Walking to work in a suit.

lonewolf123

Hi, I got a job coming up in August and it requires me to wear a suit.

This job is about 3 hours away from home so I really have no choice but to move out closer to the job location.

With this in mind, I find it more logical that since I have to pay rent anyway, I will rent a place that is within walking distance of the job to save money from petrol and more importantly the parking everyday which costs an arm and leg since there is no staff parking at work. Works out at about £30 a week if I drive mainly due to parking.

A question I want to ask is whether its strange to walk 20 minutes to work in a suit? This isn't in London where pretty much its the norm to take the tube and walk anyway but in a small city.

This thread might sound petty but I said to a number of people (family/friends) this idea of mine and some kind of looked at me funny and said "walking to work and in a suit don't mix, people like that are suppose to drive and look professional...your colleagues may laugh at you as well.."

Do you think its strange? Should I drive instead?

AP007

Strange to walk or to walk in a suit? LOL

Why would it be strange at all?

HeadAboveWater

Who's gonna actually pay attention to what you're wearing?!

Anyone who happens to drive past and maybe does look, won't know where you've come from or where you're going. You could be walking to the next building as far as they know.

PS. I walk to work myself - 1+1/2 miles each way. Black dressy trousers and a pair of trainers

heretolearn_2

Of course it's not odd.

Your family are being a bit silly.

In cities - even small ones - loads of people walk to work. Whether it's from home, or from the nearest public transport. Driving to work in a city is the daft option if you can do something else!

Lagoon

Not unusual at all.

My one thought would be whether you expect to get warm and sweat during the walk. Suits don't help with that. When I used to walk to work, I wore a separate top on the way to the office and changed in a toilet cubicle once I was there.

Nothing is worse than a warm day, a suit, and a long shift in an office wearing clothes that aren't comfortable.

marleyboy

I used to regularly walk to work in a suit, along with the rest of them. My brother cycles to work in his suit. Whoever said it was odd to do so, obviously hasn't walked to work before. It's certainly the norm around here.

marlot

No problem. But its better to leave the jacket in the office, especially in the summer.

andrewjf

No problem at all. You'll save money on petrol, and get some excercise. who cares how you get to work? As long as you're there on time and do a good job. That's how you look professional.

Savvy_Sue

You might want to walk in 'comfy' shoes and change into 'suit' shoes once you get to work. But who cares what people think?

IF it's a problem, your manager should mention it to you. EG, I know someone who used to cycle to work, in shorts (in the days before tight fitting lycra shorts were de rigeur, I hasten to add!) and stay in those shorts all day. His manager took him aside one day and said "I'm trying to get you a promotion, but you're not helping yourself!" After that, he used to change when he got to the office.

Pennywise

Some people have strange ideas. Of course it's no problem to walk to work in a suit.

I live about 1 mile away from work and either walk or cycle most of the way along a canal towpath - wearing my suit with outer/waterproof clothing as necessary.

Every day, I see other people walking on the canal wearing suits or smart work clothes.

Any

Around here who ever works in the centre takes a train or metro link.
Getting to the centre in a car in rush hour is ridiculously long and parking costs a fortune.
Everyone I know walks to the train in a suit, taken the train in a suit and walks into the office in a suit...
I've never seen anyone laugh at another person because they don't drive to work, or think them unprofessional.. Only the ones that must drive to work (as they are sent out during the day to meet clients) drive to work.
Apart from anything else, you can then have a couple on Fridays after work and not worry about getting home!!:-)