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Why I wear the same shirt every day

waxman.me

91–100 of 109 posts

Re: Why I wear the same shirt every day

#91

You aren't Steve Jobs. I would give the opposite advice. The easiest thing you can do to make people like you more, trust you more and respect your opinion more is to dress well and appropriately. Job's outfit and Zuckerberg's hoodies work the same way (whether that was the intention or not, I think not). The same part of human brains that stupidly subconsciously judges people by the way they are dressed is doing the…

Along these lines, Steve Jobs didn't wear his iconic turtle neck and jeans when he was just a startup. Markula impressed upon him early that if he didn't dress well, people wouldn't trust him. So steve Jobs wore suits. An bowties. And looked really nice. [1] Early days: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2_JFL5szJk4/To0Tl8nuP2I/AAAAAAAADq... [2] Jobs and the Mac: https://s3.amazonaws.com/hackedu/jobs1984.jpg

Those pictures say goofball to me, not Serious Business.

Those bow ties seem like the hoodies of the 80s.

Re: Why I wear the same shirt every day

#92

>> "He wore that famous black mock turtleneck, Levi’s, and New Balances not to make a fashion statement, but almost for the complete opposite reason: so he didn’t have to think about what to wear" If I recall correctly that's not true. He actually asked a Japanese designer to create a uniform for Apple employees. The employees didn't like the idea so Jobs decided if they wouldn't have one he would anyway and got the…

These two claims are not in contradiction.

Re: Why I wear the same shirt every day

#93

>> "He wore that famous black mock turtleneck, Levi’s, and New Balances not to make a fashion statement, but almost for the complete opposite reason: so he didn’t have to think about what to wear" If I recall correctly that's not true. He actually asked a Japanese designer to create a uniform for Apple employees. The employees didn't like the idea so Jobs decided if they wouldn't have one he would anyway and got the…

[deleted]

Re: Why I wear the same shirt every day

#94
post #26

You aren't Steve Jobs. I would give the opposite advice. The easiest thing you can do to make people like you more, trust you more and respect your opinion more is to dress well and appropriately. Job's outfit and Zuckerberg's hoodies work the same way (whether that was the intention or not, I think not). The same part of human brains that stupidly subconsciously judges people by the way they are dressed is doing the…

You aren't Steve Jobs. - So what, who says he can't emulate Steve Jobs?

Nothing, but there are probably many who see him and think "cargo cult"

Mimicking a famous person's eccentricity isn't exactly popular - the folks who idolize SJ will think you're an ass while the folks who hate him will think you're a cultist.

Re: Why I wear the same shirt every day

#95
post #47

You aren't Steve Jobs. I would give the opposite advice. The easiest thing you can do to make people like you more, trust you more and respect your opinion more is to dress well and appropriately. Job's outfit and Zuckerberg's hoodies work the same way (whether that was the intention or not, I think not). The same part of human brains that stupidly subconsciously judges people by the way they are dressed is doing the…

He's not doing this because he's Steve Jobs, he's doing it because he has a reason for doing it that Steve Jobs had first. Cue joke about "A system and method for dressing a human being." And man, I just don't know about the rest of that. If you can't wear what you want to because you're doing a startup...

> he has a reason for doing it that Steve Jobs had first

My point was that the reason only works for steve jobs, mere mortals will be judged for that behaviour. You still "save time" but that's a post-rationalization from someone who dislikes the pressure of dressing themselves if I've ever heard one.

> And man, I just don't know about the rest of that. If you can't wear what you want to because you're doing a startup...

Hey, do whatever you want. I was just pointing out the tradeoff. Also because I find it funny that the same people who would recognize a joke about a "shirt of +2 charisma" are the most least likely to be wearing them or even recognize they exist in the real world.

Re: Why I wear the same shirt every day

#96
post #29

I'd like to see a life so absurdly optimized for productivity that the maximum 10 seconds you save every morning by not having to decide what to wear is worth even mentioning. The next post will probably be about opening doors more effectively, like Kramer, to save a couple of seconds off the time spent opening doors each day.

You also don't need to wear the same thing every day to avoid thinking about what to wear. I never think about what to wear, just put on clothes randomly from the drawers. Sometimes my girlfriend has to tell me to go change, like when I wore a green sweater and green pants.

I had to laugh here because sometimes my wife will tell me I have worn the same jeans and t-shirt all week and it is time to get out something clean/new. She then reminds me to shower.

At least our girls get it :-)

Re: Why I wear the same shirt every day

#97
post #32

You aren't Steve Jobs. I would give the opposite advice. The easiest thing you can do to make people like you more, trust you more and respect your opinion more is to dress well and appropriately. Job's outfit and Zuckerberg's hoodies work the same way (whether that was the intention or not, I think not). The same part of human brains that stupidly subconsciously judges people by the way they are dressed is doing the…

I have found a shirt that fits me perfectly so I bought a couple more of these. As long as it's a good fit, you enjoy wearing it, people don't scratch their heads looking at you, why not wear the same thing all the time? Of course not looking sloppy is important (hair, fingernails, showers, clean clothes, etc.), but other things are much much more important. Integrity, getting things done, an inspiring and/or knowled…

Having a few copies of something that fits you well is a great idea, find something great and buy a couple in a couple different colors as well. But have a couple sets of shirts so people don't notice and, as you said, scratch their heads looking at you.

> but other things are much much more important. Integrity, getting things done, an inspiring and/or knowledgable personality..

Absolutely. I didn't mean to imply that dressing well was actually important in that sense. It's an easy way to have people think you have more integrity, are more knowledgeable/inspiring/interesting, get more things done. Do with that what you will, your competition will.

Re: Why I wear the same shirt every day

#98

I have several dress shirts that all go well with an arsenal of sweaters -- I did the same shirt every day for a few years, but my partner insisted I switch it up. This is my compromise.

Business partner or personal partner?

Personal partner. She was right too.

Re: Why I wear the same shirt every day

#99
post #88

You aren't Steve Jobs. I would give the opposite advice. The easiest thing you can do to make people like you more, trust you more and respect your opinion more is to dress well and appropriately. Job's outfit and Zuckerberg's hoodies work the same way (whether that was the intention or not, I think not). The same part of human brains that stupidly subconsciously judges people by the way they are dressed is doing the…

That reminds me a story which mr. Lukacovic (founder of czech search engine seznam.cz) told cs students several years ago. When he was dealing with investors, he tries to show himself in a "nerdy light" (wearing old t-shirt and jeans) to actually get a better deal. The reasoning behind this was that this would make his partners beleive that they have an advantage, while the opposite was actually true because he indee…

Haha, that's true for sure. Back when I was young and a freelancer I went to a networking group with mostly non-technical people where the dress code called for a suit. I wore bright red skate shoes with my suit.

I came across as "that young technical wizard" before I even opened my mouth. You should totally use those stereotypes to your advantage when you can.

I thought about adding my thoughts about not overdressing when you need to come across as technically proficient because of the stereotype but thought that would have muddled my point.

Re: Why I wear the same shirt every day

#100

I'd like to see a life so absurdly optimized for productivity that the maximum 10 seconds you save every morning by not having to decide what to wear is worth even mentioning. The next post will probably be about opening doors more effectively, like Kramer, to save a couple of seconds off the time spent opening doors each day.

Mr. Artesians's Conscientiousness by Ogden Nash Once there was a man named Mr. Artesian and his activity was tremendous, And he grudged every minute away from his desk because the importance of his work was so stupendous; And he had one object all sublime, Which was to save simply oodles of time. He figured that sleeping eight hours a night meant that if he lived to be seventy-five he would have spent twenty-five yea…

That reminds me of a short science fiction story, (I think by Isaac Asimov?) but I can't for the life of me remember what the title was. The protagonist was a writer, who began begrudge the time he would wait for his bus and time waiting for red lights and time waiting in general. By virtue of some machine, he was able to get everything in his life in sync, so that he never had to wait for other people or other things anymore. By the end however, he was unable to write anymore because he found that those times of randomness were when he was able to find his inspiration.

The following is a vignette from a series of vignettes on improv by Billy Merritt:

[THUMP, THUMP, CRASH] The closet door explodes outward and inside the closet there is a 6 foot worm standing upright. It is green with bits of moist hair all over the body. The head of the worm has two giant eyes that always seems to be crying, and pinchers for a mouth. It makes a noise that is a cross between a hiss and a donkey bray.

Creature: What the fuck is that?!?!

MASTER: That is my worm.

Creature: Your what?

MASTER: My worm. We all have them.

Creature: I'm pretty sure I don't have a worm. I think I would know if I had something like that.

MASTER: Yours may not be as big, but you definitely have one, I can tell.

Crerature: How can you tell I have something like that? Is it inside me? Will it kill me? Jesus, get it out of me!

MASTER: EASY. Once you become an improviser, once you feel you have it down enough that you can improvise with anyone at any time. A worm develops inside you.

Creature: You mean once I finally get it, I get this, this worm inside me. I don't want that, it's disgusting.

[the worm weeps a little louder]

MASTER: The worm is all your bad habits. All the rules you break in order to make a scene work. It feeds off of your bad habits it lives off of denials and bad object work.

Creature: Well then don't you want to kill the worm. Your worm is so big.

MASTER: Thank you. You can't kill the worm, just like you can't eliminate all bad habits. Sometimes you have to break the rules in order to further the scene and go where you never thought you could. You must except your worm, you have a symbiotic relationship with it.

Creature: How do you know when you have a worm?

MASTER: You will know. It will speak to you. You will find yourself doing a scene and you will realize that what you are doing is wrong, then a little voice will say "do it, see what happens" , that is the worm.

Creature: Should I always listen to my worm?

MASTER: No, if you feed it too much it will consume you. You need to develop a relationship with your worm, know your worm, know when to let your worm out to play, and also know when to keep your worm inside.

Creature: Why is your worm so big?

MASTER: I'm a level 37 improviser, a shaft of light, My worm has grown along with me. But I still have to control it, make sure it doesn't get out of hand, or out of the closet.

Creature: What happens if you lose your worm, or if it dies.

MASTER: Then you become a improrobot, making automatic responses, and doing automatic scenes. You run a risk of losing your creativity, your life force. You lose the truth.

Creature: So I must embrace my worm.

MASTER: Yes. Would you like to touch my worm?

Creature: No.

WORM: HSSSSSSSEEEOOOORRRRRRWWWWWWW.

- http://www.improvresourcecenter.com/mb/showthread.php?s=51a2...

I don't think it's anyone's place to say what your worm is and what it isn't, only you know, but I think it's interesting to think about.

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