly)
washing and brushing and pony tailing, etc. I rebuzz my head about once every
two or three weeks and that is literally _it_.

~~~
Dove
Ah, but time spent is not what we are trying to optimize.

Washing and brushing one's hair does add time to daily tasks, but it is not a
lot of time. Not compared to general time spent going to the bathroom,
showering, eating. That time as a whole _could_ be greatly reduced. By moving
and concentrating vigorously, one can get through the shower in 120 seconds,
through breakfast in 45. Hang out with ex-military types and you will see this
behavior. (You will also see buzz cuts.) This sort of thing is pointedly _not_
what hackers generally do.

We conserve mental effort. Not because we are lazy, but because we have only
so much mental effort to use in a day, and we want to use all of it on very
specific tasks. Concentration is currency. Remembering things has a cost.
Routine, menial tasks are almost free. In fact, like play, they can have a
slight negative cost. They allow the mind to wander. For many of us, shower
time is often _productive_ time. But even when it's not, we attempt to get
through it, not with a minimum expendeture of time, but with a minimum of
mental fuss. Not going fast, not going slow. Just getting through it and
thinking about other things.

Hence, daily hair maintainence is not really costly. It's a routine. But
remembering to schedule a haircut or assessing whether it's time to get out
the razor is one more thing to think about. One more thing to remember.

One cannot attack complex problems without proactively and repeatedly clearing
the mind of unnecessary details. Abstract and forget. This is a critical
skill. Avoiding periodic hair maintenence is an extension of that. Perhaps a
silly one, but an extension nonetheless.

For some, maintaining a hairstyle is a specifically chosen hobby, and that's
fine. But for everyone else, forgetting about your long hair is a habit borne
of simple good intellectual hygeine.

~~~
thunk
Just to be clear, the styles we're comparing are buzz vs. long (pony-tailable)
hair, right? Because the lengths in between are the real attention-sappers --
scheduled retail hair-cuts and at least some sort of daily styling, which
requires (sometimes a lot of) attention.

You make good points. And we've successfully moved from the mundane to the
philosophical. But as far as maintaining a clear mind, I can weather a head-
buzzing every few weeks without suffering any serious thought-train
derailment. I even find it rather meditative. There's something purifying and
exhilarating about shaving one's head -- it's like throwing away a lot of
useless shit you've been accumulating, or putting one's mental baggage astern.
My head feels lighter -- and it is!

------
Dove
Optimization. Our peers don't care how we dress. In general, they don't _see_
how we dress. We communicate through code and email.

On the other hand, our peers do care about our writing, so our writing is
always stylish. The spectrum among hackers starts at cocktail party and runs
through business casual and black tie clear into zoot suit. Not a slobby "i
agree" in sight.

~~~
steveklabnik
This, absolutely.

I've actually moved to wearing just striaght-up all black all the time. I'm a
tall skinny young dude, so skinny jeans + band tshirt is even almost in style!

Half the reason that I've done this is because I can just reach in my drawer
and put on anything, and it works. It may not be as optimal, but it's good
enough.

------
gaius
It's because we all secretly want to be Gandalf.

~~~
zephjc
A code wizard is never late, nor is he early; he arrives precisely when he
means to, usually around ten-thirty to eleven.

~~~
koenigdavidmj
And 7am if they're married.

------
oladon
This was good -- although I have to say, we femgeeks don't generally sport
beards, I don't think. The rest still applies though.

------
mattmichielsen
Reminds me of this awesome flash game:
<http://www.malevole.com/mv/misc/killerquiz/>

------
10ren
Matz (ruby) is alleged by the following article to have grown a beard due to
the claim that they correlate with language success:
[http://blogs.microsoft.co.il/blogs/tamir/archive/2008/04/28/...](http://blogs.microsoft.co.il/blogs/tamir/archive/2008/04/28/computer-
languages-and-facial-hair-take-two.aspx)

------
wyclif
"The first thing you will need to get started with Emacs is a beard." --
Wilhelm Bierbaum

~~~
mhd
You might be right. Vim users seem to get by without it
(<http://www.moolenaar.net/kopk.jpg>). TextMate users just need a soul patch.

Hmm, does this mean there's a marketing opportunity for hipster-oriented Emacs
screencasts?

------
pibefision
Please, add DHH.

Seems to have a Puma sponsorship :)

------
kingkilr
My priority is comfort, both physically and socially, that means if I'm
somewhere decent, or important it's compfortable to be dressed properly. OTHO
I work from home and during the summer time I'll be damned if I'm wearing
anything besides shorts and a t-shirt.

------
pavelludiq
In my teens i got influenced by punk, and I've been wearing black t-shirts
with jeans with holes in them, had unkempt hair and have been shaving every 2
weeks or so, ever since. Yes, i actually try to look like a homeless person as
a fashion statement.

------
russell
Surely Dennis Ritchie and Ken Thompson are the winners as the masters of the
style. I saw them at a Usenix convention 20 years or so after the picture in
the posting. Their beard were much fuller and much grayer, beer bellies of
remarkable proportions and wearing shorts and Hawaiian shirts.

(Now, was that where I got my Digital Equipment eye-shades with the flashing
lights. Think so.)

------
jallmann
Somewhat related: programming language inventor, or serial killer?
<http://www.malevole.com/mv/misc/killerquiz/>

------
daryn
I'm wearing a yellow polo and pink plaid linen shorts today.

~~~
camiller
I think the article was talking about work wear not golf wear.

------
zazi
lol...great post!

------
dca
under GVR:

"...he has an afro that would make Snoop Dog smile."

LMAO

