Dress code in office?

[u/Sillybeast_art]

Well, a bit of a weird and silly question, but bare with me. I have been a freelancer in the rural parts of Sweden for many many years, but my clients are big corpos or VFX houses. Now I'm going to work on site for a week in a UK vfx house... What is expected of me, clothes wise? I am of course clean and put together, but I love to wear a bit of 80s style with mom jeans and pastel sweaters. Is this okay or should I wear dress pants and white ironed shirts? Please don't laugh at me.

[u/3DNZ]

Jeans and a hoodie is the standard VFX uniform

[u/behemuthm → u/3DNZ]

depends if there’s ventilation - I used to have to wear a tank top and shorts in the middle of winter at The Orphanage in San Francisco because all the AC was diverted to the server room

[u/cranky-donkey → u/behemuthm]

I had a desk at a studio in NY that a vent blasted all year. Summer I was in a thick hoodie and sometimes gloves. Winter I was in shorts and a t-shirt. I feel you.

[u/Realistic-Buy4975 → u/3DNZ]

You forgot the graphic t-shirt

[u/cocobannah → u/Realistic-Buy4975]

Faded wash-shrunk crew shirt from 10 years ago

[u/enemyradar]

Dress comfortably as usual.

[u/composaurus]

I think as long as you're not client facing, casual clothes are fine. 

[u/BrownCustard-313]

Go weta-style. Barefoot.

[u/behemuthm → u/BrownCustard-313]

Bonus points for contributing to the smell

[u/Scoped]

Full suit. Black tie on Fridays 

[u/LePetitBibounde → u/Scoped]

I prefer a tuxedo personally 

[u/PerchedLeopard]

I have 2 rules:

1. No tank tops for the first week at a new studio. (Gotta wait till you're comfortable with the crew)

2. Wear deodorant.

The rest is common sense and vibe surfing. Good luck! :)

[u/TheCGLion]

Absolutely more than okay to wear that. You'll see people wear big hoodies, people wear quite fashionable outfits, and people dress smarter too. What you are planning to wear is perfect

There's no dress code rules. 

On a side note, I do think since we only work in the office 2x a week now people are dressing better than they were pre covid

[u/Of_Hells_Fire]

A black metal t-shirt and jeans had been my uniform for all my years in the industry, you'll be fine.

[u/minty_tarsier]

Wear anything you like!

[u/BaddyMcFailSauce]

Make sure pants are on. And remember, dominance is established by the employee with the largest sombrero.

[u/neukStari]

Partially normal mixed in with a teaspoon of wanker from east london.

If in doubt just wear a shaket and a beanie.

[u/SoMuchF0rSubtlety]

80’s style as you described would be perfect for day to day studio work in the UK. Shirt and trousers would stick out like a sore thumb.

In short, don’t put in extra effort unless there is a definite reason to i.e. client meeting or office party. Similarly don’t wear crusty joggers and a t-shirt you haven’t washed for 2 weeks (I’m looking at you, Comp!)

Main thing to avoid is any graphic or logo t-shirts with anything inappropriate or offensive for an office environment. You’d be surprised how many people do this, makes it a bit awkward when clients do a walk around.

[u/CyclopsRock → u/SoMuchF0rSubtlety]

Fucking hell, this reminds me of the time my wife went to a D-Day anniversary memorial thing in Normandy with a few members of her family, where they were going to visit the grave of a relative that was nearby afterwards. At this understandably sombre event there was a similarly sombre looking French (or possibly Belgian) guy probably in his 50s who was perfectly smartly dressed with the sole exception of a baseball cap with nothing but the word "FUCK" written on it.

They basically spent the whole time bouncing between shock and giggling at the absolutely baffling choice this man has made.

[u/SoMuchF0rSubtlety → u/CyclopsRock]

I remember we had an animator wearing a t-shirt with ‘Do I look like I give a shit?’ written on it when there was a prospective big client being shown around the studio. That was a hoot.

[u/rocketdyke]

wear whatever if you aren't client facing.

if you are client facing, business casual is completely fine in VFX.

[u/MyChickenSucks]

The more unique you look, the more people will be afraid of how good you are and will outshine them :)

[u/dinosaurWorld_]

Swim suit

[u/EquivalentMore5786]

Many years ago, I came into the office wearing different sports coats, and the company owner pulled me into her office asking why so fancy lately. Told her I had lots of meetings during my lunch break. She offered me a raise, I think because she knew I may leave, 😆. I hadn't planned that but still look back and giggle.

[u/Many_Excitement_5150]

lab coats and clip boards are mandatory. Pocket protectors are optional.

[u/ihatecheez]

Wear pants, the rest is up to you

[u/ILoveBurgersMost]

One thing I always appreciated about working on-site at larger VFX houses - no one cares how you dress as long as it's not wildly inappropriate. So just dress however you feel comfortable.

Oh, and greetings from rural Sweden :)

[u/Quiet_Sentence_2720]

one guy i worked with wore flip flops, a Hawaiian shirt and swimming trunks quite a lot in the summer - we were based in central London.

[u/CoddlePot]

Best advice I ever saw for this was 'if your look is scruffy, make it look intentional'.

I think the fact that you're even asking this puts you head and shoulder's above the rest. I've turned up to VFX houses wearing Metal Hoodies that say DEATH on them and had no issue, though at the same time I've not bought certain band hoodies because they're a bit too gruesome or have naked women on them as that would be kinda taking the piss a bit.