6 November 2007 10 am eastern

Facts and Opinions about Zeldman

  1. Yesterday I spoke at BusinessWeek and was interviewed for a podcast that airs next week.
  2. Tomorrow I will speak for Carson at Future of Web Design.
  3. I will not be nicely dressed.
  4. That is because the fancy drycleaner—the best in town—has not yet returned the sharp clothes I wore at An Event Apart San Francisco.
  5. Don’t get me wrong. I do have another dress shirt.
  6. But I wore it to BusinessWeek yesterday. Hence, nothing “tailored” that is also clean.
  7. Which means nothing tailored for my meeting today with a client whose business and premises are somewhat traditional.
  8. All because my drycleaner takes longer to clean my dress shirts than my company takes to design a website.
  9. Almost.
  10. I would switch, but the other drycleaners in my neighborhood tend to shrink my shirts and then deny responsibility for the damage.
  11. So. What to wear.
  12. I might go for the Steve Jobs look.
  13. Or I might go for the “Zeldman” look.
  14. Which, admittedly, is not much of a business look.
  15. But I got into this business so I would not have to dress up. That was kind of the point. Learn HTML, and work in your underwear.
  16. Now that I actually have to dress for clients and the public, I have, in the words of Imelda Marcos, nothing to wear.
  17. Although Imelda was talking about shoes and my problem is shirts.
  18. I could buy a new shirt.
  19. If I didn’t have to work today.
  20. Why, yes, I have been using Twitter. Why do you ask?

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Filed under: Happy Cog™, Zeldman, events, family, glamorous, industry, work

22 Responses to “Facts and Opinions about Zeldman”

  1. Josh Stodola said on

    Learn HTML, and work in your underwear

    I double dog dare ya to show up in your boxer shorts.

  2. Tanner Christensen said on

    Who says you actually have to dress up?

  3. ben said on

    “Pajamas and production” was inspired directly by this post. Take the best and throw the rest away.

    If you’re feeling adventurous, tool around the entire blog for a bit. It’s been live for almost two weeks, and I’m starting to wonder if other people might like it.

    *ahem* Enough of that shameless self-promotion, and back to the regularly scheduled programming.

  4. Stevie K said on

    1.I’m liking this ordered list thing.
    2.I find it very easy to read.
    3. I have always been a lazy reader though.

  5. sfzeller said on

    Only one solution: Sue the dry cleaner for $100,000.000.

  6. beth said on

    “But I got into this business so I would not have to dress up. That was kind of the point. Learn HTML, and work in your underwear.”

    Amen. People in my office wonder why the web and creative teams get to wear whatever they want. Because we were smart and planned ahead in college.

  7. Lydia said on

    first the barber, now the cleaner
    cruel irony

    Good thing you’re fabulous in all other ways.

  8. Lisa Firke said on

    Jeffrey, I’m with you. I’ve long felt that we all should be living in a kind of pajama colony where uncomfortable duds are banned.

  9. David Sleight said on

    The shirt even held its own against our finely-crafted BusinessWeek guest ID.

    Just in case you opt for The Full Steve…

  10. mike said on

    i hear you can get fashion advice from eric.

  11. MumbleMumbleCoffee said on

    links from Technorati“Facts and Opinions about Zeldman”

  12. spinhead said on

    As Rudy Vallee says in ‘The Palm Beach Story’, when you’re buying clothing, buy quality, and buy enough so that you have a useful variety.

    I tend to be overly formal, so I force myself to dress down a bit once I think someone is comfortable with me. But first time meetings with clients, prospects, whatever - it’s black suit, white shirt, red tie. You still have to dress for success.

    And own enough shirts that work to allow for the cleaners’ scheduling issues.

    Which, of course, doesn’t help now, does it?

    I’m sure I have one you can borrow, but then, Sacramento; New York; handoff issues ensue. Sorry.

  13. Ray McK said on

    Shirt smirt. You have cool glasses and that in and of itself makes up for a lot. You’re good Dude.

  14. Richard Smallbone said on

    links from TechnoratiZeldman’s latest post.

  15. Greg Bulmash said on

    • What’s with the numbering?
    • Bullet points. Wave of the future.
    • Really.

  16. Shane Porter said on

    Having been able to dress casually at work, the latest company I work for has a ‘tie policy’.

    I don’t think I’ve worn a tie since I married in 2004. It was appropriate then, I feel, but not now - it doesn’t help me to develop things any more competently.

    The tag should be deprecated in the dressup markup of modern ‘creative’ business.

  17. Spitting Bull said on

    That is another reason why I love to read these articles. You only live on the other side of the world and yet often enough I have this “do you and I share the same cosmos ?” - feeling. Refreshing!

  18. Lauren Scime said on

    I might go for the Steve Jobs look.

    Mock turtlenecks are a sin. Please don’t.

  19. Ben Buchanan said on

    It’s annoying that you still have to worry about this stuff, despite being one of the best in the business. If your clients really value your shirt more than your reputation, you should be allowed to slap them with both editions of your book! ;)

  20. Brandon said on

    If NYC isn’t clean out of new dress shirts to purchase, perhaps that is an option?

  21. Blog: Is This Your Name? said on

    links from Technorati25% of the letters in this name are vowels. This means you are poorly envoweled.Sample of blog posts by possible relatives:Support the Writers! (by Julie CHRISTENSEN) Multimedia message (by Karen Christensen)Comment on Facts and Opinions about Zeldman by Tanner Christensen(by Tanner Christensen) FAX Feinstein and Schumer and your Representatives! (by Julie CHRISTENSEN) Bookstack. (by Jared Christensen)

  22. Tami said on

    If you go Jobs (in the future, obvy), I think you should vary a bit and go actual turtleneck.

    Your color is so beautifully starched in that photo, though, that I hope you went for buying a new dress shirt. You deserve it!

  23. The Bat said on

    Get a Harley and use that to go everywhere. Then you can just wear black leather stuff. That way, you only need one wardrobe.

  24. Tom Barnes said on

    I love this list thing, it’s got a Kerouac quality about it–ground breaking– in a Filofax sort of way. And look at the SHEEP that are trailing along to follow an Original Thinker.
    Figures.
    You are doing so much better since your left the Advertising Business. You’ve found your groove, brother. You weren’t meant to be a glassy-eyed hack like Bob Joseph(sorry Bob, but it’s true). You are an Original…and funny as hell. Keep up the good work.
    Love, Tom

  25. 二手環保店 said on

    It’s annoying that you still have to worry about this stuff, despite being one of the best in the business. If your clients really value your shirt more than your reputation, you should be allowed to slap them with both editions of your book! ;)

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