T-shirts are achievement badges for tech employees, with the interesting restriction that you can only wear one at a time.
This is why every programmer has about 5-10 times as many t-shirts as years of work experience.
I would love to see a photo essay about the story told by the "t-shirt timeline" of a programmer or other tech figure. Definitely more colorful than a resume.
In fact, that would make a great site. I remember there used to be a great site cataloging the early shirts of Apple. I would love to use a site where I can catalog, compare and (yes) show off my tech t-shirt collection without having to actually wear them daily. Maybe others would want to catalog their rare rock band shirts. And everyone is curious about the black YC shirt, right? You could easily monetize with promoted orderable designs. Pleeease, LazyHN?
Keep an eye on what Jason Scott gets up to http://ascii.textfiles.com/archives/2731 He's notorious for having many irons in the fire, so no idea when this will actually lead to something though. Maybe he just needs someone to help get it started?
I really like the idea of a site where I can put my memory shirts online. Right now they just sit in a box and nobody sees them. Some of them mean so much to me that I never wear them because I don't want them to wear out.
As a "non-nerd" software developer, CS major and general lover of computers I find the generalizations in the article nauseating. I've never seen The Matrix (although nobody can really escape the many clips, references and spoofs). I certainly do not want to be Neo and I don't need to be allowed to wear a t-shirt to feel like I'm not working for the man.
I'm tired of this tyranny of the Peter Pan set. They are the reason why I never talk about what I do. It has been given a bad image.
T-Shirts work for -everything-. Non-crappy t-shirts (if they're actually witty even better!) will boost the morale of almost any group. See the group of grumbling engineering students. Now see them happily putting on and wearing their purple engineering t-shirts, temporarily forgetting the tortures that the faculty unleashes on them. They might even -like- the faculty for a while. If only so they can make sure they'll never -ever- be confused for an arts student.
I've been to Palantir a few times for dinner, and almost everyone there wears Palantir t-shirts. They give out one for each release, and it looks like they're each themed around an element of the periodic table. The critical part is that they are nice shirts (American apparel), and really nicely designed. They also seem to order women's sizes.
TFA seems to think wearing t-shirts helps you keep the man down which is weird.
I'm not so sure I'm fighting the power while working in my my nice office in a good part of town in an engineering job. The fact that this guy works at linked in, a business built around yuppies networking, makes that assertion even more cringe-worthy.
Not to knock linked in, but they aren't exactly 'rebels'.
In fact, I've found company t-shirts to be a little too "Stepford employee" for my tastes. It's part of a dangerous train of thought where you assume the goals of the company you work for are the same as your goals, or your personal goals must be completely aligned with the company's. Very dangerous thinking for salaried employees, IMO.
On the other hand, sometimes a t-shirt is a t-shirt.
I wouldn't want to wear the t-shirt of the company I work for (even though I like said company), because it feels too "rah-rah-rah, we're so great!" to me. But I love to wear t-shirts of vendors and platforms that are awesome (GitHub, for example, or Twilio, if I used Twilio.)
And man, I would never wear a LinkedIn t-shirt. Pinnacle of lame (no offense, LinkedIn people, your product is very useful! But not cool.)
Yes, a LinkedIn shirt would be lame, because everyone uses that service, and (in my perception) people who talk about leveraging synergy were on it before geeks were. So it's neither a cool group nor an exclusive one. Whereas a Github t-shirt says, to other coders, "I am a coder who works with open source." And to non-coders, it means nothing.
Coolness is mostly about exclusion, I think. Or to put it more nicely, it's about identifying with people you like.
So if a coder can honestly say "I think Brand X is awesome, and those whom I want to impress also think that," he/she might wear a Brand X shirt to a conference. Otherwise, no.
Actually, I miss wearing "work clothes", I like changing out of shirt and tie into jeans and t-shirt when I got home, it drew a line under the working day. Now it all blends into one (including working after hours...)
I used to feel this way for a long time actually. I had to have something to demarcate 'work time' from 'home time'.
What I found that worked for me, however odd, was the notion of 'work shoes'. I'd wear a pair of 'work shoes' when I was working, and swap them out for sneakers when I was finished working, and it achieved the same effect.
That worked well until I discovered Johnston & Murphy loafers anyway, which turned out to be actually more comfortable than my sneakers, but now I'm pretty much working all the time anyway, so it's .. okay?
One thing I've noticed is that the upper classes live in a world where dressing down is an act of rebellion, and the lower classes live in a world where dressing up is similarly defiant.
On the lower end, you have everything from the skinhead/mod cultures wearing tailored suits and high end polos with work boots, to inner-city kids spending a ton of money on FUBU and Nike, to middle-aged black women wearing extravagant church hats and Italian-Americans wearing flashy chains and jewelry.
On the upper end, you have the Bohemians, trashy hipster fashion, "derelicte", slumming it, and articles like this, about how great it is to get to wear a t-shirt to work (not so great if you're making minimum wage).
The middle classes seem to bounce between the two.
My take on it. We're programmers, and when I code I could give fuck-all as to how I look. And I say this as a person who enjoys dressing up and buying nice clothes.
Wearing t-shirts is just one less level of bullshit, and it's cheaper as well, I save my nicer clothes for non-office occasions.
Shirts are also great PR, prize rewards, and 'thank you' gifts for users who run into nasty bugs. We've had a lot of success and fun with our HipChat shirts. Our tips for others:
1. Buy high-quality shirts (American Apparel)
2. Buy small and women's sizes
3. Show some attitude, not company boilerplate
4. Buy from a local shop
5. Have a few different designs - people love having a choice
6. Make sure the shop saves the screens (cheaper to re-order in the future)
7. Quadruple check the spelling and capitalization :)
This one puzzles me a lot. The place I work recently ordered a bunch of shirts for everyone who wanted one in the dev team. The sizes went up to XL, and their "XL" was the same size as an "M" in some stores. Fully half the devs in our shop couldn't fit into the largest size offered.
Here's a tip, as someone who likes wearing t-shirts: buy larger sizes. Someone who can wear an "M" can just as easily wear an "L" or "XL", but the reverse is very much not true.
Right, and that's what the topmost poster meant by "buy small and women sizes" -- if you really care, you won't have to say "we don't have anything smaller than a large."
People used to hearing that line really appreciate when you go the extra mile:
That Webstock t-shirt is pretty nice. I think you could take it a step further and make a stylish / designer / funky t-shirt that a reasonably large subset of people will actually want to wear. Not just a blatant ad for your company.
> Someone who can wear an "M" can just as easily wear an "L" or "XL", but the reverse is very much not true.
It's that thinking that leads to skinny people (like me) having a lot of large t-shirts that they don't fit into. Just because it can physically go over your body doesn't mean that it "fits."
Agreed, there are always way too many M's, never enough S. Offering a one-size-too-big shirt is a great way to get someone to take the shirt but never wear it because it looks sloppy.
Might be true for guys, but if you give me an L or and XL, I might use it to sleep in, but the chances that I'll wear it out in public are essentially zero.
When I see at least some smaller sizes (and I'm not a petite woman), I feel like at they least they were thinking of people like me.
As another data point, I'm a pretty small guy (5'8" and about 150 lbs) and I can't stand wearing L shirts - I feel like I'm wearing a dress. Given the choice, I'd much rather a S than a L.
A short friend of mine complains that even the small American Apparel shirts end up looking like dresses on him. "It feels like I'm wearing a mini-skirt" he says.
>Someone who can wear an "M" can just as easily wear an "L" or "XL"
Sure it is physically impossible, but that person will end up looking like a slob. Fit is the most important factor in style, so if you're going to "brand" your employees at least do not force them to swim in the clothing you give them!
To be honest, as a smaller man (5'9") who prides himself on having a little style, the difference between giving me an 'L' and giving me an 'M' is not wearing it but feeling a little more comfortable, it's the difference between wearing it and not wearing it. I refuse to look that unattractive on purpose.
Also, if your T-shirt looks good and is really well designed (high quality, maybe fitted, good graphic design and color work) I might actually wear it other places, even though I don't usually wear T-shirts.
I am about 6ft 4 so I never dry anything but socks or towels because even when I dry something (like boxers or plain white tee) on low or medium heat I notice shrinkage. And as to high quality, I've had Gitman Bros. shirts shrink in the dryer over time because that's just what happens.
Cotton does shrink in the dryer. Yes, higher quality dryers cause this less, but they all cause shrinking to some degree.
I'm loving that I got downvoted for stating something as obvious as cotton clothing shrinks when dried in a dryer. This is why HN is getting worse, a bunch of random fuckwad trolls who downvote people for no reason.
I never said it would take one wash, it could take 5. I'm just saying giving out a shirt that's larger makes more sense than one that is too small, seeing as how clothing only shrinks once you own it.
The PBS TV series "Independent Lens" had an episode ("T-Shirt Travels") about groups in Africa that import American thrift store t-shirts by the bushel and resell them. Very interesting (and economical).
I don't get it, are you saying become some groups might misuse the clothes donated to the Salvation Army or Goodwill I should never donate my clothes and that I should just throw them away? I really don't understand what point you're trying to make. Donating clothes to thrift stores helps people everyday if you don't believe me just go hang out at one in Chicago during January or Minnesota, people would literally die in these places without thrift stores.
I agree that people should donate clothes they no longer need or want. I was referencing the documentary about Africa as an example of just how far the benefit of donated clothes can reach.
excellent idea however this too has a way of failing.
T-shirts are listed not by inches or cms, which would tell you exactly what you getting.
hence the recent posts of different definitions for different sizes by different mfg. If they listed the actually sizes like they do with most suits. Then you have a reasonable chance of a good fit.
Yeah this has always puzzled me. Everytime I order an AA t-shirt (I live in Australia) I get warned to order a size up because they trend slim. After getting bit once or twice by this, I just order my regular size or even one smaller now and have no issue.
Programmers come in two main sizes: too skinny, and too fat. If your engineering team is mainly "seasoned pros" you want to avoid american apparel altogether. If it's fresh grads you have a few years worth of size medium before 14 hour days and free soda catches up with everyone.
It's different if you are buying shirts as schwag. I once worked for a startup where the t-shirts were more popular than the product and the most important sizes were mens and womens size medium.
Interesting data point, but it doesn't support the thesis that programmers get fatter the more they've programmed unless you can show the attendees at the Linux symposium are older/more experienced now than in the past.
You'd probably also want some external data as I'm pretty sure people as a whole are getting fatter.
There are way too many variables for that to imply "programmers get fatter over time."
1) Maybe t-shirts sizes themselves are not the same between 1999 and 2008
2) Maybe the average age of the attender has not changed, so there's really no age component
3) Maybe a different demographic is now attending the conference
4) Maybe all Americans are fatter on average and programmers are just part of that trend
the thing of it is, most places charge you one setup fee... you don't have to pay extra for getting more sizes, so there is no reason not to get the XXXL and the XS. I know developers come in both sizes, and as so many other people in this thread have said, people, generally speaking, have a preferred T shirt fit, and if the T shirt doesn't fit that way, they won't wear it.
If you are buying for employees, it's easy enough to ask employees what their preferred sizes are. We all have a few tradeshow T-shirts at home, so we know how the various sizes of various brands fit us.
Buy some extra; some people will want two, if you have leftovers, mix them in with the next iteration, or leave them on the 'free' shelf in the break room, you know, for when your employees feel like upgrading out of their old copy that has developed holes.
If you are buying for the general public, well, you plan to run out, right? it doesn't really matter if you run out of the big sizes before the little sizes. keep track of what runs out of last and adjust accordingly next time.
If you end up taking home leftovers, mix them in with the next batch of shirts you give away.
That's especially a problem if you follow the "buy American Apparel" tip. Their women's sizing is miniscule; my wife tends to wear medium-to-large shirts in other brands, but has to go up to their XXL before they'll fit her.
He didn't say only buy small shirts. But not everybody is fat and male, so you need to have some. And by the way, it's not 1993 anymore. T-Shirts should fit.
This goes double if you're going to a convention. Give a petite girl a men's large and chances are it will never make it over her head once. Be the only booth at the show that gives out fitted women's gear, though, and suddenly you'll find them on every girl in the place.
Some people (myself included) look awful in anything bigger than an M. Clothes are about more than just covering one's skin, and conferences and businesses are about more than just one body type. They should buy all sizes, and they should make sure all the sizes look good.
Why not buy sizes in some proportion to the sizes of actual employees? There's really no other answer unless the company has grown to the point where the size curve approaches a normal distribution. If you plotted sizes where I work now it would look nothing like a normal distribution (our plot would be a lot flatter).
Agreed, and thanks for bringing up women's sizes. I wish tech companies (and especially tech conferences I PAY for) would realize that men's shirts are not unisex. They're for men. Whenever a women's option isn't available, it definitely feels unwelcoming.
Fair enough, but even a men's small is too big for me - so it's not even really an option to wear it. Considering I'm a very standard size for a woman, it's hard to feel like the people behind the shirts are considering my gender. Taste is a secondary concern here.
Unisex cuts of t shirts do not look good on women. Women may wear them, but they are not flattering. Turns out that American Apparel has a girly cut shirt with shorter sleeves that is more fitted through the trunk.
When I get free t-shirts from work or conferences, they're pretty much reserved for being something to wear when I'm painting or mowing the lawn. One such shirt never even made it out of the office; it's still been neatly folded up at the bottom of a desk drawer since the day they gave it to me a few months ago.
But this is because I have yet to receive a company or conference t-shirt that either properly fits me or has a tasteful or clever design I'd want to be seen wearing in public. If you print two dozen sponsor logos on the back of a free conference t-shirt, I'll probably toss the shirt and wish you spent the t-shirt budget on better booze at the afterparty.
I know I'm not averse to t-shirts in general, since my wife will take any opportunity to give me trouble about how many shirts I've bought from Woot and Threadless...
Why is this stuff unique to tech companies? MBAs, despite being constantly accused of it by nerds, aren't idiots. Neither are accountants, neither are controllers, neither are middle managers.
Everybody does their best work when they're most comfortable. Why haven't many traditional companies figured this out yet?
What your dress code is also sets how you want to look as a company. I would presume that many investment banks are on the more formal side of dress -- partly because formal clothing tends to cost more and banking is a profession which wants to see itself as cultured, upper class, and wealthy.
However, I would ask if you have worn a nice tailored suit. It's really very comfortable. The quality of the material is pretty far above what most casual wear is made out of. The main cost seems to be in the time getting dressed in the morning and the extra care needed to not damage your outfit, not necessarily in comfort.
That said, I personally hold my own style to a little higher standard than many tech companies (generally long pants, collared shirt, closed-toed shoes).
It kind of depends. I see nice clothes as a way to win customers; if you are not customer-facing, then you need to wear what lets you do the job most comfortably. You don't want to be pulled out of the zone because your suit is too hot.
I wear jeans and a t-shirt and keep a sport jacket in my cube's closet. Then I can be dressy if it's needed for some reason. (I stole this idea from Larry David in Curb Your Enthusiasm. :)
Let me work on something really cool without undue interference and I don't care if you give me a t-shirt, coffee mug, water bottle or anything. Schwag is nice, but building something useful is better.
At a number of places I've worked at, people did not want t-shirts. They preferred a free meal instead. Mentioning that a t-shirt lasts a lot longer than a meal had no sway.
I know most here seems to love t-shirt but personally I am a fan of a suit, or at the very least a nice shirt (Not a cheap one that looks like a tent please).
I see the points the author of the blog post makes but still, is it so bad to want to wear 'typical' business wear at a tech company?
Note: I love a witty t-shirt just as much as the next guy, but preferably on my free time.
I'm also more comfortable in a tailored suit. Yet I dare not wear one to work, lest I be accused of pretentiousness or trying to take over the business. It's an interesting dynamic...
I wear collared shirts 365 days a year and as soon as it's warmer again I will trade my peacoat for a casual sports coat again. I went to work like this in startups and huge corporations even if it meant I was the only one not wearing a t-shirt at the office.
The good thing about being a hacker is that you can wear whatever you want. :)
Here in Uruguay, I've worked at a software factory (Urudata) that expected us to use a suit. I'm used to suits, so I didn't mind (I also like looking professional, and a suit signals that).
Now I work for a financial institution, so a suit is expected.
The US seems to have a much more lax attitude with respect to attire (especially for professionals, a University graduate is expected to look smart here). The "stick it to the man" point the article makes is beyond me.
In your city there will almost certainly be some punk or goth kid with all the equipment for screen printing who'd be delighted with the business (so long as you aren't some megacorp). If there is a record store that does vinyl, they'll know who they are.
It's probably the greatest motivator, pound-for-pound, that I've come across.
Status signals are important and useful in tribe-sized groups of people, and they work best when they can't be bought or faked. It doesn't really mater what form they take.
Witty, off-beat, beautiful, thoughtful t-shirts can be a lift to morale. The fact that you settled for just slapping the crappy product logo on a t-shirt with fabric that feels like ass wipe and was probably made by child-labour in a Latin American dictatorship doesn't motivate me nearly so much.
I always hated wearing the company T-shirt - I felt like a drone. Also at Sun they never gave women sizes - 8 years - not once. Tons and tons of night shirts for me.
Plus the damn logo is right across the chest - yeah that is exactly where I want people to look when talking to me.
My husband wears his as yardwork clothes especially the long sleeve ones since they are made of poor material and look crappy after several washings.
At another company the receptionist (a woman) bought extra tight shirts for the women - all 3 of us decided to throw them away - no way in hell were we wearing that. It was degrading. Then we were taunted by everyone why we were not showing company spirit.
If you want to give swag - give something useful like a electrostatic-free strap. That always comes in handy.
For something to display - how about a baseball hat. Sun gave jean jackets and other jackets - all too big - can not wear but at least it was different. I love the PR suggestion - put your benefit statement and then your logo and your URL.
here is an idea for all those people who only write across the chest of t-shirt which make some women uncomfortable wearing.
Why don't you write the company name on the bottom center of the short - and then everyone can stare at your crotch - this at least will make both sexes uncomfortable. And if you are guy and did not understand the above, perhaps you do now. Before anyone gets upset - I am trying to be funny.
That is funny... but it's a valid point.Upper chest (e.g. towards the top edge of a high-necked shirt), shoulder or arm might be more workable, no?
The worst company t-shirts have two lines of text, one on the upper chest ("FooCo...") (typically on the upper parts of women's breasts) with a second, smaller font, tag-line of text ("leveraging X for Y") below - so people who read the text (kind of reflexive) look like they are giving someone a good, comprehensive ogling. I saw a lot of shirts like that at the last tech conference I was at...
Add "booth babes" (at a business-to-business oriented show, yet) to the mix and you've got the perfect environment for making women in tech feel real comfortable... :-<
Wrote a post just yesterday about the power of advertising through T-shirts. Referenced a local restaurant, The Salty Dog Cafe, whose entire identity is based on a t-shirt. Has worked well for others also.
I generally feel the same way, but will make exceptions for things I really like. Generally the question for me is "if a conversation started about the message on my shirt, would it be a good one?" If the shirt conveys "I went to Spain" or "I am silly" or "I like this band," probably so. If the shirt conveys "I buy Brand X t-shirts," I can't imagine how that conversation would be interesting.
Depends on the band. Pick the right one, and it can convey a lot about your personality. I'd strike up a conversation with anyone wearing a K's Choice t-shirt, because I've been to their shows, and I know their fans are generally a self-selected group of wonderful, wonderful people who had remained fans throughout their decade-long hiatus.
It's hard to make similar generalizations about someone wearing a Led Zeppelin or John Lennon or flavor-of-the-month-superstar shirt, but even that implies a probable bit of information about their personality.
"The best analogy I can think of is to put yourself back in time, to when you were between 8 – 12 years old. Now, think carefully about the things that 8 – 12 year old boys like (at least, the geeky ones)."
Overall I thought this was an interesting article with a surprising amount of insight into something seemingly insignificant like t-shirts. But, I have to admit that, as a female founder, I was a bit frustrated by the assumption that the reader was a male. While it's certainly true that the industry is heavily male, we shouldn't forget about all the awesome women in tech!
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[ 7.6 ms ] story [ 201 ms ] threadThis is why every programmer has about 5-10 times as many t-shirts as years of work experience.
I would love to see a photo essay about the story told by the "t-shirt timeline" of a programmer or other tech figure. Definitely more colorful than a resume.
In fact, that would make a great site. I remember there used to be a great site cataloging the early shirts of Apple. I would love to use a site where I can catalog, compare and (yes) show off my tech t-shirt collection without having to actually wear them daily. Maybe others would want to catalog their rare rock band shirts. And everyone is curious about the black YC shirt, right? You could easily monetize with promoted orderable designs. Pleeease, LazyHN?
I'm tired of this tyranny of the Peter Pan set. They are the reason why I never talk about what I do. It has been given a bad image.
I'm not so sure I'm fighting the power while working in my my nice office in a good part of town in an engineering job. The fact that this guy works at linked in, a business built around yuppies networking, makes that assertion even more cringe-worthy.
Not to knock linked in, but they aren't exactly 'rebels'.
On the other hand, sometimes a t-shirt is a t-shirt.
And man, I would never wear a LinkedIn t-shirt. Pinnacle of lame (no offense, LinkedIn people, your product is very useful! But not cool.)
http://sna-projects.com/sna/
Coolness is mostly about exclusion, I think. Or to put it more nicely, it's about identifying with people you like.
So if a coder can honestly say "I think Brand X is awesome, and those whom I want to impress also think that," he/she might wear a Brand X shirt to a conference. Otherwise, no.
What I found that worked for me, however odd, was the notion of 'work shoes'. I'd wear a pair of 'work shoes' when I was working, and swap them out for sneakers when I was finished working, and it achieved the same effect.
That worked well until I discovered Johnston & Murphy loafers anyway, which turned out to be actually more comfortable than my sneakers, but now I'm pretty much working all the time anyway, so it's .. okay?
On the lower end, you have everything from the skinhead/mod cultures wearing tailored suits and high end polos with work boots, to inner-city kids spending a ton of money on FUBU and Nike, to middle-aged black women wearing extravagant church hats and Italian-Americans wearing flashy chains and jewelry.
On the upper end, you have the Bohemians, trashy hipster fashion, "derelicte", slumming it, and articles like this, about how great it is to get to wear a t-shirt to work (not so great if you're making minimum wage).
The middle classes seem to bounce between the two.
Wearing t-shirts is just one less level of bullshit, and it's cheaper as well, I save my nicer clothes for non-office occasions.
This one puzzles me a lot. The place I work recently ordered a bunch of shirts for everyone who wanted one in the dev team. The sizes went up to XL, and their "XL" was the same size as an "M" in some stores. Fully half the devs in our shop couldn't fit into the largest size offered.
Here's a tip, as someone who likes wearing t-shirts: buy larger sizes. Someone who can wear an "M" can just as easily wear an "L" or "XL", but the reverse is very much not true.
People used to hearing that line really appreciate when you go the extra mile:
http://headrush.typepad.com/creating_passionate_users/2006/1...
It's that thinking that leads to skinny people (like me) having a lot of large t-shirts that they don't fit into. Just because it can physically go over your body doesn't mean that it "fits."
When I see at least some smaller sizes (and I'm not a petite woman), I feel like at they least they were thinking of people like me.
Sure it is physically impossible, but that person will end up looking like a slob. Fit is the most important factor in style, so if you're going to "brand" your employees at least do not force them to swim in the clothing you give them!
Also, if your T-shirt looks good and is really well designed (high quality, maybe fitted, good graphic design and color work) I might actually wear it other places, even though I don't usually wear T-shirts.
I pretty much only wear American Apparel t-shirts, and they don't shrink. I doubt printing your logo on it is going to change that :)
Cotton does shrink in the dryer. Yes, higher quality dryers cause this less, but they all cause shrinking to some degree.
2. If you've got a poor quality tee that doesn't fit, why would I wear it?
2. see above
I never said it would take one wash, it could take 5. I'm just saying giving out a shirt that's larger makes more sense than one that is too small, seeing as how clothing only shrinks once you own it.
So unless you want me to cut up your shirt and turn them into schmattas, give me a small and I will wear it on my body.
Otherwise, donate it to Goodwill.
http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/tshirttravels/film.html
I agree that people should donate clothes they no longer need or want. I was referencing the documentary about Africa as an example of just how far the benefit of donated clothes can reach.
T-shirts are listed not by inches or cms, which would tell you exactly what you getting.
hence the recent posts of different definitions for different sizes by different mfg. If they listed the actually sizes like they do with most suits. Then you have a reasonable chance of a good fit.
But they are high-quality shirts (even if Dov Charney is a lecher).
It's different if you are buying shirts as schwag. I once worked for a startup where the t-shirts were more popular than the product and the most important sizes were mens and womens size medium.
You'd probably also want some external data as I'm pretty sure people as a whole are getting fatter.
1) Maybe t-shirts sizes themselves are not the same between 1999 and 2008 2) Maybe the average age of the attender has not changed, so there's really no age component 3) Maybe a different demographic is now attending the conference 4) Maybe all Americans are fatter on average and programmers are just part of that trend
If you are buying for employees, it's easy enough to ask employees what their preferred sizes are. We all have a few tradeshow T-shirts at home, so we know how the various sizes of various brands fit us.
Buy some extra; some people will want two, if you have leftovers, mix them in with the next iteration, or leave them on the 'free' shelf in the break room, you know, for when your employees feel like upgrading out of their old copy that has developed holes.
If you are buying for the general public, well, you plan to run out, right? it doesn't really matter if you run out of the big sizes before the little sizes. keep track of what runs out of last and adjust accordingly next time.
If you end up taking home leftovers, mix them in with the next batch of shirts you give away.
This goes double if you're going to a convention. Give a petite girl a men's large and chances are it will never make it over her head once. Be the only booth at the show that gives out fitted women's gear, though, and suddenly you'll find them on every girl in the place.
And I add:
8. Pony up for a not-white shirt.
When I get free t-shirts from work or conferences, they're pretty much reserved for being something to wear when I'm painting or mowing the lawn. One such shirt never even made it out of the office; it's still been neatly folded up at the bottom of a desk drawer since the day they gave it to me a few months ago.
But this is because I have yet to receive a company or conference t-shirt that either properly fits me or has a tasteful or clever design I'd want to be seen wearing in public. If you print two dozen sponsor logos on the back of a free conference t-shirt, I'll probably toss the shirt and wish you spent the t-shirt budget on better booze at the afterparty.
I know I'm not averse to t-shirts in general, since my wife will take any opportunity to give me trouble about how many shirts I've bought from Woot and Threadless...
Everybody does their best work when they're most comfortable. Why haven't many traditional companies figured this out yet?
However, I would ask if you have worn a nice tailored suit. It's really very comfortable. The quality of the material is pretty far above what most casual wear is made out of. The main cost seems to be in the time getting dressed in the morning and the extra care needed to not damage your outfit, not necessarily in comfort.
That said, I personally hold my own style to a little higher standard than many tech companies (generally long pants, collared shirt, closed-toed shoes).
I wear jeans and a t-shirt and keep a sport jacket in my cube's closet. Then I can be dressy if it's needed for some reason. (I stole this idea from Larry David in Curb Your Enthusiasm. :)
Free T-shirts would be in addition to the free meals at funded startups/companies.
I see the points the author of the blog post makes but still, is it so bad to want to wear 'typical' business wear at a tech company?
Note: I love a witty t-shirt just as much as the next guy, but preferably on my free time.
Want to, no. Try to force everyone else to out of some misguided sense of "professionalism", yes.
The good thing about being a hacker is that you can wear whatever you want. :)
Now I work for a financial institution, so a suit is expected.
The US seems to have a much more lax attitude with respect to attire (especially for professionals, a University graduate is expected to look smart here). The "stick it to the man" point the article makes is beyond me.
FeeFighters wore shirts at SXSW that had "YOU are getting RIPPED OFF on your credit card processing" on the back
This led to a number of fantastic leads, including some huge companies that we were able to help.
We also got several requests for shirts including from some notable folks... we came with extra and sent them out!
What is the best place to get small runs of high-quality shirts printed for low prices?
T-shirts as badges, or achievements (as in gaming). Never thought of it that way.
Status signals are important and useful in tribe-sized groups of people, and they work best when they can't be bought or faked. It doesn't really mater what form they take.
Plus the damn logo is right across the chest - yeah that is exactly where I want people to look when talking to me.
My husband wears his as yardwork clothes especially the long sleeve ones since they are made of poor material and look crappy after several washings.
At another company the receptionist (a woman) bought extra tight shirts for the women - all 3 of us decided to throw them away - no way in hell were we wearing that. It was degrading. Then we were taunted by everyone why we were not showing company spirit.
If you want to give swag - give something useful like a electrostatic-free strap. That always comes in handy.
For something to display - how about a baseball hat. Sun gave jean jackets and other jackets - all too big - can not wear but at least it was different. I love the PR suggestion - put your benefit statement and then your logo and your URL.
Oh god. do you know someone who will print my logo on a ESD wriststrap? that would be /perfect/ for my company.
If you can find a vendor I'll send you one once I have 'em printed!
Why don't you write the company name on the bottom center of the short - and then everyone can stare at your crotch - this at least will make both sexes uncomfortable. And if you are guy and did not understand the above, perhaps you do now. Before anyone gets upset - I am trying to be funny.
The worst company t-shirts have two lines of text, one on the upper chest ("FooCo...") (typically on the upper parts of women's breasts) with a second, smaller font, tag-line of text ("leveraging X for Y") below - so people who read the text (kind of reflexive) look like they are giving someone a good, comprehensive ogling. I saw a lot of shirts like that at the last tech conference I was at...
Add "booth babes" (at a business-to-business oriented show, yet) to the mix and you've got the perfect environment for making women in tech feel real comfortable... :-<
http://bfginteractive.com/blog/travel-tourism/2011/04/06/the...
The use oft-shirts as achievement badges is interesting, but I don't like storing things that I don't use.
It's hard to make similar generalizations about someone wearing a Led Zeppelin or John Lennon or flavor-of-the-month-superstar shirt, but even that implies a probable bit of information about their personality.
I'm a sucker for beads. Shiny shiny beads that sparkle and shimmer.
Overall I thought this was an interesting article with a surprising amount of insight into something seemingly insignificant like t-shirts. But, I have to admit that, as a female founder, I was a bit frustrated by the assumption that the reader was a male. While it's certainly true that the industry is heavily male, we shouldn't forget about all the awesome women in tech!
But, as a guy, I LMAO'd, because it felt so true.