Job security

Where is the line between individuality and conformity when a man goes to work? If the answers from a variety of well-dressed L.A. men are any indication, it depends on what you actually produce.

Are you selling ideas? Or things? In today’s image-driven world, most of us sell both. The accountant who thinks he doesn’t have to wear a suit that fits is just as deluded as the design director who imagines he can be avant-garde and avoid the mainstream.

Putting yourself together is all about knowing the rules before you break them. The money manager knows he must wear a suit--and a good one--so he conveys the impression that he knows how to make money. Once that’s established, he can have fun with details--socks, ties, shirts, cuff links--that people won’t notice until after he’s made them comfortable. The creative director knows he can’t wear something that smacks of convention. He’s selling ideas, preferably new ones, which will then be pressed into service to make very ordinary products seem innovative and exciting and sexy.

If it all sounds calculated, it is. But it’s also based on some time-tested results. You will never look right in a classic, conservative suit unless you’re a classic, conservative guy. And when was the last time you met an MBA who knew how to wear Dolce & Gabbana?

*

Roberto Benabib, TV screenwriter, “Ally McBeal”

“There is a screenwriter uniform. It’s very collegiate, Hyannisport, John F. Kennedy Jr.”

Benabib spends his days writing material designed to lure viewers so that they will spend time staring at TV sets. For this, advertisers will fork over big bucks to television networks for the right to tell viewers to buy things. But in Benabib’s line of work, it’s not always about the number of viewers, but also the type, and whether critics and industry leaders like what he’s doing. And that can start with how he looks.

“If you walk into a room dressed like Cary Grant, they’re going to think you’re nuts. It’s sneakers, jeans, a T-shirt under a button-down, under a sport jacket,” Benabib says. “However, you want the best sport jacket you can afford.” The fortysomething screenwriter is a big fan of Austrian designer Helmut Lang, who is known for breathing new life into menswear with a tailored fit and high-end fabrics. “He just keeps churning out those staples: the perfect three-button black jacket; the simple gray V-neck sweater; the crisp, white shirt; all stuff that is basic, but executed in a way that it always looks really sharp,” he says.

“You finish this off with well-tailored jeans. Again, Helmut Lang makes great ones, and some good sneakers--like Pumas or Adidas--but never, ever running shoes. Basically, what you’re doing here is combining some very un-sloppy clothes in a sloppy way. To sell myself--to other writers as well as the ‘suits’--I have to look like a young, educated, creative type. The truth is I would rather wear something more interesting, but there really is a uniform. You can update it, you can improve it, you can make sure it fits really well, but it is still a uniform.”

*

John C. Siciliano, director of global institutional services, Dimensional Fund Advisers Inc.

“You don’t have to have imagination to dress yourself properly for this business.”

Siciliano’s job is to get people who control vast sums of money to park some of it with his firm, so that he can disburse it to people who hopefully will take it and make more money so that he can, in turn, give lots of money back to the original investors. His product is the number on the bottom line of the quarterly statement he shows his clients.

“My suits are very conservative: dark charcoal pinstripe or solid navy, or low-key plaids,” Siciliano says. “The only thing men can do is wear a shirt and tie that’s different. Red is my all-time favorite color, but for shirts I love pink and I love yellow--for ties too. I have to dress a certain way, and I think color makes the difference between looking nice and respectable and looking nice and respectable with a little flair.” Siciliano, 50, loves cuff links and shirts from Charles Tyrwhitt, as well as Turnbull & Asser, with French cuffs. “I don’t want to look boring, but you also don’t want to look too frou-frou for the old-line L.A. crowd,” he says.

“Since I travel to New York a lot, I go to Saks and Bergdorf Goodman, but I’ve also recently gone back to Brooks Bros. They’ve really come back in a big way, and I just bought a sport coat in blackwatch plaid from them, very classic. I wear loafers from Cole Haan and Ferragamo--I get them at the outlet store--and I’m notorious for my socks: polka dots, light yellow, plaid. It’s another way to express some individuality and have some fun. But you have to keep in mind that the rules about what is appropriate business attire and what isn’t are very clear.”

*

Brian Leitch, independent advertising creative director for companies such as Banana Republic and Gap

“In my business ... you have to have the confidence not to wear the Gucci or Prada shoes to the meeting or the job interview.”

It’s Leitch’s job to create visual images enhanced by text--spoken or written--that will give a product the image that it’s hip, it’s cool, it’s prestigious, it’s sexy, it’s fun.

“In my line of work, you really have to look like you think for yourself,” says the creative director. “Showing up in a total head-to-toe designer look doesn’t demonstrate creativity; it only shows that you can afford the clothes, or that you’ve been eating tuna fish for the past 10 weeks. I tend to wear really inexpensive clothes with really expensive clothes that look like they’ve just been pulled out of a dumpster. I have these shoes from Paul Harndon, a cobbler in England, that are handmade, cost a thousand bucks a pair--it was a real intake of breath when I plunked that down for a pair of shoes--and a friend of mine calls them my ‘clown shoes.’ They’re scuffed up, and they were scuffed up when I bought them. But they’re great, and they’re unique, and you won’t see them on everyone else. That’s what I like, and that’s my style.

“I would never package myself for a situation that didn’t feel natural for me to walk into. If someone admires my weird shoes, I know I’m in the right place. I also love this line called Carpe Diem; they make shirts and jackets that are somehow 18th century-looking without being costume-y; it’s just different and really beautiful.”

Leitch likes people “who look offbeat, but not for the sake of being ‘look at me,’ but because it comes naturally to them. Other than that, you don’t want to think about this too much. Assuming you’re good at what you do, think about being who you are.”

*

Rick Caruso, CEO and founder of Caruso Affiliated Holdings, developer of The Grove and the Commons at Calabasas

“In my line of work, you want to look like a gent--elegant but understated.”

Caruso’s job is to create attractive spaces in which people can live, work and shop. He chooses projects that require that these basic functions be executed with a certain elan. But before elan, there is concrete, wiring, plumbing and sewer lines--and plenty of free parking.

“I’m in a suit and tie every day,” he says. “I tend to be formal. I like cuff links, pocket squares, the whole deal, though on Fridays I might wear a jacket with an open shirt.” As far as suits, slacks and jackets go, he is in a classic Italian Brioni suit vortex. Caruso, 45, does most of his shopping at Battaglia, a men’s store in Beverly Hills. As for colors, he says, “It’s always pretty much grays, blues or, today, it’s black with a thin pinstripe.” Shirts are always white, with French cuffs from shirtmaker Stefano Ricci. As for indulgences, Caruso likes cuff links, particularly by designer George Geros, who sells at Asprey, and he loves watches. “My current favorite is a Cartier Roadmaster with a black face.” For shoes, he likes Dolce & Gabbana or Gucci because “they’re fashionable--I like the squared-off toe--and comfortable, in black.”

Caruso sees his appearance, as well as the appearance of his employees, as setting a tone for the work his company does. “We build nice properties, and we all need and want to look like we take pride in our appearance. We like to look polished. Even if you’re just starting out in this business, it’s really worth it to invest in a suit, a crisp white shirt and a simple tie. Oh, and polish your shoes.”

*

Dudley de Zonia, president of Royal Truck Bodies Inc.

“If you’re really into fashion, you have to restrain your style a bit in a business environment.”

Dudley De Zonia’s paramount firm manufactures custom truck bodies, which are then sold or leased to people who have to move things that are way too big to fit in the back of an SUV. “I work in a pretty rough environment--it’s all about grinding, welding, painting,” he says. “Most of the people who work there wear uniforms and work clothes from places like Target and Wal-Mart, along with big, heavy aprons. Most of the people in the office with me started outside in the plant and worked their way into the office. I dress up to create a more civilized environment.”

De Zonia, 58, used to shop at the avant-garde boutique Maxfield’s, but now says he “had no business doing that; the people in the office didn’t really notice. But show up in Comme des Garcons or Yohji Yamamoto at a business meeting in Detroit and people wonder ‘Who is this guy?’ ”

Given the envelope-pushing instincts of those Japanese labels, even the most jaded hipster might be forgiven for wondering who De Zonia is. But time and maturity have mellowed his sartorial instincts, at least while he’s working.

“There are times when appropriate attire for me is a golf shirt with the Royal Truck Body logo over slacks from Saks and loafers,” De Zonia says. He adds that he’s “still extravagant--I’ll wear Hermes shirts or [Italian clothier] Etro and a nice tie to the office,” with a Prada or Brioni suit. And he still likes exquisite shoes, no matter what he’s wearing, often from John Lobb, Dolce & Gabbana or Tod’s. He also likes Helmut Lang and Prada’s incredibly popular, eccentric designs, but he always aims to strike a balance between his fashion and business instincts.

“Let a little of your taste show through, otherwise you’re masquerading. I like to be enough of a chameleon to sneak inside and then yank ‘em a little bit.”

*

David Pollick, publicity and marketing consultant

“This is the image business, and I need to look hip or, at the very least, like I know what is hip.”

In the course of his career, Pollick helped make household names of unknown Hollywood properties such as Ben Affleck, Calista Flockhart, Adrien Brody and Hayden Christiansen. He also has directed publicity campaigns for a variety of films, including “Snatch” and “Nurse Betty.” In the process, Pollick must convince moviegoers that they know and admire people they have never met, and that there are certain movies they absolutely must see. He also helps actors package themselves appropriately, and helps both actors and film distributors get the kind of media coverage and reviews that will help sell tickets.

“In my business, you need to look like you’re conversant with what’s hip,” he says. “Part of that is convincing your clients who are hip and cool, or want to be, that you are--and if need be, you can show them how. I wear jeans almost daily, Helmut Lang or Levi’s with Pumas. Whether I’m marketing a film or an actor, many of the people I meet with are in their 20s, and me in a Brooks Bros. suit is not going to cut it.” If Pollick must dress up, he tends to wear Tom Ford’s slick, photo-ready designs for Gucci or Helmut Lang, which look good on his lean frame. It’s also slick without being overkill. “I’m 42, and I’m not going to even try to wear [rock-star designer] Roberto Cavalli, yet at the same time, I’m not going to show up in Armani, which really defined Hollywood fashion for a period. I offer a certain hipness factor, and that is communicated by the clothes I’m wearing as well as what comes out of my mouth.”

*

Ted Mitchell, president of Occidental College in Eagle Rock

“Dressing for my job is about making the other person feel comfortable. Suits one day, casual the next. It depends on who I’m meeting with.”

As a college president, Mitchell actually has three jobs. One is to persuade well-to-do organizations and people that Occidental is a happening, important institution of higher learning, and a great place to park their extra dollars. The second is to work with faculty members to ensure that Occidental is, in fact, a happening, important institution of higher learning. The third is to deal with the needs of the students who expect, in return for their tuition, a happening higher-learning experience.

Depending on the day or hour, Mitchell may have his eye trained on the bottom line, the quality of the product or the cachet that surrounds it. The formality of Mitchell’s wardrobe increases in direct proportion to his proximity to money and power. “For me, each day has a central focus, and that’s where I aim my wardrobe,” he says. “If there’s a donor meeting, I’m in a blue, gray or olive suit from Brooks Bros. and Florsheim lace-ups in black or brown, a tie, and a white or light-blue button-down shirt from Lands’ End.”

If Mitchell, 48, doesn’t have any outside meetings, he reverts to simple, classic Brooks Bros. chinos and open-collared shirts. “It’s a pretty structured range, though I do like to have fun with ties--I will buy them anywhere, be it Brooks Bros. or an airport tie store. I also have a huge collection of reading glasses--and the more outlandish, the better: purple, multicolored flecks, you name it, though I keep a few dignified pairs in metal for meetings. They all come from Sav-On, so I figure I can indulge myself.”

When Mitchell dresses, he makes a point to blend in so that his clothes never become a topic of conversation. “You interact with a lot of different people, and you can’t pretend to be part of their club, but you can make them comfortable,” he says.

“This point was impressed upon me several years ago when I was still working at UCLA and had to come across town to meet with some Occidental alums. I was wearing a black turtleneck, which is fine on the Westside but not really what you want to wear to a meeting in Pasadena. As was pointed out to me.”