Clothblocking and how to avoid it

September 22nd, 2008

You may not even know what clothblocking is, but you do it, we all do.  It’s the instantaneous judgement we make about somebody when we first see them and it affects the romantic and job prospects of us all.  Here are the top 5 clothing mistakes that cause an employer, or potential girlfriend, to clothblock a bloke:

1. Designer sunglasses – unless you’re a pimp or a drug dealer.  Seriously, the designer sunglasses wearer has passed beyond metrosexual into the twilight territory of Russell Brand and you don’t want to go there, do you?  Anyway, it’s the first thing your new squeeze will want to do, get you to ditch your Superdrug £4.99 specials for a decent pair of shades, so give her the chance to make you over by starting at zero. And you should never, ever, ever wear sunglasses to an interview, unless it’s for a post in the industry mentioned at 3.
2. Denim shorts – these are called jorts in the USA for jean-shorts.  Why are they such a clothesblock? Well if you google jorts you’ll find out – at least half the responses will be from gay websites or forums: jorts are just very homosexual and girls don’t respond well to them, even though David Dundas wore them in the jeans advert that led to a number 1 hit single.  See 3. again, for the only place you can wear them to an interview.
3. Crocs – neither bosses nor potential life partners are likely to smile at the sight of crocs, unless you happen to be a fishing boat captain and you’ve only just walked ashore.
4. Owning nothing but polo-shirts. The problem with this one is that you’ve misled people – your new employer or your new gf both have every right to expect that you own a couple of shirts, and if you don’t written warnings and stormy walkouts will result – basically if you only own T-shirts and polo-shirts, you’re a slob through and through.  Buy a shirt … and a tie!
5. Sleeveless shirts – if ladies with bingo wings put you off, look down. Armpit hair is a total turn off, in the social and the business environment, and waxing your armpits so you can wear sleeveless shirts is just too weird.  Short sleeves at a minimum, long sleeves in the office are better still.

Crocs courtesy of sailorbill

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Entry Filed under: Polo Shirts, Printed T-shirts, casual wear, mens clothing