Matt’s Wardrobe — For EF

I wasn’t around yesterday to comment on your post (so that doesn’t make it stealing).  As I used to work in pretty much the same industry, I feel that I am uniquely qualified to offer input here.

The first thing you have to consider when upgrading/changing your business wardrobe, particularly when sales are involved is your audience.  Given the advanced automation projects Matt will be working on, he will be dealing with Engineers.  These will be project engineers and the occasional plant/product line manager.  This does elevate the dress code somewhat, but they’re still engineers.  Granted, today’s engineers are not the geeky, pocket protector-wearing engineers of the past like my dad.  Luckily it’s never okay to wear dress socks with tennis shoes and shorts anymore.  You need to look nice, but function is still a premium.

The second thing you have to consider is what you want your look to convey.  It’s not a fashion show, and what you wear does say something about you.  However, in this case, it’s not the last word.  Just ask Matt about what Sam from E&H wears.  He color coordinates his ensemble.  By color coordinating, I don’t mean that his socks have a color that picks up a color in his shirt or an accent in his tie.  I mean if he wears a green and white shirt (which he does), then he wears solid green pants, and solid green socks.  I’m talking primary color green not hunter, not sage, not desert pine, but I digress.  What Matt needs his clothing to say is I’m kind of pimp, geek pimp, but pimp.  He needs his wardrobe to project an image of guy who knows his shit, who is successful, and has taste, but not the kind of taste where he shops daily for the latest in mensware.  At the same time you need to project the idea that you’re not afraid to jump in and do some real work, to get your hands dirty.  They want to know that you’ve been on a line, assembled some equipment, that you’ll dig through their machine and figure out which sensor is causing you problems and why.

Luckily this is one of the more easily accomplished looks to have.  First of all the majority of his shirts should be provided by his vendors.  It’s not only acceptable, but desirable to have shirts with logos related to the products you use in the industrial world.  Keep in mind as an up and comer in the organization, vendors might not stop by and just offer these things… ask them.  The squeaky wheel gets greased.  Also most vendor provided training classes include a nice polo.  Speaking of polos, in the spring and summer, the polo is the staple to the industrial salesman’s wardrobe.  In the winter months, it’s the standard button down.  Don’t get too fancy here.  Stick with unobtrusive stripes, checkers, or solids.  Also, with the button down, you’re projecting and image of success here, so you’re going to want to pay a little extra for that emblem.  Brand name counts, it doesn’t have to be some exclusive brand, but it does need to be a brand.  I highly recommend Polo for this purpose for the following reasons:  1.  They really are high quality.  2.  They’re easily recognizable.  3.  They’re good with subtlety. 4. There is a good Polo outlet just north of Louisville, so they can be gotten on the cheap.

Now the part you’re going to spend the most time focusing on is pants.  In industrial salesman you can always spot the guys how are old schoolers that have been around since the great wardrobe change of the 90’s.  They still wear suit pants and nicer dress pants, albeit with polos now.  It’s okay in this setting, but it’s not the look you want to strive for when just starting out.  The Khaki pant is the staple of any good industrial engineer’s wardrobe.  You can never have too many.  Dockers are okay, but they wear fast.  You’ll need several pair in several shades ranging from brown to olive.  Keep in with charcoal and olive pants, once they fade, there is a period where they’re not much use until they become really faded and worn, then they become part of your casual wardrobe.  You need to have different styles of these too.  Pleated front, flat front, strait cut, loose fit, cuffed, and uncuffed.  Which ones you rely on the most is a matter of trying them on and seeing what fits best.  Buy nice, thick ones too.  Again, Polo makes a great chino, but it’s not a requirement.  One or two pair of nicer wool slacks will probably be required for big pitches/meetings.

Shoes are important.  Brown, semi casual dress shoes that take their inspiration from a cross between a boot and engineer shoes are a good choice.  You want something that can look good in either the boardroom or the plant floor.  Some styles will even get you out of having to put on steel toes if the place you’re at isn’t too big on safety rule enforcement.

Belts, well as long as they match.  Black shoes, black belt, brown shoes brown belt.  Thicker, not thinner.  One of each in a full-grain leather should do, maybe with a back of dress belt to wear when going with the slacks for the big presentation.  On the everyday belts, avoid shinny leather.  Once they get some wear, they’ll show it where as a regular leather belt only gets better with age.

Jahm