Why are white suits unprofessional?

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Tippyboat

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Maybe like a sharp and clean skirt suit. Why is the color white unprofessional?

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There's nothing wrong with a white suit...


...if you're auditioning for a part on Miami Vice.

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Well, it is after labor day.
 
Maybe like a sharp and clean skirt suit. Why is the color white unprofessional?

Are you white? If so, too much white. :D I wasn't aware that it was an unprofessional color, just not a CONSERVATIVE color. Black and Gray suits all the way. I did see one girl in a white suit with a bright orange stripe in it. People were gawking in the waiting room. It was nice and modest, but its just not what one expects. In most cases, I don't think it would really hurt, but at the same time standing out too much makes you a sore thumb
 
White suits are bad because:

1) thy get dirty easily
2) black is more sexy
3) there's too much white going on




yup black ftw :)
 
Because you don't want to look like a pimp or like you're about to go to a disco competition. The only suit less professional than a white one is a purple one.
 
Tradition, once upon a time dark suits became the business status quo and since white is not the status quo it is not as professional.
 
Maybe like a sharp and clean skirt suit. Why is the color white unprofessional?

Well, it's not "unprofessional" per se, because you may be going to be wearing a white coat every day for most of your professional life. But it isn't the business norm. Standing out in this kind of way isn't a good thing. Standing out for things other than your clothing can be.
 
Is it perhaps because only rap stars wear white suits? P'Diddy, anyone?

Also, the white suit is a southern thing. Maybe it is more acceptable to wear them in certain places.
 
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Maybe like a sharp and clean skirt suit. Why is the color white unprofessional?

Because C-rap industry has usurped all of them and qualified the definition to "rich pimp." That doesn't mean that it is true the other way around (pimp=white suit) or that you can't look like one without a white suit (pink?). Finally, it is unorthodox only because people choose to not wear them to interviews. One last point - one of the hospitals I visited the other day had a black doctor wearing a bright pink suit. Ergo, it follows from the above that you should definitely one.
 
I just noticed that the OP is a female. I think it is perfectly fine to wear a white suit. Some female lawyers I know wear white suits to professional gatherings and it looks pretty good. I think that the white suit stigma is limited only to males, as mentioned above.

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For men, Boss Hogg and Colonel Sanders should end the discussion.
 
While there are some white suits out there that are probably ok for the middle of summer, really you just run the risk of looking a little too bride-sy. It helps if they have some sort of pattern (e.g. eyelet). They really aren't just very fashionable anymore.

I've got winter white dress pants that I really love, but with a white jacket it would be overkill.
 
I just noticed that the OP is a female. I think it is perfectly fine to wear a white suit. Some female lawyers I know wear white suits to professional gatherings and it looks pretty good. I think that the white suit stigma is limited only to males, as mentioned above.


Haha yeah I am female, and that picture is exactly what I had in mind. Yes white suits for men look like N'Sync, but I happen to think that the skirt suit for women is the only style that can pull of white (white pantsuit would be weird too).
 
I just noticed that the OP is a female. I think it is perfectly fine to wear a white suit. Some female lawyers I know wear white suits to professional gatherings and it looks pretty good. I think that the white suit stigma is limited only to males, as mentioned above.


Haha yeah I am female, and that picture is exactly what I had in mind. Yes white suits for men look like N'Sync, but I happen to think that the skirt suit for women is the only style that can pull of white (white pantsuit would be weird too).
 
some girl was in a white suit during my interview day. i thought it was fine until some random doctor made a funny comment about that while doing the hospital tour.
 
I just noticed that the OP is a female. I think it is perfectly fine to wear a white suit. Some female lawyers I know wear white suits to professional gatherings and it looks pretty good. I think that the white suit stigma is limited only to males, as mentioned above.

403923_fpx.tif

hmm i understand the op now. White looks pretty good on the girl above... x]
 
Maybe like a sharp and clean skirt suit. Why is the color white unprofessional?

Three points to consider:
(1) As someone else said, white gets stained more easily. Professional or not, when you need to look sharp, avoid the potential for stains/visible mishaps!
(2) All white is very attention-grabbing. The point of business attire is to look nice and formal without being too snazzy. It's the same reason you should not wear an outrageous tie or a bright green suit. Girl + snazzy = good, generally, but not on interview day.
(3) White clothing is an important symbol in medicine. The white coat is a sign of the goodness and pure intents of a doctor who swears to the Hippocratic Oath. To wear it on the interview day is a presumptuous symbol.
 
(3) White clothing is an important symbol in medicine. The white coat is a sign of the goodness and pure intents of a doctor who swears to the Hippocratic Oath.

Somewhere in my mind... somewhere...

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...White clothing is an important symbol in medicine. The white coat is a sign of the goodness and pure intents of a doctor who swears to the Hippocratic Oath. To wear it on the interview day is a presumptuous symbol.

I hope you are kidding. It probably doesn't get any cornier or melodramatic than that. And wearing a V neck on top of a shirt is a sign of the extreme intelligence of physicists, which other professionals, like doctors, should not wear.:laugh:
 
haha I can only imagine what would happen if I wore a white suit. I'm picturing a cup of coffee right down the front.

I'm not sure how many of you ladies wear suits on a regular basis. I have to for a position I have at my college and it's a pain to wear a dark suit...I can't even imagine a lighter color. I'm constantly concerned that I'm going to spill something, sit in something, etc, so I'm sure that would be 1000x worse if I was wearing all white. Also, remember that white is sometimes not as opaque as black, and depending on how the skirt is lined, it might be hard to ensure that your undergarment of choice can't be seen.
 
Also, remember that white is sometimes not as opaque as black, and depending on how the skirt is lined, it might be hard to ensure that your undergarment of choice can't be seen.

Again, normally this attire + girl = good, just not on interview day! :)
 
Because C-rap industry has usurped all of them and qualified the definition to "rich pimp." That doesn't mean that it is true the other way around (pimp=white suit) or that you can't look like one without a white suit (pink?). Finally, it is unorthodox only because people choose to not wear them to interviews. One last point - one of the hospitals I visited the other day had a black doctor wearing a bright pink suit. Ergo, it follows from the above that you should definitely one.


Yep, rappers are solely to blame for white suits being labeled as unconventional/unprofessional.

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It's just too different from the normal colors of suits. Someone who shows up wearing a white suit while the other 20 applicants are wearing black is trying to make a very tacky statement.
 
I hope you are kidding. It probably doesn't get any cornier or melodramatic than that. And wearing a V neck on top of a shirt is a sign of the extreme intelligence of physicists, which other professionals, like doctors, should not wear.:laugh:

Yes to corny. Not quite to melodramatic. No to being kidding. Seriously, they didn't just flip a coin to choose white for the color of a doctor's coat.

The history of the white coat:
- In the late 1800s, medicine was still viewed as voodoo and tradition. Physicians wanted to emphasize the science and modernity of medicine that was emerging, so they chose white coats (lab coats) to align themselves with that realm.
- In the early 20th century, the white coat came to symbolize a divide between the physician as the scientist and the patient as the subject and developed an aspect of disfavor.
- A physician in the 1930s, Dr. Arnold Gold, saw an opportunity for both tradition and moving medicine to a more compassionate place. He began to tie in the white coat to the humanism in medicine both through the concept of white as good as well as pure.
- In the 1990s, the white coat ceremony was created to "initiate" medical students into the world of clinical medicine, emphasizing humanism and compassion and the important new connections they'd make with each patient.
 
Yes to corny. Not quite to melodramatic. No to being kidding. Seriously, they didn't just flip a coin to choose white for the color of a doctor's coat.

The history of the white coat:
- In the late 1800s, medicine was still viewed as voodoo and tradition. Physicians wanted to emphasize the science and modernity of medicine that was emerging, so they chose white coats (lab coats) to align themselves with that realm.
- In the early 20th century, the white coat came to symbolize a divide between the physician as the scientist and the patient as the subject and developed an aspect of disfavor.
- A physician in the 1930s, Dr. Arnold Gold, saw an opportunity for both tradition and moving medicine to a more compassionate place. He began to tie in the white coat to the humanism in medicine both through the concept of white as good as well as pure.
- In the 1990s, the white coat ceremony was created to "initiate" medical students into the world of clinical medicine, emphasizing humanism and compassion and the important new connections they'd make with each patient.

Then, by your reasoning, isn't it presumptuous to show up for an interview in a white suit since it resembles a doctor's white coat? HMM?
 
Because you don't want to look like a pimp or like you're about to go to a disco competition. The only suit less professional than a white one is a purple one.

I second, no one wants John Travolta to perform a lobotomy on them
 
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I see nothing wrong with them.
 
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