Your Agent Can't Dress Himself
This week's NY Observer takes an in-depth look at how today's agents choose to outwardly represent the bloodlust tucked away in their hearts through fashion, from the suit-centric, sartorial anal retention of ICM's Casual Friday-eschewing Ed Limato, to William Morris's flannel-and-shitkicker-rocking president Dave Wirtschafter. Those working at the more uptight shops, however, must be missing out on the fun of pissing all over a co-worker's fashion sense on the days that the Armani stays in the closet:
On Fridays, however, staid decorum gives way to misguided creativity. “The Casual Friday thing is a disaster, because a lot of people who try to do it—it’s pathetic,” said one high-level W.M.A. agent. “One of my associates comes in with white jeans and a big, oversized shirt—a long-sleeved button-down that looks like it’s his dad’s shirt. He looks like a farmer. He’s trying to look cool and hip, and it’s down to his knees …. The trick is how you pull off the casual part and look decent.” [...]
In July, Paradigm—an up-and-coming agency that earlier this year swallowed Writers & Artists and has been rumored to now be eyeing I.C.M.—had its first-ever dress-down day. “People were mostly wearing a lot of jeans, polo shirts—everyone kind of looked the same,” said a spy. “You could tell right away who had some style and who just didn’t have a clue. A couple of people had flannel shirts tucked into their jeans—kind of dorky. It was revealing. A couple of the male agents looked incredibly thin, like a little boy. Very skinny.”
We're all for personal expression, but the all-suits-all-the-time policy does have the major advantage of making it far easier to identify and avoid the ten-percent plague at happy hour. We're still waiting for CAA or ICM to perfect the uniform and require their agents to wear bells around their necks.
