Wellcultured - Well Cultured is a men’s online magazine with advice and reviews on fashion, dating, finances, health, music, movies and many other topics, as well as a robust message board and the Well Cultured Guide, a freely editable community wiki.

Does a grey cobnservative thin pinstripe italien cut suit, cut the mustard as a staple dress suit. I have a black stripe waistcoat for underneath and traditional English style shirt and cufflinks in both white andd a lilac matching the lining.

Yep. So long as it actually fits you (i.e. is it properly tailored), you are in good shape for most things I can think of offhand. Having a waistcoat is nice as well, and the English style shirt is also a nice flourish. It’s always difficult to tell you a definite yes or no (obviously because we have no idea what it looks like other than your description), but so long as you have a few different shirts/ties you can wear with it, you are in good shape.

In the business world, there is very little room for error. Still, with the right work, anyone has a shot at getting a good job- but there are some rules that make the process one hell of a lot easier. The following points are the five things you need to have when you prepare to apply for a job:

5. Business Cards (If you’re not applying at McDonalds)

Business Cards used to be things of some sort of mystery and power, only for the elite who needed to hand out cards instead of introducing themselves, but this is no longer true. Printing costs are fairly cheap for such things, and you can buy little pre-printable card templates for your printer- so get business cards. Business cards are important when it comes to work, because most interviewers won’t remember who you are once you walk off (this comes with age). There’s really an art to this kind of thing (beyond the whole jokes spawning from the scene in American Psycho), so get someone who knows what they are doing and print maybe 20, and keep 5 or so in your wallet.

This is especially important if you intend to ever go to Japan, where it is considered ultimately rude if you don’t have a business card to trade with someone. It’s like Pokemon Cards over there.

4. A normal e-mail address

lolcats@hotmail.com was cute in 1995, but it’s old and dead now. I don’t know how many times I have seen resumes with things like “gangsta2001@comcast.net” be thrown in the trash.

I know it’s not very “Internet Safe”, but you need to have something similar to the following:
firstname.lastname@yourdomain.com
firstname@lastname.com
Or even use your school e-mail address, if you’re still in a University or something. No Hotmail. No ISP addresses (unless you absolutely must). Nothing but a decent domain.

3. A fireproof box full of important information

If you’re finally beginning to start a life for yourself (be it graduating out of college or just starting a job), get a fireproof box of some sort and store key information in there- including your birth certificate, any bank information, your Social Security card, and basically anything else of extreme value. This will save your rear in the long run. In a more modern sense, you could also potentially throw a flash drive full of important online passwords or something- just keep it somewhere safe and fire/floodproof. This will allow you to begin storing up important information: and trust me, there are a lot of employers (and various government programs, financial systems, and the like) who will demand to see various records that you cannot afford to have destroyed or stolen. Better safe than sorry.

2. A Business Suit

I have ranted about this before, so I won’t say much on it except one thing: get one that fits and looks nice. A nice, classy, black or dark gray suit. No fancy trim, no stupid accessories. Two buttons or three buttons, three is preferred currently. Get it tailored exactly to your body. Get one or two dress shirts to go with it (one must be white), and two ties that don’t involve 8-bit things. Ignore what everyone is saying about Google being some sort of start of change and “Casual Friday” being “Casual Everyday”- if you intend to go to the top, you will never do so wearing jeans and a t-shirt. Trust me, the era of the “Casual Friday” is dying down quickly anyway- don’t be the person trying to save it from the vestiges of old managerial policy to spite your saleability.

1. A CV/Resume (Available online, if possible)

Start working on one ASAP. Remember, there may always be a new job opportunity for you, and you don’t want to be frantically staring at a computer screen trying to come up with some hacked up CV in an hour before you show up to a job interview. Get one as “perfect” as you can, and continually add new stuff to it as you go along. If you have a website or something (which would go along nicely with the e-mail portion of this blog, I might add), then go ahead and put it on there. You never know where your next employer might be.

So there you have it. While this only scratches the surface of what you need to prepare for an Inteview (and honestly, it does not even touch the issue of the interview itself), hopefully it will give you an idea of what to expect- and the weapons to prepare beforehand. Good luck!

Okay, let’s play out a scenario that many of us have faced before. It’s 30 minutes before a meeting and you’ve been told it’s Business attire- meaning, for us males, a suit and tie. You have a suit and shirt and tie, but it doesn’t match and it’s all horribly wrinkled- and to top it off, you’re dirty and nasty and dressed in jeans and a t-shirt that says “FEMALE BREAST INSPECTOR”. How the hell do you get out of a predicament like this? Well, with a little but a luck and a whole lot of cleverness, you can get by fairly well- and end up being a bit better off than everyone else.

Step 1: Clean Thyself and attempt to steam your Suit

I don’t care what the situation is, your personal cleanliness is numero uno. Period. End of story.  Even if you have to walk in naked, there is some sort of advantage to looking well-kept, at least so far as general hygiene goes. Hop your rear into the shower and turn on the water, hot, full blast. Grab your suit and hang it up FAR AWAY FROM THE SHOWER, but still in the room. Obviously, you should avoid blasting it with hot steam and water, but let it hang naturally while you shower and the suit should repair itself slightly. This should not be done on a regular basis for suits, but this is an emergency situation, so emergency measures should be taken.

Obviously, this is the time to clean yourself. Scrub yourself absolutely clean. Don’t skimp- and make sure to wash your hair and get out anything possible. This shouldn’t take long- don’t mope around or panic, just get it done. You’ve probably (hopefully) done this every day for your entire life, you’re just doing it fast. Cleanliness is next to Godliness, and even God himself will laugh at your ass if you walk in a conference with a nice suit and bed hair. Don’t forget to shave, and if needed, clip your fingernails. You can’t do much about a bad haircut, but you can do everything about your chin hair.

Step 2: Decide if you’re going tie or no tie, and keep the tie flat

Okay, let’s face it: if the only tie you have doesn’t match, you’re going to have to suck it up and go tieless or suffer the horror of looking unmatched. Yes, it does matter that much: you will look dumb with the latter, but the former runs the risk of being too casual. In this case, it depends on what you’re doing- for interviews, I would actually think you could go without a tie, unless it’s been explicitly made clear you should wear one. For example, lots of newer startups and more “modern” companies are more apt to be open to variations in attire (like no tie, or going sans coat), but more professional (read: often arrogant) companies will use it as a test of your ability to conform and/or put on your “I’m working!” hat. While style failures are sometimes harder to notice (especially by those who don’t know what to look for), it can sometimes reflect on you poorly, as it makes you look unkempt and/or tasteless, which can kill you (especially for jobs involving marketing or other “creative” jobs, or conferences where you’re supposed to appear professional). Your choice.

If you have to wear the tie (or if it matches, in which you’re in the clear), make sure it’s presentable. If it’s wrinkled or ugly, place it between two books, or if an iron is available, place it between two sheets of paper and GINGERLY put heat on it. Do NOT keep the iron on for long, and do NOT put it on bare- this is a delicate procedure that can easily screw up a good tie, but it’s not difficult to do correctly, either. Depending on your situation, you may want to tie it before you put on the dress shirt- especially if you have trouble with it when you’re wearing a dress shirt.

Step 3: Dress thyself

Put on new underwear and socks and an undershirt if you wear one, and throw on some cologne or aftershave (OR, not AND, don’t overpower it) and some deodorant.  Style your hair as needed, and basically make yourself perfect, sans clothes. Then, throw on the suit pants and the shirt, and make sure everything is fine. Don’t bunch in the shirt anywhere, and keep everything fit to you. If it’s a bad fit, you obviously have to suck it up- but try to make it work. Don’t throw on the suit coat until you leave the door- leave it as best you can, putting it on needlessly (except obviously to try it on) may make it look bad or wrinkle it. Don’t put on any excess jewelry or anything- a nice watch or tie clip is all you need. If you’re going outdoors and have a topcoat, use it, but try to avoid putting on an unmatched coat unless you absolutely must.

Step 4: Carry it Confidently

Don’t stress out about how you’re dressed. In the long run, we all have days when we look like shit- just carry it confidently. Especially in the context of an interview or a meeting, it’s more important that you carry yourself as competent, rather than  show your insecurities about how you look. Sometimes, stuff we thought would never look good in today’s world can be pulled off by sheer candor- so keep that in mind. And be proud of yourself: you pulled something off in 30 minutes in a situation that usually would suck. Just don’t tell them that.