How Programmers Dress👕 to Impress💥
Photo by Keagan Henman on Unsplash
Programmers might feel like an outcast in their home accountancy firm. Not just because of their impenetrable ‘tech talk’ and ropy hygiene.
It’s the way they dress to impress that marks the nerds of 2023 out and shows other people what a great style they have.
If you’re not in the valley, you’re probably a slight outcast in your accountancy/manufacturing/service provider firm.
One way these coders survive is by dressing to impress.
“But not how you might think.
The is sotfware engineers impressing their peers rather than those outside the tech ecosystem”
Did you know? Programmers are aware of fashion.
“Not all programmers. I’m wearing sandles and white socks right now”
So, what are the development style tips that The Secret Developer has learned over their career?
Look at this:
Dress To Fit In
The cliche that software developers don’t know how to dress simply isn’t true. This image of ‘the standard developer’ where they dress badly and aren’t social is a stereotype that should be retired.
We know this because coders dress entirely differently when they are finished working for the day.
“Going to da club. In my case playing midnight club PS2”
Coders are used to context-switching in their role. They know how to change their behavior and slot into the prevailing culture. Unsurprisingly they are able to do with in terms of fashion.
Signal To The Group
In terms of dress, this manifests in developers fitting into the ‘in group’ of developers at work. The cooler ones review your work and make the rules that the rest of the lower-level coders need to follow. This relates to fashion and the clothes that developers wear as well as the personal tech they use (our Android coders use iPhones, and are signaling through tech their cool status).
Remember that nothing proves you’re a cool coder like wearing a Doom T-shirt.
“Trust me about the Doom t-shirt.
However not all devs get it. I think the junior below needs to get a new headset if they want to make it in this profession.”
Coming home to code
Remember that day when you complained about back-to-back meetings? The developers in that meeting went home and then did their core job of programming outside of the boring work hours you moan about.
“Moaning about software development is what I do best”
You can signal your value by wearing practical clothes at work as well as threads that enable the fun to continue when you get home.
“Perhaps this is why people in the business tolerate tech programmers not wearing the office uniform?”
Conclusion
I’m worring about being seen in too great clothes. That’s because I’m seen as a cost center that doesn’t bring home the bacon.
“So I’m worried that if I wear the best threads they’ll think I earn too much”
Which in itself is an awareness many do not associate with software developers. Since devs seldom see customers and perhaps even work from home it seems they get a free pass to wear what they like.
It’s not true. Devs are wearing clothes to fit into the in-group and signal their programming chops.
“None of which explains the glasses your Oracle Dev wears”