You shouldn't feel constricted by ridiculous rules like "you must wear a white shirt to an interview." The whole idea is to just wear a shirt that is not too loud or bold that it looks silly. When I had interviews to join an accounting firm, I wore shirts that were blue or some combination of blue and white (white w/ blue bengal stripes, blue end-on-end w/ white cuffs and collars, blue herringbone, etc.) and they always worked great.

I don't understand what the North American obsession with the plain white shirt is, I personally have a disdain for it. The closest I'm willing to come is white herringbone, even then I seldom use it. In other places, like London's banking sector, its actually considered unfashionable to wear a plain white shirt, they prefer much bolder patterns.

Don't wear a cheapo van heusen if you don't want to. The brooks button-down sounds like it would be too casual for a job interview. Your white/blue stripe shirt sounds great. I have a white/blue ministripe shirt that looks as professional as any other shirt I own.

Good luck on your interview!

 

With a little bit of creativity, you could jazz up your plain white shirt in minutes:

 

I know certain financial institutions will frown upon anybody turning up to work with anything other than black suit, white shirt, and tie. These tend to be the private banking/wealth management arms etc. I think requiring a dress shirt is a bit too far for a normal interview... a plain button cuff should be fine, but I suppose plain white or plain light blue shirts are preferred... but subtle stripes is quite acceptable.

The white shirt with subtle blue sounds perfect. Ordinarily I would say that you could probably wear a button down to work, but for an interview maybe not.

As far as the London workers being more fashionable with their shirts, I would probably agree that most don't wear plain white shirts. However there is something I like about the plain white shirt... a bit depressing during the average work day, but for meetings it does seem to say 'let's get down to business'.

 

the interview should be about you, not about your shirt. keep it plain.

 

The Paul Stuart shirt you described should be fine. The idea is to wear something conservative - plain blues, white and blue stripes, and plain whites all work well.

 

Thanks for all the great comments everyone, really helpful stuff.

the interview should be about you, not about your shirt. keep it plain.

I agree with you that I should ideally wear a plain shirt, but the problem is that the white shirt is of very poor quality. I would have no problem wearing one if I had a nice one to wear.

 

You shouldn't feel constricted by ridiculous rules like "you must wear a white shirt to an interview."

Problem is, you're not the one who gets to make the rules, the interviewer does, and perception is 70% of the game, (from Harvey Coleman's "Empowering Yourself... The Organizational Game Revealed."). As such, if it's all you got, go with the poor shirt. 90% of people won't know the difference. In fact, I feel that poor is better as long as you present it well because as a prospective employee you don't want to out-dress or out-do anyone. To that end I have a "poor suit" which is a basic grey BB that I HATE, but only wear to interviews.

And I work in banking, so trust me, stick with white.

 

Problem is, you're not the one who gets to make the rules, the interviewer does, and perception is 70% of the game, (from Harvey Coleman's "Empowering Yourself... The Organizational Game Revealed."). As such, if it's all you got, go with the poor shirt. 90% of people won't know the difference. In fact, I feel that poor is better as long as you present it well because as a prospective employee you don't want to out-dress or out-do anyone. To that end I have a "poor suit" which is a basic grey BB that I HATE, but only wear to interviews.

And I work in banking, so trust me, stick with white.

Agreed. This type of question pops up all the time. Should I/Could I wear xxx for YYY. You seem to know that ideally you would wear a white shirt to the interview. Why mess up your only chance at getting the job? You can experiment with your style all you want, once you get your foot into the door. Play it safe. Go with the "cheap" white shirt.

 

I had a similar problem -- all my white shirts are 19" or 18.5' neck, and now I'm down to a 17.5" neck. I got called for an interview, and the only white shirt I had with a 17.5" neck was a Van Huesen with french cuffs. (I bought it at an outlet store after resolving to try all the no-iron french cuff shirts on the market before plunging on new shirts). I had Robert Talbott ties, AE Park Avenues and a good-looking Navy 150s suit. But only the Van Heusen shirt.

The Van Heusen shirt is poor quality, if ranked against any of the high-end shirt brands. It's scratchy, and the Van Heusen people got the price down to $20.00 bucks at the outlet store mostly by making sure the cuffs squeeze your wrists and the shirt body acts as a corset.

But I wore the Van Huesen shirt anyway. It was white, and though it fit a bit closer than I'd like, it didn't look too bad.

I'm guessing at your thoughts, but I'd counsel against thinking (if you, in fact, do think it) that the quality of your clothes will be immediately apparent and register with the interviewers. They might think, "nice tie," but they probably won't think "Ah, a Hermes! This is a man of refinement we must hire, or be branded as knaves."

The white shirt says, "I can show up, fit in, and be what you're looking for in an employee." Other shirts may say that too, but white never misses. Yes, I agree that there's a general "Philistinizing" influence in all this, but that's something you can't change in an interview.

Best of luck!

 

I'm guessing at your thoughts, but I'd counsel against thinking (if you, in fact, do think it) that the quality of your clothes will be immediately apparent and register with the interviewers. They might think, "nice tie," but they probably won't think "Ah, a Hermes! This is a man of refinement we must hire, or be branded as knaves."

Haha, ok I'm guilty. There's nothing wrong with wishful thinking!

 

Thanks everyone for the great responses.

I think it's pretty clear that I should go with the white shirt so that's what I'll do. I know some interviewers might not think twice about the subtle blue stripes but I there's no reason to risk it.

I have an interview with Merrill Lynch next Tuesday if I do not get the job I am trying for tomorrow so I'm going to buy a nice white shirt sometime this week so I won't have this issue again.

Thanks again,

Thomas

 

I presume you have more than one friend who owns a white dress shirt. I'd make a few phone calls and find out if you can borrow a plain white shirt of better quality. It seems you'll be at least somewhat self-conscious in the cheap, ill-fitting one.

 

I wouldn't say that you must wear a white shirt to an interview, but I wouldn't wear any color other than white, white w/ vertical blue stripes, or solid blue (light blue or french blue). As much as I love my pink and green and purple and plaid fancy dress shirts, they are not appropriate for an interview, nor are any other color suit but navy or charcoal.

But to answer the OP one more time, white is not your only option.

 

Problem is, you're not the one who gets to make the rules, the interviewer does, and perception is 70% of the game, (from Harvey Coleman's "Empowering Yourself... The Organizational Game Revealed."). As such, if it's all you got, go with the poor shirt. 90% of people won't know the difference. In fact, I feel that poor is better as long as you present it well because as a prospective employee you don't want to out-dress or out-do anyone. To that end I have a "poor suit" which is a basic grey BB that I HATE, but only wear to interviews.

I've never understood this fear of "outdressing" anyone, maybe its because of a less formal sartorial culture around here, but I often find myself out dressing people senior to me, and that was usually the case during my interviews. If I'm wearing a nicer suit than the guy interviewing me, it's really not a big deal. Chances are he'll just think to himself "nice suit" and move on, if he even notices at all. But I also knew the people I was interviewing with weren't irrational to the point where they would be insecure and offended by it. Besides, from what I've seen, the rules of what is and isn't acceptable for workplace clothing has really shifted in the last few years, and with the rise of "business casual" people just aren't that picky about dress clothes. Personally I'd feel more comfortable and confident in a nice shirt I really liked that stuck out a bit instead of a plain shirt I didn't like that blends in.

 

I wouldn't say that you must wear a white shirt. But given that your interview is for a position with the trust department of the bank ... you probably should if you want the job.

 

I wouldn't say that you must wear a white shirt. But given that your interview is for a position with the trust department of the bank ... you probably should if you want the job.

You're right. Working in the trust industry is probably about as conservative as it gets.

 

You shouldn't feel constricted by ridiculous rules like "you must wear a white shirt to an interview."

The problem is, this is not about you. It is about the interviewer's perceptions. I have studied/taught this very subject, and please believe me when I say that the vast majority of interviewers are happiest when the interviewee shows up in a plain white shirt.

When I had interviews to join an accounting firm, I wore shirts that were blue or some combination of blue and white (white w/ blue bengal stripes, blue end-on-end w/ white cuffs and collars, blue herringbone, etc.) and they always worked great.

Good for you. There's one example. It, however, does not fit in with the majority of examples out there. Annecdotal evidence is, after all, not proof of anything.

I don't understand what the North American obsession with the plain white shirt is, I personally have a disdain for it. The closest I'm willing to come is white herringbone, even then I seldom use it. In other places, like London's banking sector, its actually considered unfashionable to wear a plain white shirt, they prefer much bolder patterns.

Don't wear a cheapo van heusen if you don't want to. The brooks button-down sounds like it would be too casual for a job interview. Your white/blue stripe shirt sounds great. I have a white/blue ministripe shirt that looks as professional as any other shirt I own.

Again, you are making this all about what you want. An interview is all...repeat: all...about what the interviewer want. Period.

the interview should be about you, not about your shirt. keep it plain.

Yup.

Thanks for all the great comments everyone, really helpful stuff.

I agree with you that I should ideally wear a plain shirt, but the problem is that the white shirt is of very poor quality. I would have no problem wearing one if I had a nice one to wear.

Like someone else here said, he/she won't notice. Just make sure it's pressed.

Problem is, you're not the one who gets to make the rules, the interviewer does, and perception is 70% of the game, (from Harvey Coleman's "Empowering Yourself... The Organizational Game Revealed."). As such, if it's all you got, go with the poor shirt. 90% of people won't know the difference. In fact, I feel that poor is better as long as you present it well because as a prospective employee you don't want to out-dress or out-do anyone. To that end I have a "poor suit" which is a basic grey BB that I HATE, but only wear to interviews.

And I work in banking, so trust me, stick with white.

Again: yup.

I've never understood this fear of "outdressing" anyone, maybe its because of a less formal sartorial culture around here, but I often find myself out dressing people senior to me, and that was usually the case during my interviews. If I'm wearing a nicer suit than the guy interviewing me, it's really not a big deal. Chances are he'll just think to himself "nice suit" and move on, if he even notices at all. But I also knew the people I was interviewing with weren't irrational to the point where they would be insecure and offended by it. Besides, from what I've seen, the rules of what is and isn't acceptable for workplace clothing has really shifted in the last few years, and with the rise of "business casual" people just aren't that picky about dress clothes. Personally I'd feel more comfortable and confident in a nice shirt I really liked that stuck out a bit instead of a plain shirt I didn't like that blends in.

See above.

I wouldn't say that you must wear a white shirt. But given that your interview is for a position with the trust department of the bank ... you probably should if you want the job.

"Yup" thrice.

 

I wouldn't say that you must wear a white shirt. But given that your interview is for a position with the trust department of the bank ... you probably should if you want the job.

Now ... once you have that job... it won't take you too long to discover the limits of acceptability in shirt color and style.

You could always start with a very subtle stripe ... and move on from there ... step by step.

 

I know certain financial institutions will frown upon anybody turning up to work with anything other than black suit, white shirt, and tie.

Please not a BLACK suit.

 

As an interviewer what I look for is someone who looks like he has made an effort for the interview, will fit in with the company and will fit in with our customers.

I would not worry about overdressing. I and no doubt most other interviewers will not know if your suit is from Savile Row or Milan but we might notice if it is from a supermarket. On the other hand be conventional an interview is not the place for foppish or dandyish clothes. Your tie, even if it is from Hermes, should be a sober design.

As I do not work in a trust department of a bank in America you must take others advice on your shirt and if your advisor had told you to wear a white shirt you really would have had to.

 

I wouldn't say that you must wear a white shirt. But given that your interview is for a position with the trust department of the bank ... you probably should if you want the job.

As someone who works for a trust dept for a bank, I would vote to wear the WHITE shirt.

No one will care if it is a Van Heusen.

Also don't wear cufflinks.

 

if you are getting ready to interview for jobs, get a simple white shirt, I have 2 white shirts, that I only keep for interviews.


I recently hired two guys - half of the job in the interview was figuring out if they would fit in with my expectations and my team's culture - not if they could do the job, I was pretty sure that the 150 plus guys who applied for the job could each do what I needed, I wanted the best fit into the culture of my company, and I spent a lot of time looking at clues to that. I never wear white shirts, myself, but if I did, that may very well have been the type of thing that I was looking for.

 

Ok, I'm about to head out the door. Heres a pic of what I'm wearing:

*sorry for the bad pic, it was taken with the camera built into my laptop

I went ahead with the plain white Van Huesen. I also decided the Hermes tie might be a bit flashy (esp with the cheap shirt) so I decided on wearing a Ben Silver rep tie.

Thank you guys again for the help!

 

That looks good. Good luck.

 

Ok, I'm about to head out the door. Heres a pic of what I'm wearing:

*sorry for the bad pic, it was taken with the camera built into my laptop

I went ahead with the plain white Van Huesen. I also decided the Hermes tie might be a bit flashy (esp with the cheap shirt) so I decided on wearing a Ben Silver rep tie.

Thank you guys again for the help!

You look like a banker. Good decisions. Good luck.