"corporate attire"

[Stokely]

Wanted to get some ideas from you all.  And maybe just a bit of a vent and a laugh

  I fully admit I need to get over what I see as "cheesy" cover band attire in pro cover bands.  My band is creeping into "pro" territory--a couple of get much or most of our income from solo/duo/band gigs, though I'm not one of them.  We started as a down and dirty bar band and after 10 years of having fun we have a great lineup (after some shuffling through the years) and are getting higher-paying gigs.

Our singer is rightly suggesting that we should have a "look".  Then she proceeded to post some pics of a pro cover band doing the corporate gigs we are starting to get, and...ugh.  One pic was ok, basically black pants and shirts, the others were just cringeworthy "Disney show" stuff.  But I get it, we are literally playing at resorts and convention halls down by Disney, so if that's what's needed...so be it.   Ideally I'd love to wear something that I don't think looks completely goofy though--this other band had vests and yellow ties and a "theme" which instantly put my back up.  Our singer thinks we need that common theme, so I'm praying to whatever powers that be that it can be tolerable   

One problem--this is Florida so even if you have a place to change, loading in you are going to be a sweaty mess.  Playing even indoors I tend to be sweaty mess despite my Lasko fan.  Long sleeves and vest, I'll be in big trouble.

Anyway, wondering if any of you all have gone through this "transition" from t-shirt-raggedy jeans rocker to respectable corporate/party/wedding performer! 

[MathOfInsects]

Dress for the gigs you want. 

Adopt the spirit of her idea and help direct it to something less cruise-shippy. 

A suit in FL sounds like torture. For corporate and band gigs here I often (though not always) load in whatever I want to wear, and keep the suit on a hanger for later. Ideally you'll be arriving before the guests, so all bets are off IMO. The caterers show up in their civvies at first too a lot of the time. 

You get good at changing anywhere. There's always a men's room onsite. Probably 20% of the time I'm literally standing behind my car swapping out the board shorts for dress pants. I wouldn't do this too close to a playground though. #protip

As far as the main point, though: Dress like you're worth the money. No one minds a well-presented band. Nudge classy instead of corny. 

 

 

[Stokely]

Very good advice, and that is indeed the attitude I'm taking.  I'll try to find something I actually like and still is appropriate.  Hopefully the singer doesn't push it toward the goofy side but she's a rocker at heart and I think will not go for the cheese.

Classy, not corny is exactly what I'd like to pursue.

[KuruPrionz]

 Yep, been there and done that. 

One country band I was in requested that I dress up in "country attire", black Wranglers (new looking, not faded), cowboy shirt with "pearl" snaps, a bolo and cowboy boots. I told the bandleaders "find a pair of 14 EEE cowboy boots that aren't $600 and maybe I'll buy them, until then I'm wearing sports shoes." 

They never did find the boots. The Wranglers were no problem and thrift stores had cowboy shirts for $4-6 so I bought a few. Never heard any comments about not wearing a bolo tie. 

Other bands played weddings and other classy events. Spend some time looking in local thrift stores, you should be able to find most of what you'll need for corporate events there. 

The Motown band had band members in black shoes, black slacks, white long sleeve shirts and black ties. The 2 frontmen wore the same but with black long sleeve shirts and white ties. 

I think it's good protocol for the band to be reasonably "formal" looking and the front person(s) to stand out a bit. 

[Stokely]

Yep, singer has mentioned that as well.  Band has a look and she'll have dresses that complement it....not necessarily a uniform, but a theme.

Granted this is not a cover band, but I always liked the "1920s" dress-up look of Flogging Molly.

Edit:  one really nice benefit of this is that maybe one of our members won't be wearing his somewhat-political t-shirts anymore to these nice gigs.  Definitely is over the line to me, but it's up to the bandleader to say something.   I don't feel like the band should be riling people up no matter what side of politics you may be on...we are hired to do a show not to give opinions like that.  (In fact I think that was probably a bit on her mind when she mentioned all this to us.)

[Docbop]

Hate that "Show band look"  it's like people who dress their dawgs up in sweater and hats.    I would had my job interview/coat n tie/first date clothes and that's as far as I'd go.    One pit band gig I did the band was on stage as put of creating the scenery (a 30's show about marathon dancing).   That they said just said dark pants, white shirt, and slick your hair down.   So that I didn't mind I go a set of clothes so I did have to think about what to wear each night. 

 

 In general I just avoid dressy situations in when working for IBM we were supposed to wear the "Docker casual" since we were on customer site doing data center work.   All of us basically wore what we wanted "jeans casual" because the customer never saw us and we were "racking and stacking" servers and doing repairs (there were about 5000 servers in this DC).   The customer who did see us were data center people too so they understood.    Our IBM site manager got in trouble for how we dressed, but he understood us and we were dam good at what we did.   So he cut us a deal  we could keep dressing in jeans casual as long as when IBM suits were going to be onsite then put on our Docker casual clothes.    That worked great and the IBM suits never found out.   

[Stokely]

I hate it too, at least some of the examples I've seen.  It kind of goes with too-white teeth    

I do like the idea of dressing classy for gigs.

I'm also a long-time IT worker and one thing good I can say about my current employer (before work from home)--tshirts and jeans were fine.  flip flops, holes in clothes and edgy logos probably not, but the fact is we don't interface with the public.  Thankfully the days of business attire or even casual business attire are gone here.  (All moot since I'm at home and almost none of my zoom meetings are video).   Even vendors we meet with don't bother dressing up usually, it's often jeans and a polo shirt.  As far as I'm concerned, at that kind of job your words and actions are what counts as far as being professional (some of the biggest d-bags I've ever known have been suit-wearing execs).   Band though is a bit of a different thing, you are entertainment for the public so I don't want to look like a slob.  If we were playing Sublime or Chili Peppers or Ramones at bars that's a different story.

[timwat]

Personal style and work attire are two different things. 

 

Work attire in the office domain over the years has of course evolved and become more casual and "democratic". 

 

On stage, our roles are different, and my personal opinion is embrace the fact you are entertainment. On the practical side, color is just as important as the choice of clothes. For example, black suits, black shoes, white dress shirts with black ties becomes a significantly different look if the entire band is also sporting pink pocket squares - and not necessarily in a good way. I'm personally not a huge fan of the "everyone has a yellow tie" coordinated bank look - when I see that I always think it screams "amateur". But that's just my personal opinion; I wouldn't run from a gig that insisted on that if the money was real, but I'd privately chat with the BL and try to persuade him differently.

 

Same with non-suit corporate look for the sake of Florida humidity. Whatever your band decides is acceptable for the sake of comfort (and not passing out), color will have a significant impact, so my suggest is don't take that trivially.

 

Here in NorCal, my circles for wedding & corporate typically default to band is formal - either black suit / white dress shirt or tuxedo. Singers bring the sexy. I've always thought of dance bands as a "musical mullet". Sexy in the front, pocket in the back.

 

Bar and club dates are of course much different - but there is still the expectation of some sort of dress guidelines. Suit and tie are of course inappropriate - but even there, we dress as entertainers, not building contractors.

 

But then, I've always felt that what I wear (on or off stage) speaks volume about what I think about myself. It becomes a platform for expressing self-respect, self-awareness, and how I present myself to others. I care about myself, so I care about what I wear in public.

 

This topic comes up on this forum on a cyclical basis - from prior threads, I gather some members of the forum chafe at the idea of dressing up to go on stage. "My playing speaks for itself" is often the sentiment. Well, sure, when you playing speaks like Keith Jarrett or Bill Evans, wear whatever you have in the hamper. Until then, you're equal parts entertainer and artist. 

 

I suppose part of my bias is rooted in my own perspective on personal style. I care about what I wear, my external image has always been important to what I do in the non-music world, and I think my attire is an opportunity for personal expression. And I've always worked side-by-side with folks who have a very different perspective on this...so doubtless my attitude about stage attire is different than some.

[Stokely]

Thanks, Tim, I knew from past threads you definitely had something to say on this subject!

We've had a bit more back and forth as a band, and our singer's mindset is basically:  don't look like a bar band at these gigs.  And I agree.  At bars, sure look like a bar band if you want.  We talked a bit about the heat factor and I think button down short sleeves works for most gigs.  Personally I'll go long-sleeve if it's indoors and AC.   I do think she wants some consistency so we don't have four/five different looks up there (drummer gets a bit of a pass IMO) as we sometimes do.  There's probably a sweet spot between a uniform and looking consistent that we have to find.

[KuruPrionz]

I will note in passing that I've never heard anybody going to any concert of any kind say "I'm going to listen to so-and-so."

They ALWAYS say (and I say this too) " I'm going to SEE so-and-so."

[aronnelson]

Over here, everything black is what most people wear. I don't have a problem with a tux, all black etc...

What I do have a problem with are COSTUMES!

When someone asked me to play for a band, I said "ok, but I have on stipulation, NO COSTUMES" - they said "are you serious"? I said yes.

This band will try and dress you up like Gilligan's island and crap like that. I'm sorry, I can't take that.

[timwat]

10 minutes ago, aronnelson said:

Over here, everything black is what most people wear. I don't have a problem with a tux, all black etc...

What I do have a problem with are COSTUMES!

When someone asked me to play for a band, I said "ok, but I have on stipulation, NO COSTUMES" - they said "are you serious"? I said yes.

This band will try and dress you up like Gilligan's island and crap like that. I'm sorry, I can't take that.

 

Same here. A bandleader I know from several other projects really wanted me for his '80s band, but I'd have to dress for it...what I considered a full costume. Maybe someone who was a theater major in another life would have dove in without hesitation. Nope, I'm not going to do that. Dan Elze (who used to be a frequent contributor here) had a very successful '80s band that went wigs and full get-up; for some folks it's part of the gig, part of being an entertainer. 

 

But that's just not for me. A man's got to know his limitations, Harry Callahan once said.

[timwat]

19 minutes ago, Stokely said:

Thanks, Tim, I knew from past threads you definitely had something to say on this subject!

We've had a bit more back and forth as a band, and our singer's mindset is basically:  don't look like a bar band at these gigs.  And I agree.  At bars, sure look like a bar band if you want.  We talked a bit about the heat factor and I think button down short sleeves works for most gigs.  Personally I'll go long-sleeve if it's indoors and AC.   I do think she wants some consistency so we don't have four/five different looks up there (drummer gets a bit of a pass IMO) as we sometimes do.  There's probably a sweet spot between a uniform and looking consistent that we have to find.

Yep, you're right! LOL

 

And yes, I'm sure you guys will find what works for you - Florida climate really makes this a distinct topic than in other areas, I'm sure!

[ProfD]

My personal sense of style/fashion on a daily basis will trump most band attire.😁

 

However, considering that folks have a a different fashion sense if any, I can understand the desire for a band uniform on certain gigs.

 

Beyond that, I don't see how costumes have anything to do with playing music.🤣😎

[Moonglow]

For corporate gigs, we wear black dress pants, black dress shirt, and black tie. Our female singer brings the pizzazz/sexy.

 

For weddings, historically we wore black tuxedos, but now it’s same as the corporate threads.

[Stokely]

....tie....if I did a count of how many times I've worn one in the past 10 years, it would probably be...twice.   I'll do it as long as someone that knows how to tie one helps me...or I get on youtube and learn how (again)    

Black and more black is boring but hard to go wrong.

I hate "business attire" in daily life, even to job interviews I just wear a dress shirt.   I actually don't mind how ties look, but when you really think about it they really are stupid at this point.  We have these things called "buttons" now that hold shirt fronts together!  (and that's assuming I want my shirt held together, which I don't)
 

[Thethirdapple]

Short of being full on “IBM Men” (is that sexist), wearing varied attire while simply being color coordinated can bring a certain amount of “professionalism”. Wearing exactly the same attire, as an entire band, can be appropriate for certain gigs. Such as weddings etc, when the band is not the show. But when playing a gig “on stage” I prefer to see the personality I hear.

 

And a “uniform” can be anything really. Could still exemplify the bands personality when you guys are the show.

 

please post photos of whatever you all decide on…

 

PEACE

[Outkaster]

This is why I don't do corporate bands anymore.

[Stokely]

Heh, like I said my initial reaction after she posted those pics turns out to be overblown.   The more I think of it, I think she was mostly aiming at the political tshirt guy, with an element of "let's not look like a bunch of people randomly found on the sidewalk."

We are probably going to end up wearing what (most of us) already (mostly) do, which is decent button down stuff and nice jeans--probably trading out the jeans for some gigs.  You actually do see a fair amount of jeans mixed in with the dress pants for bands at the resorts at least, which is most of what I'd call "corporate" for us.  We've only played a couple of weddings but they were not the expected...nobody including the band was supposed to dress up.  So be it.  I think in 10 years I've only had one gig where the mandate was a suit.  Talk about being out of sorts.  I'd rather wear that pink bunny outfit from Christmas Story, at least it would hide the sweat better probably.

We have a really odd "party" gig we bid for coming up where (I think) we are supplying a PA and making more than we usually do for a whole 3-4 hour gig, and only playing one hour.  So weird they pay a whole band for that short of time, but I'm not complaining (or cheering, I like playing!)

[Bill H.]

3 hours ago, Moonglow said:

For corporate gigs, we wear black dress pants, black dress shirt, and black tie. Our female singer brings the pizzazz/sexy.

Basically this... in any band I've been in with a female singer. For the most part, they took the pressure off us guys. All we had to do was look decent. 

 

For years I've had black Calvin Klein jeans that I only wear for upscale gigs. They still look new, and have always worked for stage. I don't wear ties, but that's because I don't have to. 

[HSS]

“I say, beware of all enterprises that require new clothes”

- Henry David Thoreau, Walden 

 

Having quoted the brilliant Thoreau, I confess that I recently bought a tye die shirt for some gigs I'm doing with a Grateful Dead tribute band. 

[surfergirl]

2 girls busking 85° and 75% humidity 365 days a year, it's pretty easy. T shirt or tank top, shorts and slippahs(flip flops).

[AUSSIEKEYS]

Everyone so hung up on dress code. Hee hee

 

What would be the ultimate "lets not worry about dress code gig" ?

 

a Naturists gig?

[CowboyNQ]

Many musicians forget, or would prefer not to contemplate, the idea that when they play live they are putting on a show.  People are paying to SEE us as well as hear us.  
 

This includes how the band looks, moves and behaves.  Therefore attire is most certainly important.

 

To me, it’s completely contextual.  A Led Zep covers act would dress differently to a country band, who would dress differently to a corporate band.  I’m in an 80’s party band where I don a “Maverick” style flight suit or a Ghostbusters coverall!

 

When I’ve done corporates, the band has dressed in black or white button up shirts for the guys and a black or red dress for our female vocalist.

 

I endorse your singer’s approach in wanting the band to dress as a team and look like you belong together on stage.  Whether we like it or not, the audience probably won’t notice what drawbar settings we use or how well we EQ’d that piano patch, but I promise you they WILL notice how we look.

[Stokely]

1 hour ago, AUSSIEKEYS said:

Everyone so hung up on dress code. Hee hee

 

What would be the ultimate "lets not worry about dress code gig" ?

 

a Naturists gig?

Funny you mention that.  I answered an ad from  a guy years ago looking for musicians.  His ad said nothing about this, and he took his time bringing it up--but apparently he knew some people that ran several of the nudist colonies in the area, and apparently they had issues getting bands in there (and they paid well).  I declined to audition for other reasons, but that would have been interesting.  (And from visits to a certain beach near Titusville I'm well aware that nudist colonies wouldn't resemble the movies  )

[nursers]

There's not debate on this really, there's an agreed industry standard that's been in place for decades:

 

 

[CowboyNQ]

2 hours ago, AUSSIEKEYS said:

Everyone so hung up on dress code. Hee hee

 

What would be the ultimate "lets not worry about dress code gig" ?

 

a Naturists gig?

 

Requires you to sign in with your own YouTube account to watch, to verify you’re over 18.   Not sure why really as this was broadcast on TV many years ago and there are no dangly bits visible.

 

Australia’s own “Lubricated Goat” for your viewing and listening pleasure.

 

 

[MathOfInsects]

54 minutes ago, Stokely said:

Funny you mention that.  I answered an ad from  a guy years ago looking for musicians.  His ad said nothing about this, and he took his time bringing it up--but apparently he knew some people that ran several of the nudist colonies in the area, and apparently they had issues getting bands in there (and they paid well).  I declined to audition for other reasons, but that would have been interesting.  (And from visits to a certain beach near Titusville I'm well aware that nudist colonies wouldn't resemble the movies  )

I did a nudist colony gig once. It wasn't hot (visually), but was hot AF and dusty, and all I could think was...think of all the places dirt is getting on everyone!

[ElmerJFudd]

Dress for the gig.

 

 

[zxcvbnm098]

I'm a big fan of vests, which I think really class up any attire. I also think a cool pair of dress boots make any "corporate" outfit look far hipper.  Google images of Jimmy Page when they did that 02 gig in 2007 ("Celebration Day"); he was about 62. He looked great in what he was wearing, which could have been described as somewhat corporate.

 

No matter where you land, make sure you get your clothes fitted/altered by a tailor. That goes a long way to making dress slacks and a dress shirt or anything look more pro and put together. It makes huge difference...