Tech CEOs are hot now, so workers are hiring $500-an-hour fashion consultants
Tech workers in San Francisco are embracing fashion makeovers, influenced by VC Sarah Cone's tweet. Stylists offer personalized services, reflecting a shift towards stylish attire, departing from traditional tech fashion.
Read original article
In San Francisco, a trend is emerging where tech workers are seeking fashion makeovers to enhance their appearance. Venture capitalist Sarah Cone's tweet about tech guys being attractive but poorly dressed sparked a surge in interest for fashion consultations. Cone and her friend now offer personalized styling services for tech workers, charging up to $500 per hour. This shift in attitude towards fashion reflects a broader cultural change in the tech industry, moving away from the traditional hoodie and branded t-shirt look. Stylists like Kimberly Gant are helping tech workers revamp their wardrobes, with a focus on fit, color, and personal style. The pandemic and the shift to hybrid work have motivated tech workers to improve their fashion choices and make a good impression. Additionally, tech entrepreneur Calvin Chen is developing an AI-powered personal stylist to assist people in selecting and purchasing clothes efficiently. This growing interest in fashion among tech workers in San Francisco signifies a departure from the previous norm of casual and uninspired attire.
22 commentshttps://www.youtube.com/@MensFashioner
She's a celebrity menswear stylist:
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/13/fashion/the-woman-who-dre...
I started watching her videos out of curiosity, and then was really surprised to realize that dressing well is a skill like any other. And that it's not about spending a lot of money, but mostly about learning to pick colors and types of clothing that work well together and work for your specific skin tone and body type, and that are appropriate for the season and setting.
Some of the videos can be a bit clickbaity ("10 things you should NEVER wear!"), but she has a lot of videos that just cover the basics that are really genuinely valuable -- she clearly really cares about trying to help guys dress better. It's a lot of advice that I really wish I'd had someone teach me growing up.
It would be different if the entire fashion and clothing industry weren't completely terrible about exploiting labor and doing stupid things like selling ripped T-shirts for hundreds of dollars.
I look forward to never judging anyone based on the clothes they were just so I can justify my own purchases and insecurity.
Cheap jeans and T-shirts for life.
At a glance, I couldn’t tell which was the before and which was the after. The shoes are the most telling, only because no ‘before’ guy would have bought yellow shoes. I’ll admit that black and navy (before) don’t look good together, but the after photo doesn’t look great either. I wonder if it was more or less than a thousand dollars between the clothes and the consultant’s fee.
I imagine this market will be disrupted by an AI-based app that costs much, much less (and only occasionally hallucinates that you look good in something that actually looks awful).
The headline also talks about a $500 an hour service, but the hourly consultation service was $300 with "plans" increase to $500. The $500 service they mentioned was for a consultation followed by a 3-hour shopping trip, so not an hourly charge.
Just doing my part to counteract the "tech workers are actually attractive" myth this article is peddling by revealing how unattractive pedantic dorks really are.
Funny that the article focuses on the men. I'll guess its not supposed to be surprising that women will spend large amounts of money on fashion consultants.
Honestly I've always thought that men had it easy. Suite or sports jacket or t shirt. There's dozens of stores out there that will take your measurements and order something non-offensive.
I've never been good with clothes and being a woman it tech makes it no easier. I don't have a feel for what good professional clothing looks like for women. Not too feminine, not too masculine. Not too revealing, not too covered up. Not too colorful/not too dull. If I found myself scheduled to give a presentation at a tech conference I probably would hire a consultant.
Now I’ve gone full dragon programmer mode. My beard is out of control. I work from home and wear basketball shorts and a beefy-T 99% of the time. I wear barefoot shoes and don’t care about style whatsoever. My wife hates it. I feel free. Time to go recompile a kernel.
I think the trend in tech fashion is high-quality, custom-fitted, non-plastic, basics. It tends to be "quiet luxury" but more for basics - such as high-end jeans. Absolutely no logos.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScGeTKSIZh0rhCceGE0...
That said, if I spent 500 dollars for a one-hour consultation and the result was a flannel long-sleeve shirt, nondescript jeans, and some van's oldskools, well, I'd politely ask for my money back.
That's been a standard look for 25 years, likely more. Plus, the fit; not loose enough for more modern fashion sensibilities and not form-fitting enough to look hip 15 years ago. And don't get me started on the color palette (the yellow of the shoes are a nice touch, to be fair).
Disclaimer: I'm getting dangerously close to 40, so it is overwhelmingly likely that I'm missing something. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a windmill I need to yell at.
Lots of tech bros and ceo's I see rocking the classic black turtle neck like jobs, the expensive vest jacket, and then their are the folks who wear patterns on work shirts and sweaters.
Side note: looking back at those clips of the EX Microsoft guy yelling about developers....his color of blue shirt always stood out to me
It’s possible, but kinda hard to mess up. At least if your point of comparison is a t-shirt and jeans.