new look for a new year, advice needed
I got a nice coat for christmas, and it fits so so nice.
I thought it was a pea coat because of the material, but it turns out it is called a "military overcoat" 
anyway, never having owned a "military overcoat" (or a pea coat for that matter) i am looking for advice on what to wear with it. internet searches resulted in what seemed like mostly hipster fashion examples or sales photos of the jacket with out context, so i dont trust that. id like to be able to wear it casually, but i will also need to wear it to job interviews, so advice on both would be nice. Thanks!
PS: If I could wear my Sambas with it i would be soo happy
0
Comments
Overcoats are not meant to be worn like a suit coat. You wear it outside, to protect your clothing from the elements and keep you warm. You take it off when you get indoors. As such, you can wear it over pretty much anything. It's supposed to be a functional garment first, not a fashion piece. I frequently wear an overcoat over jeans and a sweatshirt.... or wool slacks and an oxford classic button down... or, when I have occasion to wear it.... over a suit. My current overcoat is more or less this one.
The big reasons they're not meant to be worn as a dress coat replacement
1) They're not as fitted
2) As they are an outer layer piece, they will be exposed to the elements and will show more wear.
If you're looking for something to wear to job interviews, you should invest in a properly fitted, but reasonably priced (assuming you don't have money to burn) suit. Then find a good tailor and have it tailored to fit you. Then use your overcoat to keep that suit looking good in inclement weather. Alternatively, get some wool slacks and a blazer or sportcoat (most likely navy, as it is the most versatile).
See this post on Dappered about finding a good looking, but inexpensive suit. It's a little dated, but the advice is timeless (even if some of the links might not work anymore).
Really, Dappered is my go-to place for style information. Just start looking through their Start Here collection. Their community is also very friendly and knowledgeable about men's fashion (definitely more so than Icrontic, on both fronts). You'd get better answers about men's style and fashion there than you would here.
I think the jacket is a little long to be worn super casually. Can certainly be worn with denim, but not ideal for pairing with a t-shirt, whereas it would be fine with a polo or button-down. It would absolutely meet your needs for job interviews, too.
thanks, guys, i thought the thread was gonna be buried. i am really stoked on this coat because i didnt have aything for interviews. i have a cool leather jacket that is totally unprofessional, and a bunch of sweatshirts of varying degrees of stylishness.
@ardichoke, im gonna check out dappered, but since i am not applying for suit and tie jobs, more like bar back, busboy, service type jobs, i feel like a suit would most likely be over kill right? ive been passed over for being "overqualified" before, so i feel like the suit is gonna do more of the same. also this coat fits me perfectly. aside from the length, it really feels like my tailored suit jacket did.
@Thrax, i have some really nice button downs of various casual to dress levels, and a really nice polo that a friend gave me, so i should be covered there.
As someone who works in a professional, rapidly growing company workplace: People who come in for interviews with suits on are definitely considered "overdressed" for our company culture, and it's almost ALWAYS noted by the hiring managers (and not kindly). The only exception I've seen to this is those applying for accounting/finance positions.
My point being: Don't worry too much about a suit being a 'requirement'. It's not. You know the culture of the places you're applying better than we do.
What you need for a job interview depends on the company and your position.
Your coat probably looks nice and would make a good casual look over jeans and a sweater or maybe some chinos and an ocbd (just Google it) . You could definitely wear it with some Adidas or dress it up with some dress boots or shoes.
For a job interview, you'll wear the coat for about 30s until you get inside, then you need to match (or slightly exceed) the dress code for your position. I wear business casual every day (slacks, patterned button down shirt, sweater in the winter, nice shoes) . I interviewed in a suit. Higher positions at my work almost always wear a suit. Other staff categories wear jeans and a tee or Polo. I dress a bit nicer than I absolutely have to, but I think it's fun and I like nice shoes. (plus I gotta look good to keep my lady happy)
i love a good suit. i look forward to the day that i can wear a nice suit to work. but for bartender/barback positions. im looking for dress casual, and just borderline trendy(for some of the bars) because lets face it. nobody wants their bartender to be wearing a suit. as awesome as the idea may seem, the reality would be much much less so. reason for looking for bartender/barback positions is so i can finally go back to college as i have been working towards for the past year. a bartender is just the perfect job for a student.
PS: getting my sambas cleaned up right now. im wondering if a plain white tee (love my white tees) would work, though not for an interview. ill try it when my shoes are clean and see how it looks.
Sorry, I made the assumption that since you were talking about wearing a coat to an interview, you were interviewing for the type of job where a dressier look would be expected. If you're talking barbacking, yeah, chinos and a button down or perhaps a polo. Maybe clean, dark wash, not beat-up jeans instead of the chinos. Unless it's a classier type of bar, then you might go with black slacks, dress shirt and a vest, possibly with a tie, like this:
Any of the above would look fine with that coat, but I would definitely lose the coat once you're there. I wouldn't keep it on.
Oh, and Dappered is still a good resource. I am definitely not in an industry where wearing a suit is expected (in fact, it is generally looked down upon) but I love the advice they give there. It's versatile and the people on their forums generally recognize that a suit and tie is not always the best option and give a lot of good advice for stepping up your wardrobe without going too far. I got a lot of good advice from them when I was looking to move on from the jeans and graphic tees that are the hallmark of the IT industry, but didn't want to go so far that my peers started to ostracize me.
i did check out dappered. looked around a little, but i put it in my bookmarks until i have further need of it. this thread gave me the advice i was looking for. thanks for the help.