Do engineers shop for clothes?

[define_hipster]

If you're an engineer, how do you pick out new clothes to buy? Would you ever let someone do it for you (i.e. someone with good fashion sense to go with you to the mall for a couple hours to help you look your best?)

[debacle]

Would I ever let someone do it for me? Sure. Would I pay for it? No.

The kind of person who is an "expert" at retail fashion isn't going to be working at the price point I have in mind.

[define_hipster]

Curious, what is that price point you have in mind?

[coke12]

I think a 40% price premium would be reasonable.

[MalcolmDiggs]

I am devoid of fashion taste. I use a pretty simple system: when my clothes get holes in them I walk down to Target and buy more off the rack (whatever they have there that day, doesn't really matter to me). When my converse wear out I walk down to DSW and buy another pair.

That being said, I'd like to have better clothes for special occasions / dates / events. I would totally pay someone to pick stuff out for me. Not for everyday clothes, but for those special outfits.

[dllthomas]

Wearing them more often, you'll be more comfortable in them. Which is not to say you need to wear them every day, by any means, if you're not into that.

[arh68]

Shirts are fairly standard in size, I buy those online. Jeans have to be tried on (bad online experience). /r/mfa has okay guidelines. I stick hard to certain brands, to avoid sizing uncertainty.

I wouldn't go full Steve Jobs and only wear black turtlenecks and dorky sneakers, but a closet full of OBDs & polos seems reasonable. I would definitely try someone's recommendations, but only up to a fixed dollar limit (like $200~300). I would be prepared to bag it all up and donate it if I didn't like it.

[thisGuysAccount]

You sound average-sized, if you can confidently say shirts are standard in size. I know a lot of guys who have a hard time finding shirts that fit.

Shirts, jeans, sweaters, anything... they're all over the place in terms of fit.

With shirts, you've got different torso widths, lengths, arm hole sizes (I don't know the word), depths and widths of the neck hole. A slim fit, an athletic fit, a relaxed fit, will all vary from brand to brand.

With jeans, same thing.

Then you've got the fabric and stitching. I'm not sure I'd buy clothes online. Too many variables.

[thisGuysAccount]

Actually, there's something I'd pay $20 for.

I mail you a list of measurements. You mail me a list of brands and styles that fit.

[define_hipster]

Cool idea, but how do you account for variations on what certain brands consider a 33-length, for example?

Like for example, 32-waist Wrangler seems to be equivalent to 30-waist Gap. Only way I know this is because I tried on the jeans at the mall and found those to be the most comfortable on me.

The variation is strange and it's not just pants but also shoes sizes aren't consistent between brands either. I think the way Zappos solves this is they send you the shoes and you send them back if they don't fit well.

[thisGuysAccount]

That's part of why it's worth $20.

There would need to be some brand research done, checking the fitting and sizing of various brands, so you could know that "with a 31 inch waist, measured around the navel, I would fit in 30 inch Gap jeans and 32 inch Wranglers."

That trip to try on those two pairs of jeans cost you what, an hour? two hours?

[dllthomas]

Yeah, I found a stain on the shirt I'd intended to wear to a funeral. Went to a Kohl's and found exactly one white dress shirt in the store that fit me.

[GotAnyMegadeth]

It depends what you mean by help me. If you mean ask my opinion and say things like "which one do you like more?" then no way. The reason I don't like shopping is because I have no opinion. If it was someone who you could explain "I don't want to stand out, I don't want to look like x, y or z, I don't want to talk to anyone in any shop, I don't want this to take more than w hours" Then maybe.

[laurieg]

I usually pick out things that fit in plain neutral colors so I can wear lots of different combinations. When something wears out I often buy exactly the same make/model almost without thinking. When I find something that fits i regularly buy more than one in different colors. My clothes seem to wear out very quickly.

I would definitely let someone do it for me. I don't know a lot about fashion and I'd love to look better.

[dllthomas]

I pick out my own clothes. I think I do a good job. At this point in my life, I don't think I would trust someone else to do it for me, without a long term one-on-one relationship where we could collectively develop their understanding of my style. There have been other points in my life when it would have been more welcome.

[fekberg]

I like buying clothes myself, so I wouldn't have someone do it for me all the time. However, I also like getting clothes as Birthday/Xmas gifts and my family knows what I like.

My shopping is 50/50 in-store and online, when I do in-store shopping I like to have my wife with me, mostly for company and to verify what I pick fits and looks good.

[32faction]

I shop myself. I peruse GQ, and /r/mfa for style inspiration. I actually just got back from Black Friday shopping and I'm wearing these really comfortable A&F sweatpants as I type this.

[dllthomas]

I like askandyaboutclothes.com, cut with my own style and a healthy dose of common sense...

[informatimago]

Nope. Size fit color is blue (or else black, which is kind of a dark blue). No (they don't tend to respect the blue rule). Also: move to a hot country to reduce the need for clothes.

[define_hipster]

Who's "they" that you refer to when you say "they don't tend to respect the blue rule"?

[sp332]

Sure. My criteria have been the same as informatimago, but lately I've been curious about what looks good on me and now I find myself at a loss.

[hashtag]

Shop for myself. Would never let someone else buy for me sight unseen.

[define_hipster]

What if it wasn't sight unseen? What if someone could go with you and provide you a fashionable opinion? Would you let them take the lead?

[hashtag]

I want to say possibly but the honest truth is Nordstrom has (or had) a personal shopper option and I never used them when shopping there so I can't imagine doing so anywhere else either.

[dllthomas]

I've finally managed to get my mother-in-law to stop buying for me sight-unseen :-P

[lstrope]

www.trumaker.com will set you up with a stylist that will help you make those decisions.

spoiler: I'm an engineer and I work there.