[arkirshner]

quote:Originally posted by Film_Noir_Buff

quote:Originally posted by iammatt

FNB-

Are we talking private banking or private equity? I have had experience with both, but don't want to give the wrong advice.

private equity, which I believe is French for buyout firm

I would hope he could throw the occasional db in there, who knows...

____________________
Get In Touch With Your Sartorial Chi.

Trite but true: the Golden Rule- the man with the money makes the rules.

 

[iammatt]

quote:Originally posted by Film_Noir_Buff

quote:Originally posted by iammatt

FNB-

Are we talking private banking or private equity? I have had experience with both, but don't want to give the wrong advice.

private equity, which I believe is French for buyout firm

I would hope he could throw the occasional db in there, who knows...

____________________
Get In Touch With Your Sartorial Chi.

I am familiar with what it means. I have worked both with (alongside) private equity firms, and have been a client (investor) in some funds. I think it really all depends on the culture of the firm. There is no reason that he cannot do so, provided that he will not look out of place. My experience is that in PE, as in VC, that the point is putting in a LOT of hours, being smart as hell, and making money for those above you. If you succeed at those things, you can get away with wearing what you like. Be forewarned, that you put in a ton of hours, especially at that age. Wear something that you can be comfortable in well into the night. You will be thaere at least that long.

My experience as a client is that if the fund does well, all is forgiven. If not, nothing is going to make you look good. The clients you deal with are pretty sophisticated, so they are not going to care whether you wear a double breasted suit, or suede shoes, or whatever. Just dress like you are working and not playing.

quote:I would think standard conservative fare....I would probably stay away from anything which made me appear to have spent more on my clothing than my clients do

Wrong in my opinion. Unless you are at a dinky firm, most of your clients are retirement funds and pension funds. You will spend more money on your clothes than these guys. They don't make that much money. Don't worry about it.

 

[k.diddy]

you won't necessarily be spending lots of hours, not like investment bankers anyway (you hire these guys to do that). But you certainly have to be smart.

The dress code really depends on the "culture" of the firm. As some other people have mentioned, some firms are more formal, some are laid back. In general though, the really successful buyout guys tend to be not so flashy/flamboyant/dandy. Especially the head guys. The people who run Blackstone, CDR, Carlyle etc sure wear well fitting suits but they don't particularly stand out. Steve Schwartzman even wears rubber soled shoes. Making money for your LPs is a lot more important, and the more it appears you care more about your dress, the worse it looks.

So, bottom line is, see what the senior guys are wearing in the firm and try to emulate them.

 

[vonzippa]

Being 30 to 35 years old I would assume that your friend is at the Director level. Most PE guys have done stints with IB at the analyst and associate level. The hours worked issue is relative, IB analyst typically can work up to 100 hours a week (believe me I know), but almost everyone in corporate finance at the VP level and below work long hours. I bring IB in the discussion here in that most PE firms "farm out" the mundane, late night modeling work. I think your friend is probably at the level where junior employees are emulating him.

 

[Film_Noir_Buff]

I met a couple of these guys the other day. It seems they revel in nice suits in dark colors, white shirts and some of the most inexplicably ugly neckties Ive ever seen. In fact, the neckties were so unforgettably bad, I believed that theyd have to have been part of a bad tie competition amongst them.

One of them looked like he had a custom suit, another had what looked like a rtw oxxford suit on. Shirts looked expensive but rtw. One of them had a pen in his chest pocket!

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Nobody expects the sartorial inquisition

 

[Will]

This thread had been cold for so long that when it reappeared I half expected to read that the original banker/thread subject had been terminated for inappropriate clothing.


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Fortuna elegantes adiuvit.

 

[Film_Noir_Buff]

quote:Originally posted by Will

This thread had been cold for so long that when it reappeared I half expected to read that the original banker/thread subject had been terminated for inappropriate clothing.

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Fortuna elegantes adiuvit.

Cold for a long time? Two Months!?

No, hes getting the lay of the land before he commits. Apparently, his firm doesnt wear suits unti theres a big meeting, its mostly biz casual, if even. I guess theres a race to the bottom to prove everyone knows who you are and you have power. Wasnt there a thing like that started in LA, where if you wore a tie, it was bc you had to?

____________________
Nobody expects the sartorial inquisition

 

[Cantabrigian]

From what I know about the buy-side, things have been pretty well covered.

A couple of things - cufflinks: huge cufflinks. Not necessarily nice cufflinks but big showy ones - think Charles Tyrwhitt.

Still some Hermes ties, though the more savvy ones would have moved on to Charvet. Also the occasional Ferragamo and a smattering of Vineyard Vines, especially in the summer.

Shirts either your standard white poplin, blue end-on-end or else some oversized, loudish check pattern.

Shoes would be square-toed but otherwise tasteful - either leather soles or thin rubber.

Rolex Submariner or, if a little more grown up, an Airking.

And blood-shot eyes. At least a third of the time.

 

[Rainmaker]

I work on the sell-side, and buy-side is not bad at all.

Hermes is a dominant tie on the sell-side, which I assume is very closely tuned into the dress of the buy-side. Some do the custom suits, I've seen a few Brioni's, alot of conservative Ferragamo shoes. Better to err on the side of conservatism in this business..

 

[Film_Noir_Buff]

Is there no one else with first hand experience as to what this sector wears?

We need another Wall Street movie so we can have an incredible wardrobe to study.

I thought they were going to make Liars Poker into a Movie or Predator's Ball?

____________________
Nobody expects the sartorial inquisition

 

[Cantabrigian]

It would be funny to see Michael Lewis's suspenders with dollar signs on them.

quote:Originally posted by Film_Noir_Buff

Is there no one else with first hand experience as to what this sector wears?

We need another Wall Street movie so we can have an incredible wardrobe to study.

I thought they were going to make Liars Poker into a Movie or Predator's Ball?

____________________
Nobody expects the sartorial inquisition

 

[josepidal]

quote:Originally posted by Vettriano man

Therefore I would expect the suit not to be too fine, but certainly bespoke and understated in a conservative way with minor hints of originality:

Exactly.

Conservative, but undeniably youthful. Stable, but not stagnant.

 

[Rainmaker]

One of previous posts was correct. Every PE shop has a different culture. It is not like banking, which is more or less business casual or formal. PE culture is more or less dictated by the partners of the firm, and some of the biggest firm sizes can be 100's employees as opposed to thousands or tens of thousands.

Therefore not every PE employee will spend the time or money to get bespoke, however they probably have the financial means. If you can, get back issues of Fortune. October or November had a picture of all 6 or 7 partners of KKR, and some individual pictures of Henry Kravis and Roberts. You will get a better idea...Hermes tie, bespoke shirt (white, maybe oxford, no spread collar, maybe even pinpoint) with french cuff. Nice dark navy suit (possibly Brioni, MTM or bespoke SR). They do tend to dress well, abeit conservative.

And no Liar's Poker dollar sign suspenders, yet...

I hope they don't make Predator's Ball into a movie, I would fall asleep (I barely got two thirds of the way through the book and quit, it was so poorly narrated). Barbarians at the Gate, which depicts KKR's leveraged buyout of RJR Nabisco, was made into a made-for-tv movie that is on DVD.

A better book if you are interested in the Michael Milken/Ivan Boesky/Elliott Spitzer escapades is Den of Theives.

quote:Originally posted by Film_Noir_Buff

Is there no one else with first hand experience as to what this sector wears?

We need another Wall Street movie so we can have an incredible wardrobe to study.

I thought they were going to make Liars Poker into a Movie or Predator's Ball?

____________________
Nobody expects the sartorial inquisition

 

[Khnelben]

i have just watched the Barbarians at the Gate movie - loved the clothing )))

I used to think Wall Street was good for costumes but no - Barbarians rules !!!

Also Allan F . doing the wardrobe .

the thing is, though, every newspaper now has tailors saying the banker look is dead.

But being a lawyer i still see bankers wearing Hermes ties.

A

 

[DapperDandy]

In the words of Gordon Gekko: “Get your suits made at Gieves & Hawkes. Shirts at Turnbull & Asser..."