The coldest store in Boston
By adamg - Tue, 07/29/2008 - 7:53am.
Fabulously Out There can deal with the anorexic window mannequins, the lack of lights, the depressing clothes. But what really gets her about the Armani Exchange in the Prudential Center mall is how cold it is, to the point of blasting passersby with an Arctic blast:
... I am completely unsure how anybody can work in there without wearing winter clothes, but hell, they can find people who work in there without ever smiling, so might as well go all out and make their lives completely miserable. ...
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I hate the heat, but hate
I hate the heat, but hate paying for AC... Maybe I will go hang out at the Armani Exchange lol
I understand really cold temps in a normal suit store but in a place like the Armani Exchange it doesnt make sense. I worked for a large suit store in high school and can tell you that its hard for people to try on suits in hot tempatures, especially guys who dont normally wear suits. So our store was always frigid but that was an attempt to keep the guys in the store trying on the wool suits. That same logic doesnt apply to a store that caters to the skeletal crowd.
That was seriously funny
FUNNY comment....NO IDEA that that's why they keep stores cold! Awesome!
On this topic, I never
On this topic, I never understood how guys can wear suits and not sweat right through them in summer...
..any tips?
There are a few tips: 1) Buy
There are a few tips:
1) Buy a suit for the summer, thats a big one. Your normal wool suit will not be terribly comfortable because its not designed to breath. They make wool suits that are designed for summer use, or at least are not as heavy. Any decent suit salesman will be able to point these out. Theres also the silk option, and many new silk suits come with a stain protector on them to boot.
2) I personally buy underarmour under shirts and underwear. The people in the military and people playing sports use these because they wick the moisture away from your body rather than just act as a rag to collect the moiture like cotton does. This helps a little bit because it gets the moisture moving, although on a really hot day it can just increase the speed at which sweat gets to your dress shirt (overall the spot will be smaller at the end of the day, but it will arrive quicker.)
3) Guess what , those guys in suits are wicked hot, but they are used to it. I carry a small cloth with me to wipe my forhead (and a black comb for when my hair gets messed up)and avoid extreme tempature shifts.
4) Avoid the temptation to wear a short sleeve dress shirt under the suit. For starters they only look good without a tie. Secondaly, especially if your wearing wool, it creates a direct contact with your suit lining. Not pleasant.
HA
Underarmour? ARE YOU SERIOUS...wow, that's a revelation. Need to date man in suit to test that theory in the summer. Wait....maybe not.
kidding.
Short sleeve dress shirts...should be outlawed. I used to work as a personal shopper (yes, really) and many men wanted them and I'd be like...."Uhm, how about NO, your wife will thank you".
Dont knock underarmour till
Dont knock underarmour till you tried it. I picked some up for sports activities a while back after talking to my cousins husband who was in Iraq. He kept talking about the stuff so I picked it up, it worked great. A short time after that I had a big interview and it was one of those 100 degree days so I took a gamble and used the underarmour because I was already a disaster just thinking about wearing the suit. I know its a bit dorky, but when I have to wear a suit (maybe twice a month) Im always the guy who looks the most comfortable...
Underarmour's fun to wear
Underarmour's fun to wear, Yeah!
Something super new in underwear.
Do they come in batman and superman versions?
For someone talking smack
For someone talking smack about another persons maturity that was truely quite an immature post.
This coming from someone who wrings out her microfiber skirts over a hotel sink.
Don't take yourself so seriously
Dude.
What, the more paid laborers you have preparing your clothes or the more time or money you sink into being comfortably uncomfortable, the more serious and grown up you must be?
I save my underarmour for cold-weather cycling and paddling, thank you. Got the "wonderwoman" ones. I have been known to wear some in lieu of a slip when I walking in business drag in sweaty tropical heat.
Oh - and that's "roll up in a towel" not "wring over sink". I made my own clothes for enough years to know there is a huge difference in how the fabric responds. You might find this handy some day - I taught it to a stylish young man at a conference whose white microfiber shirt met with a red-wine accident and he didn't have a spare for the next day. He immediately changed, rinsed out the wine and washed the shirt with shampoo before it permanently stained, rolled most of the water out into a towel, and had a dry shirt to iron and wear the next day.
What, the more slaves you
Im sorry, but the same people making your microfiber made my clothing, and they will both most likely last forever in the same land fills. If you have to wear a buttoned up suit in hot humid weather I consider that as extreme as cycling in the winter. Females get to wear things like skirts or lighter clothing in these situations thereby allowing more heat to escape from their bodies.
As for more money I use them on my $400 suit, not exactly Armani mind you. Im also a label skimmer and try to buy American or from places Im familiar with when possible, although Im sure some of my clothing came from a sweat shop just like everyone else.
Dry Cleaners versus Dunkin Donuts
Let's just say that I was simply astounded how many of each there are in these parts.
I grew up with very few dry cleaners around - I think there were 3 in downtown Portland OR when I was a teen. That's because people didn't see any need to wear suits for much of anything. My mom had to find one for a wool coat when we lived in rural areas and the nearest was 60 miles away.
I know most are family owned, but they still labor to keep all those suits smelling presentable and shirts starched, and that strikes me as rather maladaptive when the hot humid Boston summer kicks in. Especially when that clothing is totally unrelated to job duties - not like coveralls, heavy outerwear, for construction workers and police.
The downside of "lighter fabrics" for women: extreme air conditioning means that only those women not having hot flashes wrap up in shawls, sweaters, etc. As I said before - whatever happened to summer clothing?
Im thinking about opening a
Im thinking about opening a Drycleaning/Dunkin Donuts shop to cash in on both. Boston, NYC, DC, all those East Coast cities are the same when it comes to full business dress codes with DC being the worst by far because , man , it gets quite hot and humid down there and there are some cases where you just cant take that damn coat off because of protocol lol.
In some parts of India they mandate government dress down days where people are encouraged to wear things like linen so the office ac units can be turned down a bit and conserve energy. I spent some time in the State House and they shut off some lights in the summer time (at least on the Senate side during the Romney days, with Patrick in Im sure they are still doing it) although most of the employees are still buttoned up like crazy, although most take their jackets off.
Im lucky to be in an office now where Im wearing shorts and a polo shirt with comfortable footwear during the summer (most days at least.)
Microfiber
Microfiber is great for a summer suit. I've got several I had made in Brazil. They dry fast, don't wrinkle much, etc.
The other tip is always always wear a cotton t-shirt underneath. It'll soak up sweat before it bleeds through your shirt. Some dress shirts are also better in the heat; tencel is great.
I don't wear suits to work anymore, but I wore them for years, including in Rio. The proper suit makes all the difference.
If you travel ...
Microfiber is the berries! You can bring fewer clothing items because you can wash them in the sink, roll them in a towel to get the water out, and then hang them to dry.
I have a couple of lightweight skirt-jacket combos and have done this many times (I only wear business drag a couple times a year plus when travelling). I tend to wear cotton/microfiber blend shirts/shells with them because of the underarm sweat/stink issues.
Not wear a suit in the summer?
I used to hang out with an Aussie who worked on Summer St. We would get our lunch burritos and hang out outside. The running commentary was priceless.
"look at that git ... a suit ... a long sleeve shirt ... a WOOL suit! Guess he's sheep then ..."
"I just wanna say "yoo hooo ... it's goddamn 30C out! What's with the woollies?"
and so on.
What ever happened to summer clothing? I can only hope that our new downtown office is not over air conditioned so gits can wear wool suits in the summer.
I guess I have a good job
My first day at work here, I wore a jacket. Boss came up and told me "You know, you don't have to wear a jacket."
Haven't looked back (one year, for Christmas, one of the office administrators bought me some hangars because she was tired of seeing my jacket lying in a crumpled heap on my office floor).
I showed up to my job day
I showed up to my job day one wearing a suit, dress shoes, dress shirt, tie, the whole nine yards all ready to go. Quickly realized I was overdressed , and kept going down a notch until I felt like I was equal with my coworkers but as the season got hotter they got more casual. Im rocking the khaki shorts, polo shirt and sandals... life is pretty good lol. Too bad Im interviewing for another job in a place where I know for a fact I will have to be in a suit, or at least a sport coat 90 percent of the time, hopefully if I get the job I wont start until september sometime.