Interview emergency! No suit! Manager input sought

March 19, 2024 6:07 PM

A male friend has a job interview coming up immediately and...his two suits have unconcealable moth holes! What to do? How bad is this? (There is no sport coat available.)

Due to tailoring turnaround and fit issues and also living in the provinces, it will not be possible to buy a suit tomorrow and have it tailored immediately - a suit may be purchased, but tailoring will take anywhere from days to a week or so. At least one interview will need to occur without a jacket.

Two questions:

1. How bad is this likely to look to the interviewers? This is for a white collar job in a relatively casually dressed but corporate environment - jeans and a nice but not dressy shirt is the daily norm. This is not for a public facing role.

2. What is the best alternative? He is thinking blue button-down with tie and dress pants, since white shirts, especially dress shirts, can look a little orphaned without a jacket. He knows that conventionally one doesn't wear a tie without a jacket, but it feels better to wear one in this situation. Or would it be better to wear a dress shirt and tie purely because that's more formal?

He has asked my advice because of my access to metafilter - I'll pass all suggestions along.

posted by Frowner to Work & Money (22 answers total)

If the weather is appropriate for it, a business casual sweater over a button down could nicely sidestep the tie issue.
posted by A Blue Moon at 6:16 PM on March 19 [29 favorites]

I would suggest dress pants, a shirt, no tie, top button unbuttoned. If it's cold, a nice sweater.
posted by kinddieserzeit at 6:22 PM on March 19 [7 favorites]

I too was coming in to suggest a nice sweater over a button-down along with dress pants. Tie or not becomes more of an accessorizing question at that point.
posted by snaw at 6:32 PM on March 19 [3 favorites]

This is for a white collar job in a relatively casually dressed but corporate environment - jeans and a nice but not dressy shirt is the daily norm.

Typically, you want to go one step better for an interview. So it sounds like wearing nice pants, a dress shirt, and maybe a tie (opinions will vary on this) would hit the right note.
posted by Dip Flash at 6:33 PM on March 19 [6 favorites]

Good news: a suit would be inappropriate to wear to this interview.

A pair of dark colored slacks and a light blue oxford is the uniform for "well dressed professional man" these days and will be absolutely appropriate attire for all work situations.

The only people who still wear suits to work are lawyers and discount furniture salesmen.
posted by phunniemee at 6:38 PM on March 19 [17 favorites]

Should not be a problem. At this point, some people announce they are put off if a candidate wears a suit to a standard "business casual" job for an interview. Those people are a minority and just as annoyingly judgy as the people who'd insist on a suit, but the interview suit has become pretty optional in most locations and professions. Dress shirt, trousers, nice shoes, everything pressed, friend will be fine.
posted by mark k at 6:45 PM on March 19 [7 favorites]

As a person who absolutely wears suits to business casual interviews (I like suits!), a collared shirt and slacks will likely be fine. A sweater can dress it up; I wouldn’t wear a tie without a sweater or jacket

The only place where I think this *might* be an issue is in NYC, where suits are still a little more common. But even there I don’t think it’s standard or expected anymore for non sales or non senior management positions. And given that you describe yourselves as in the provinces, I don’t think it applies.
posted by thecaddy at 7:32 PM on March 19 [10 favorites]

I haven't interviewed someone who wore a suit in... a decade? Honestly any outfit that communicates an attention to personal appearance will be fine. That also means showing up nicely groomed will make the interview start with a good feeling. Many good suggestions above, so I'll only add that since the beginning of the pandemic this aspect of the interview process has been so deprioritized that I encourage your friend to take a deep breath and try to recognize that this is not going to be a focal point of the interview.
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 10:15 PM on March 19 [2 favorites]

blue button-down with tie and dress pants

This sounds good—
I think the dress pants are what makes this outfit appropriate.
Then style as you like with or without tie, a sweater if you have a nice one…
posted by calgirl at 8:40 AM on March 20

Agree with all of the above, and though you didn't mention this and so presumably it's not an issue, I'll say just in case-- your friend should wear good shoes. Sneakers/trainers/whatever with semi-dressy clothes is a mismatch that does not look good, and gets noticed.

I'm not saying wingtips are a must -- this isn't IBM in the '60s -- but it's not a gym either. The shoes should be on a level with the pants and shirt/sweater.
posted by martin q blank at 8:58 AM on March 20 [4 favorites]

Nthing the suggestion of dress pants or chinos in very good condition, together with a button-up collared shirt. The shirt should have a very subtle pattern or, preferably, no pattern and should be either white, off white or pale blue. Dark colored and/or broadly patterned shirts will look either unsophisticated or too casual. The shirt should have barrel cuffs rather than more formal "French" double cuffs with cufflinks. The pants and shirt should be ironed--don't rely on "wrinkle free" fabrics. Leather shoes (not boots or sneakers!) should be clean, well maintained and worn with socks.

If he is not going to wear a necktie, I'd suggest an "oxford cloth button down" shirt (i.e., with buttons attaching the collar points to the shirt) as they are a touch more casual and softly constructed and he won't look like he neglected to put on a necktie and jacket with his "dress shirt." An OCBD would also be good with a necktie.

If he is going to wear a necktie, I'd suggest something on the casual end of that scale such as a knit tie or grenadine tie. Importantly, he should not wear a necktie without either a jacket or a sweater or a vest. A necktie with no covering piece is straight-up Dilbert territory.
posted by slkinsey at 9:07 AM on March 20 [1 favorite]

"The only people who still wear suits to work are lawyers and discount furniture salesmen."

Absolutely not true.
posted by fies at 9:11 AM on March 20

Adding a sweater makes it reasonable to wear a tie, too, which will take the look up a notch of formality.
posted by praemunire at 9:25 AM on March 20

Response by poster: So the issue with the shirt/tie is that while of course when one cares about suits, one doesn't wear a dress shirt (or even an OCBD) with a tie and no jacket, hiring managers don't always think that way - a hiring manager might be expecting a tie as a way of showing seriousness, even if in strict technical terms it's not correct. It doesn't help much to be correct in the grand scheme of things if the hiring manager thinks you're too casual without a tie. That's where I'm hoping for some feedback from people who interview candidates.

My friend would normally wear a dark blue suit, light blue or white shirt, tie in a conventional pattern and polished black cap toes, as one does. The problem is that the available suits have moth damage despite having been okay recently.
posted by Frowner at 9:32 AM on March 20 [1 favorite]

Last year, a candidate came to my workplace for an interview in chino pants and a button down shirt, which is considered unprofessional in our field. Before we started, he quickly apologized that he was not wearing a suit because the airline lost his luggage. I was glad that he explained right away because it was definitely an elephant in the room.
Depending upon the expectations and culture of this work environment, your friend may want to just quickly address it. (Without getting into the details of the moths.)
posted by fies at 9:53 AM on March 20 [2 favorites]

hiring managers don't always think that way - a hiring manager might be expecting a tie as a way of showing seriousness, even if in strict technical terms it's not correct.

Definitely a possibility, which is why I think dress shirt + nice fine-gauge sweater + tie is the way to go. (I've interviewed people from time to time, but in a field where anything but a suit would probably require a brief explanation a la fies's candidate, so my standards are probably too "high.")
posted by praemunire at 10:04 AM on March 20 [2 favorites]

Good news: a suit would be inappropriate to wear to this interview.

Hard agree on this. A suit would be at least 2 steps above what everyone else is wearing. If he really wants to wear a tie then a sweater, but I also agree that a tie is probably unnecessary.

That said, he should absolutely be able to ask the recruiter about this. I know that may seem like "well I should figure it out" but the recruiter is there to help with the coordination of this type of thing. I guarantee you they have answered this question many times. He can even explain about the suit in that convo, which is much more casual convo than the formal hiring manager interview.
posted by magnetsphere at 2:24 PM on March 20 [3 favorites]

I've been helped in this situation by heading to the nearest large thrift store; you likely won't find an entire suit (pants and coat) that match but often things can be combined, or perhaps a jacket that matches existing suit pants.
Best of luck to your friend, interviews are stressful enough without wardrobe issues.
posted by winesong at 3:38 PM on March 20 [1 favorite]

My friend would normally wear a dark blue suit, light blue or white shirt, tie in a conventional pattern and polished black cap toes, as one does. The problem is that the available suits have moth damage despite having been okay recently.

So, it sounds like he has a good understanding of style and almost everything he needs sartorially (especially if his suit pants are wearable--but I'm guessing he already has some odd trousers). He should be able to get express shipping on a light v-neck sweater, and then he's all set.
posted by slkinsey at 6:33 AM on March 21

Agree with the sweater. A nice, dressy cardigan might be a nice alternative to a jacket, if a pullover would be too warm or otherwise uncomfortable.
posted by Rock Steady at 1:15 PM on March 21

A nice sweater-vest can also be a less-warm alternative to a full sweater.
posted by needs more cowbell at 2:44 PM on March 21

I've always asked the recruiter what the appropriate attire is when interviewing for similar positions. They've never had a problem letting me know what they expectations were, which has ranged from a suit to shorts and a non-logo T-shirt.
posted by Candleman at 3:41 PM on March 21