How conservative does interview attire have to be?

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buckoh24

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So I have my first interview in about 3 weeks and need to pick out what to wear. I have a navy suit and will go with brown shoes but my style has never been "conversation" but more trendy and fashion forward. I want to wear suspenders and keep my facial hair (curly mustache) but I don't know how that would fly. I know suspenders are traditionally conservative but would it come off as weird to wear at an interview? And are cufflinks frowned upon also? I asked my mentor all of this but idk if I should take his advice (he wears bowties, big bushy beard, and has a very non conservative style too) so I wanted to make sure that I don't overstep any lines.
 
buckoh24 said:
So I have my first interview in about 3 weeks and need to pick out what to wear. I have a navy suit and will go with brown shoes but my style has never been "conversation" but more trendy and fashion forward. I want to wear suspenders and keep my facial hair (curly mustache) but I don't know how that would fly. I know suspenders are traditionally conservative but would it come off as weird to wear at an interview? And are cufflinks frowned upon also? I asked my mentor all of this but idk if I should take his advice (he wears bowties, big bushy beard, and has a very non conservative style too) so I wanted to make sure that I don't overstep any lines.
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These days I guess anything can fly. With that said I don't think your personal taste in fashion should be what your interviewers/admissions committee members remember most about you. You can easily be trendy and simple. I would skip the cufflinks. I would keep any facial hair very neat/trim.
 
You are applying for a job as a medical student. As a student, you will meet with members of the public and engage them in conversations and procedures of a very personal nature. This requires garnering their trust and their cooperation. Dress for that job. If you wore a suit jacket to the hospital/clinic and swapped it in the locker room for a white medical coat, would you wear suspenders and cufflinks?

I'm looking at Meet the Press and thinking that the old fogeys on the panel are dressed the way applicants are wise to emulate.
 
buckoh24 said:
So I have my first interview in about 3 weeks and need to pick out what to wear. I have a navy suit and will go with brown shoes but my style has never been "conversation" but more trendy and fashion forward. I want to wear suspenders and keep my facial hair (curly mustache) but I don't know how that would fly. I know suspenders are traditionally conservative but would it come off as weird to wear at an interview? And are cufflinks frowned upon also? I asked my mentor all of this but idk if I should take his advice (he wears bowties, big bushy beard, and has a very non conservative style too) so I wanted to make sure that I don't overstep any lines.
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I think it's pretty cool that you want to use your sense of fashion for your interviews-I know I will for sure use mine.

Problem is, sometimes what might fit inside the box in terms of attire but be near the edges will make some adcoms not like you. Based off of your description It sounds like hipster high fashion, last thing you want is some grumpy conservative adcom be too irritated with your presentation to actually take notes of your interview.

Suspenders used to be considered conservative however it's now lumped in with hipster fashion. It really depends on how much of a hard ass the adcoms are and that's hard to tell.

If you're interviewing in more progressive areas I'd give you a green light with that fashion description. If you're interviewing in more conservative places you may want to tone down a couple items such as the mustache and cufflinks.

Also could you elaborate more on your mustache? When I hear curly mustache I think of this:
765b544e86acd7ef9ec168f5d12ec0b1--nose-rings-handlebar-mustache.jpg


If you just have curly hair and happen to have a mustache then that's a different story and it should be fine but the handle bar mustache really won't fly at many interviews.

Edit: I think I may have to tweak my advice based off of the adcoms on here's consensus. Apparently don't make it a fashion show even at more progressive schools. Let your character traits and profile speak for itself.
 
gonnif said:
Is your goal to fashion forward or your goal to get into medical school? Much of applying to medical school as well as medicine itself is being conservative in approach. No suspenders, no bow tie, and no brown shoes (which as far as I am concern are never for a professional setting in a suit), Navy suit,. conservative tie, black shoes
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...what's wrong with brown shoes?

Not disagreeing, but just wondering if i've come across looking like an idiot without realizing it since i've worn brown shoes with a navy suit to the 4 interviews i've sat so far this cycle, and if I should rush out and try to buy a new pair of shoes before my next interview (tomorrow).
 
kysk99 said:
...what's wrong with brown shoes?

Not disagreeing, but just wondering if i've come across looking like an idiot without realizing it since i've worn brown shoes with a navy suit to the 4 interviews i've sat so far this cycle, and if I should rush out and try to buy a new pair of shoes before my next interview (tomorrow).
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You're fine with brown shoes. In my experience, the navy suit/brown shoe combo is the second most common for men, behind black/black. I distinctly remember the admissions dean at one of the schools I was accepted to remarking how my interview group looked like it was dressed for a funeral when I was the only applicant in blue/brown.
 
gonnif said:
Is your goal to fashion forward or your goal to get into medical school? Much of applying to medical school as well as medicine itself is being conservative in approach. No suspenders, no bow tie, and no brown shoes (which as far as I am concern are never for a professional setting in a suit), Navy suit,. conservative tie, black shoes
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I completely disagree with your comment regarding brown shoes. Navy suit with dark brown shoes are definitely professional and appropriate for a medical school interview. FWIW I’ve worn brown shoes to 5 MD interviews and have been accepted to all 5.
 
gonnif said:
Is your goal to fashion forward or your goal to get into medical school? Much of applying to medical school as well as medicine itself is being conservative in approach. No suspenders, no bow tie, and no brown shoes (which as far as I am concern are never for a professional setting in a suit), Navy suit,. conservative tie, black shoes
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??? Brown shoes are professional? Think blue suit brown shoes. Sure, the bow tie thing and possibly the suspenders...but brown shoes? Really?
 
gonnif said:
I will stand by my guidelines, especially for conservative medicine under the guise of reducing any risk:
Suit needs black shoes
Sports coat/tie brown shoes ok

From my own experience at med school committee meetings, invariably I am the only one in a scotch plaid suit or sports coat tie, while all physicians are in dark suits.

View attachment 225363
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I agree with gonnif. I'm only a student, but I've never considered brown shoes to be professional. They're more business casual in my opinion.

But, I've been to several interviews so far and I don't think the interviewers care that much. Maybe at some more stiff schools they do, but most of my interviews have been very conversational and friendly. Not stiff people. I've also seen a good half of the kids wearing skinny ties, brown shoes, etc. As long as it's not like a pink suit or something, I'd say it wont hurt your chances.
 
Another fashion thread where the over 40 AdComs say dress "professionally" and the 20-something applicants say "be professional" or "I wore this and got accepted". There are safe approaches and more personal approaches and each work. To be honest, most people have a terrible fashion sense or just don't want to put the mental energy in to try anything beyond a black suit, solid shirt and tie. As long as the outfit is clean, pressed and doesn't draw too much away from what you're saying, you're fine.
 
Giraffe_Funk said:
I completely disagree with your comment regarding brown shoes. Navy suit with dark brown shoes are definitely professional and appropriate for a medical school interview. FWIW I’ve worn brown shoes to 5 MD interviews and have been accepted to all 5.
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at interviews I have been, I have seen brown shoes. I wore brown shoes and have been accepted.
 
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mcdocky said:
I'm only a student, but I've never considered brown shoes to be professional. They're more business casual in my opinion.
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Work for a few years in a corporate environment and you'll see that brown shoes are appropriate in a professional setting. Hell, I just got back from ACEP last week and saw plenty of residents, fellows and attendings wearing non-black suits and shoes. I doubt any of the residency directors I spoke with thought poorly of me due to my shoes.
 
- Black suits are not ideal -- They are good for formal wear, night clubs and funerals. You'll see lots of them on people who don't know any better, and some of them will be admitted to medical school. (They're still wrong.)

- Deeply-colored shirts would be a mistake. Stick with white or light blue. Cream is also OK if it's better for your complexion. Fashionable dark shirts are for night clubs and casual wear.

- Dark brown/cordovan shoes are fine with a navy suit, but black is more traditional. Matching belt. Light- to medium brown shoes are NOT right.

- Ties should add color and interest to your outfit, but not cause eyestrain. A simple, conservative pattern or textured silk (not satin!) in a solid color. You almost can't go wrong with a burgundy tie.

Your interview attire is not about showing your fashion sense. It's also not about showing your personality - really.

Your interview outfit should show your good judgement and good taste.
 
You want to be memorable in a good way. I like the navy suit/brown shoes combination: it'll stand out when everyone else is wearing black/black without raising eyebrows. Go with a conservative tie, skip cufflinks/suspenders, and show a bit of personality with your socks (if you must). Facial hair is fine, but keep it neat and well-groomed. You're trying to convince people that you're going to bring credit, not risk, to their school. You want them to remember you more than your outfit.

For the record: I wore a white shirt, dark gray pinstripe suit, black socks, and black shoes to my interviews, and I was clean-shaven at the time. I can't remember anything about my neckties except that they were conservative.
 
buckoh24 said:
So I have my first interview in about 3 weeks and need to pick out what to wear. I have a navy suit and will go with brown shoes but my style has never been "conversation" but more trendy and fashion forward. I want to wear suspenders and keep my facial hair (curly mustache) but I don't know how that would fly. I know suspenders are traditionally conservative but would it come off as weird to wear at an interview? And are cufflinks frowned upon also? I asked my mentor all of this but idk if I should take his advice (he wears bowties, big bushy beard, and has a very non conservative style too) so I wanted to make sure that I don't overstep any lines.
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Suspenders and a curly mustache don't say "trendy and fashion forward." They say "generic hipster." We have a few each cycle, and yes, they get mocked.

As for the shoe debate, you should already own black ones. Use them.
 
PashaOdesit said:
couple weeks ago at one of my interviews I have seen a student with similar socks on. Looked pretty cool.
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Running an interview day involves a lot of boring, repetitive work. Hence the staff ends up making a lot of quiet fashion critiques. This includes sock mocking.
 
Med Ed said:
Running an interview day involves a lot of boring, repetitive work. Hence the staff ends up making a lot of quiet fashion critiques. This includes sock mocking.
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There are a lot of faculty and staff who have no fashion sense either - esp when it comes to fit and cut. We judge you as well.
 
PashaOdesit said:
couple weeks ago at one of my interviews I have seen a student with similar socks on. Looked pretty cool.
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Brightly colored socks are one thing that an interviewer for a residency program (assistant PD) actually gave unsolicited feedback on during one of my most recent interviews. They said something to the effect of "thankfully none of you are wearing any idiotic colored socks today". If he cared enough to vocalize it I certainly assume it affected his overall thoughts on the poor applicant he was referring to. N=1 but you never know if there's one of these folks interviewing you. I assume he would also be on the 'no brown shoes' crew.

Agree with those above that interviews for medical school are not the place to be making fashion statements.
 
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CyrilFiggis said:
Work for a few years in a corporate environment and you'll see that brown shoes are appropriate in a professional setting. Hell, I just got back from ACEP last week and saw plenty of residents, fellows and attendings wearing non-black suits and shoes. I doubt any of the residency directors I spoke with thought poorly of me due to my shoes.
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I've worked in a corporate environment before. It's professional in a business casual way. Just like a plaid suit would be. Doesn't mean it's professional for an interview. With that said, I don't think med school interviews are as serious as job interviews anyway. Most interviewees are cute kids that don't know too much about life and the purpose of attending the school is to mature through mentorship to become the kind of physician that school would like you to become.

Which is why you can get away with brown shoes, skinny ties etc. Wear that to a serious corporate interview and you'd get laughed at. Some may be okay with it, but at a really uptight firm they'd laugh behind your back.
 
What are your opinions on tie colors? Is it fine to wear ties of different colors as long as they're not bright versions of the color? Like dark purple (plum), dark red/wine color etc.?
 
SpartanWolverine said:
Brightly colored socks are one thing that an interviewer for a residency program (assistant PD) actually gave unsolicited feedback on during one of my most recent interviews. They said something to the effect of "thankfully none of you are wearing any idiotic colored socks today". If he cared enough to vocalize it I certainly assume it affected his overall thoughts on the poor applicant he was referring to. N=1 but you never know if there's one of these folks interviewing you. I assume he would also be on the 'no brown shoes' crew.

Agree with those above that interviews for medical school are not the place to be making fashion statements.
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The dean of Admissions at one of my interviews said something similar about crazy socks.

Also I’ve worn brown(medium?) shoes to every single one of my interviews and have been complemented on it by some of my interviewers. On occasion at a few of my interviews every male interviewee wore some shade of brown shoes.
 
Serine Minor said:
The dean of Admissions at one of my interviews said something similar about crazy socks.

Also I’ve worn brown(medium?) shoes to every single one of my interviews and have been complemented on it by some of my interviewers.
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I mean, heck, I like/have brown shoes as well. I've seen plenty of people on the interview trail with blue suits, brown shoes, skinny ties +/- crazy knots, etc. I think they look good and would be one of those people complementing you on your shoes (and sock 'game' if you had the socks to go with it). It's just not a given that everyone feels that way and I personally don't want to take any risks (no matter how low it is) when it's pretty small things that differentiate candidates.
 
SpartanWolverine said:
I mean, heck, I like/have brown shoes as well. I've seen plenty of people on the interview trail with blue suits, brown shoes, skinny ties +/- crazy knots, etc. I think they look good and would be one of those people complementing you on your shoes (and sock 'game' if you had the socks to go with it). It's just not a given that everyone feels that way and I personally don't want to take any risks (no matter how low it is) when it's pretty small things that differentiate candidates.
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You’re completely right, I’m just taken slightly aback because never in my wildest imagination did I think brown shoes weren’t considered professional— this is first time im hearing of it. Then again, I don’t normally wear a suit and didn’t grow up in that kind of environment so I wouldn’t know. I literally went to men’s warehouse and asked for a professional looking shoe to go with a navy and grey suit, and the brown one they suggested was the one I got.
 
Serine Minor said:
You’re completely right, I’m just taken slightly aback because never in my wildest imagination did I think brown shoes weren’t considered professional— this is first time im hearing of it. Then again, I don’t normally wear a suit and didn’t grow up in that kind of environment so I wouldn’t know. I literally went to men’s warehouse and asked for a professional looking shoe to go with a navy and grey suit, and the brown one they suggested was the one I got.
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Well there's brown and then there's brown. Big difference between a dark chestnut Oxford and a tan loafer. Certainly no hard and fast rules. :shrug:

In the end what you wear is a small thing. Be a likable, well-qualified applicant and that'll take you far.
 
I'm sorry but I will politely disagree with everyone saying brown (or at least dark brown/Burgundy) is not professional. Even world leaders wear blue suits brown shoes/belt red tie and it is seen as professional.

Even a dean at one of my interviews went for grey suit brown shoes (although this is more funky looking than blue).
 

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SpectreDoc said:
I'm sorry but I will politely disagree with everyone saying brown (or at least dark brown/Burgundy) is not professional. Even world leaders wear blue suits brown shoes/belt red tie and it is seen as professional.

Even a dean at one of my interviews went for grey suit brown shoes (although this is more funky looking than blue).
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We are in USA, not Canada
 
SpectreDoc said:
I'm sorry but I will politely disagree with everyone saying brown (or at least dark brown/Burgundy) is not professional. Even world leaders wear blue suits brown shoes/belt red tie and it is seen as professional.

Even a dean at one of my interviews went for grey suit brown shoes (although this is more funky looking than blue).
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Man you're right brown shoes all the way.

I'm madly in love with Justin Trudeau man, he's my weak spot. I didn't expect to open that image just to fall in love again.
 
SpectreDoc said:
This forum is aimed towards USA and CANADA residents/applicants/physicians/what have you, so I have no idea what you are saying.

Maybe you should go tell all the Canadians in this forum the same.
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Do you have sense of humor?

If you read above, I wore brown shoes to my interviews.
 
According to today’s modern society supposedly you can’t judge someone by how they dress. So technically it shouldn’t matter what you wear to the interview right?!
 
Thanks for the advice! Ill just go very plain, chop off the stache (not like it wont grow back), and I opted for black shoes because the ones I had were those clunky square toes that you wear to high school dances. And no suspenders cuz I dont have internal buttons on my pants and it would be more of a hassle to get that done than just wear a belt. As far as ties, what is your opinion on trying to match the tie color to the schools colors if it would go well with the suit? Would it looks corny?
 
buckoh24 said:
Thanks for the advice! Ill just go very plain, chop off the stache (not like it wont grow back), and I opted for black shoes because the ones I had were those clunky square toes that you wear to high school dances. And no suspenders cuz I dont have internal buttons on my pants and it would be more of a hassle to get that done than just wear a belt. As far as ties, what is your opinion on trying to match the tie color to the schools colors if it would go well with the suit? Would it looks corny?
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Yes, unless you are an alum. Wearing the orange and black to a Princeton Medical School interview is just the worst!
 
LizzyM said:
Yes, unless you are an alum. Wearing the orange and black to a Princeton Medical School interview is just the worst!
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At my (only) prestigous-y type interview the alum candidates were all wearing school-color ties. There seemed to some winking and nudging going on. Which is fine. I'd expect a leg up at my school if I had the opportunity. So to answer that question it seems like, if you have to ask what the secret handshake is, you're already a step behind.
 
buckoh24 said:
As far as ties, what is your opinion on trying to match the tie color to the schools colors if it would go well with the suit? Would it looks corny?
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Don't go out of your way to match it. If the school's colors are common fodder for ties, you might take a chance. My med school's colors are very common on ties, and I always used to see interviewees wearing them without attracting negative attention. In fact, Brooks Brothers makes a tie that uses exactly those colors, and once a week someone shows up wearing it (I have it as well). I'm sure people show up to Yale wearing navy all the time. If you are interviewing at UMiami and show up in an orange and green tie it would be tacky. (That was the best example of odd school colors I could think of right now.)
 
buckoh24 said:
Thanks for the advice! Ill just go very plain, chop off the stache (not like it wont grow back), and I opted for black shoes because the ones I had were those clunky square toes that you wear to high school dances. And no suspenders cuz I dont have internal buttons on my pants and it would be more of a hassle to get that done than just wear a belt. As far as ties, what is your opinion on trying to match the tie color to the schools colors if it would go well with the suit? Would it looks corny?
Click to expand...

At my UCF interview, a few people wore gold or gold and black ties - they looked nice and classy and didn’t stand out - these were ties you could easily find at any normal department store without looking too hard. At a different interview I saw one person with an actual school tie, but it wasn’t an alum - that seemed weird. And I didn’t notice school colors at my UF interview, but I could have missed something. Orange and blue just don’t look great on a tie unless you are at a specific class function. So use your judgment - if you already have a nice tie that matches, I don’t see anything wrong with it.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
 
Laterthansooner said:
Two years ago at a conference, the adm director from George Washington said the adcom had just turned down a perfectly qualified applicant who wore a nice, dark suit because he was wearing red socks to the interview. She didn't even remember what the applicant's story was because it was overshadowed by his sock choice.

Save the red socks until after you are accepted. Be remembered at the interview for the words you say and the story they can't stop thinking about after you leave.
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Maybe they were a Yankees fan and hated the Red Sox
 
choclatjalapeno said:
You're fine with brown shoes. In my experience, the navy suit/brown shoe combo is the second most common for men, behind black/black. I distinctly remember the admissions dean at one of the schools I was accepted to remarking how my interview group looked like it was dressed for a funeral when I was the only applicant in blue/brown.
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I wonder if I can get away with brown shoes as a female? My suit is a navy color, and I think black heels would be too harsh with the blue...I was thinking brown suede heels..or even nude.
 
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