What should I wear as a University student to class?

I hate always saying this, but it depends.

First off, let’s be honest: most people going to classes, at least at an undergraduate level, are incredibly poorly dressed. Even at upper tier schools, most people prance around in what amounts to glorified pajamas or sportswear, usually excusing themselves because they want to be “comfortable”. The sheer fact that you want to dress for class generally indicates you intend to do better than this, and anything is better than pajamas or basketball shorts.

In my opinion, in most disciplines, you can really get away with clothing that is informal, but not lazy. Jeans are, of course, generally appropriate, as are t-shirts and the like. If you want to dress better and look more professional, casual dress shirts, informal dress pants, and similar clothing is really the best you’ll want to dress. Don’t go into class wearing a suit or anything, but don’t be afraid to wear a casual tie or a blazer. As I think I’ve mentioned before on here, dressing well in class has its own benefits — you are treated much better by professors and classmates and tend to look more prepared for study — so feel free to err on the side of style.

For some reason, some people I know swear by wearing suits in professional schools, like wearing a suit to law school classes and/or business school classes. I recommend avoiding this, if you can help it. For one thing, wearing a suit constantly smacks of an attempt to try too hard — kinda like an awkward game of dress-up. In either context, you will be in a suit a lot outside of class, so don’t waste your time trying to show off in class. Again, ties and blazers are probably okay, full suits are not.

If you are studying in a science department, especially if you routinely do experiments, try to wear good clothing, but washable/cheap clothing, for obvious reasons. The same naturally would apply if you were in a cooking school or art school.

Oh, and a final note — don’t brand whore. I knew a lot of people in undergrad who specifically wore brands (especially Gucci and Louis Vuitton, for some reason) as blatantly as possible in order to garner attention. Don’t bother doing so, it appears tacky and spoiled.

Are shirts with spandex (or lycra or whatever) in them worth buying? Are they better or worse?

It depends on what kind of shirts.

On one hand, lycra and spandex in shirts tend to make slightly tighter/more fitted shirts look better. Rather than outright buckling at the seams or at the buttons, spandex/lycra shirts tend to have a bit of give that may (slightly) hide any sort of pulling that would otherwise be very evident on other shirts. With such stretch capability in shirts, movements that normally would pull at unyielding cotton (for example, moving both arms forward and pulling at the back when wearing a very fitted shirt) yield nicely. Some people find this more comfortable overall.

On the other hand, lycra/spandex shirts are MUCH harder to iron. In addition, some cotton/spandex blends can have an odd weave to them, though that speaks more to brand than to the content itself.

With that being said, I personally think that casual shirts (like military shirts by Express, which have lycra) do well with spandex, as you can fit them tighter with little trouble. With dress shirts, it depends on your personal taste, though it is important to note that it is leagues more difficult to iron them.

What do you think about building computers and buying them as a Well Cultured guy? How much is too much?

Odd question, but I will answer it.

The consumer computing world for years has been set up in such a way where two rules generally apply: building tends to be cheaper, and you pay a big premium for really expensive parts. These rules should be followed as much now as they were followed 10+ years ago.

First off, I think anyone with reasonable intelligence, time, and a desire to save money should build their own computer. Frankly, building a PC is not that hard — do your research, buy good parts from good companies, slap them into a nice case, and you’re golden. Joints like Dell and HP charge a small fortune and cut a lot of corners — you get a lot of value out of learning to build a PC and doing it yourself. Even better, in addition, you can gain knowledge building a computer that looks great on a resume.

However, there is a desire for most of us (myself included) to go for the “biggest and the best”. Just like with clothing and cars, a lot of guys have the inexplicable urge to go for the top-of-the-line PC parts when building a computer, a drive that usually ends up costing them a few thousand dollars. The small rewards they get out of this search are almost never worth it — and while stats on websites like [H]ard OCP and Toms Hardware are sexy, they are usually not quite as important as they seem.

Allow me to give an example: I have a good buddy who built what he called a “supercomputer” a few years ago — featuring a top of the line overclocked C2D, 4 gigs of RAM, two overpriced video cards in SLI, an array of hard drives, and the like. The price ended up being something close to $4,000 total, mostly thanks to an exorbitantly expensive PC case, a huge monitor, and the two ridiculously priced video cards. Now, about 2 years later, thanks to general aging and better parts on the market, this “supercomputer” is roughly the equivalent of a decent $1,000 computer you can build today. My buddy lost $1,500 a year in order to have the “best” PC for about one year. Had he been reasonable and spent no more than $1,500 on a decent PC two years ago, it may not have been quite as amazing, but he would have saved $2,500 in the process — enough for an entirely new PC down the road.

So basically, one of the big rules to remember is to simply be conservative about what you purchase. A well cultured person knows to be economical, not exorbitant.

Also, as an addendum, if you have time, try selling old/spare parts online (through eBay or something) or to local vendors. You’d be surprised how much cash you can get if you — for example, sell a slightly old video card (like a 8000/9000 series nVidia card today) to (partially) defray the costs of a new card.

What is the best way to get a shirt tailored? What do you recommend?

While there are a LOT of different ways and degrees to which you can get a shirt tailored, but there are four bigger (or at least, common) ways you can get a shirt tailored:

• You can get a shirt shortened. This mainly seems to happen to things like polo shirts and casual shirts. Dress shirts are usually intentionally long (to tuck better), so shortening them tends to be a bad idea, but some people still do it.
• You can get a shirt tapered. A simple taper is usually just slimming the shirt at the waist, usually from about the beginning of the side seams down. This is what most guys have to get tailored on virtually every shirt. Most shirts (for some strange reason) get wider/baggier as they go down, whereas most guys need them to taper in to a slimmer fit. This is generally the bread and butter of tailoring.
• You can get sleeves shortened. Most neck sizes are sold with corresponding sleeve lengths — for example, a Size 16 neck is usually associated with a 32/33 or 34/35 sleeve length. This doesn’t work for everyone, and as such, you can get the sleeves shortened.
• You can get the arms AND the body slimmed. In perhaps a more dramatic sense, you can get the arms slimmed and the body slimmed at the same time — basically slimming the shirt as much as possible. This has the (good, but possibly bad) effect of also making the chest slimmer. This is the most extensive (and usually most expensive) amount of tailoring, but it also can drastically transform a crappy shirt into a good one.

With that being said, a good tailor will be able to identify what you need done and will be able to assist you in measuring, pinning, and ultimately getting the work done to your satisfaction. Still, some general tips:

• When you go to a new tailor, bring in a cheaper, more destructible shirt to have them do the work on. Don’t risk your entire wardrobe initially.
• Check the tailor’s work. Check the inside sewing for any issues (loose threads, bad stitching, mismatched stitching, etc) and be willing to demand fixes if necessary. Sometimes, legitimate errors are made, but that doesn’t mean you do not hold them accountable.
• When a tailor pins your shirts, always have them pin each one, on both sides. Even if all of your shirts are the same brand/size/year, they will vary, and so will your individual sides. If your tailor doesn’t take the time to pin properly (and measure while doing so), find another tailor.
• Don’t feel bad about having a tailor do even relatively small work. Even a half inch on a shirt can make a lot of difference. Be picky.
• At the same time, don’t tailor a shirt TOO much. Seek a fitted shirt, but not a skin tight one. Skin tight dress shirts pull at the chest/stomach, making them unsightly and awkward looking. You should be able to move your arms freely and feel relaxed in a shirt, and it should always have the slightest bit of room in any part of your body (after all, you may gain muscle or fat).