Ask HN: Proper attire for a startup interview?

I think in this day and age business casual is appropriate anywhere you want to be.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_casual

Shirt with a collar, slacks, belt, non-athletic shoes.

You could always ask?

"Hi. I understand you're a start-up. I'd wear a suit to a job interview with a big, conservative corporation, but I don't want to make you uncomfortable if that's not how you roll. Is office casual acceptable?"

This puts the ball in their court, and also tells them you're flexible and you prepare for interviews in advance rather than running on autopilot.

My blanket policy for this flies in the face of perhaps all other conventional advice, but wherever I interview, I wear the most conservative bit of clothing I'm willing to wear every day for that job.

I used to wear suits every day (and still do on occasion), so I'd invariably wear a suit to an interview. Once I outgrew the notion of wearing suits, I quit wearing them.

It sets the tone for what they can expect of me in the future, and doesn't give any false impressions. I'd rather they hire 'me' than some notion of how appropriately I ticked their boxes.

I remember interviewing for a fairly conservative defense contractor, and the interviewer commented on it -- saying something like "So, I noticed you're not wearing a tie," to which my response was "Yeah -- I didn't want to give you the impression that I was willing to ever wear a tie."

I got that job, and never wore a tie when I worked there (though I did 'dress up' in a casual suit where appropriate.)

The point, in a roundabout sense, is that if you aren't comfortable wearing a tie to work every day, don't wear one for the interview.

I'm sure this changes if you really need this job, or are willing to do anything to work for this particular company or something, but it's a decent piece of general advice.

I wore dark jeans, a button up shirt, and dark sneakers to my last startup interview and got an offer. But I also verified that was similar to their dress code by asking on the initial interview call, too.

If you want to err on the side of caution, step up to khakis and non-sneakers, but certainly no higher than that. I remember reading a general rule that you should dress one step up from the dress code where you're going to make a good first impression, but never more than that, otherwise you risk alienating your audience.

I tend to go for dark jeans or khakis and a tucked in button up shirt (long or short sleeves depending on the weather) but I tend to dress that way anyways. I don't think I'd be a good match for a company that required something more formal. I consider what everyone else wears to be part of my side of the interview with them since it reflects their culture.