How junior investment bankers are telling each other to dress

The new investment banking analysts are arriving. We have it on good authority that new analysts started at Nomura this week, following on from the classes of 2015 joining the likes of Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan and Morgan Stanley this month.

Like the first day of school, newbie analysts want to know what it takes to impress. This means looking the part. New analysts have been consulting the HR teams, each other and the occasional ‘seasoned’ analysts – think two years’ experience – on what they should wear. Really. This is the list we've ascertained for male interns:

• No facial hair – definitely no beards, not even ‘George Michael’ stubble.
• No black shirts; apparently this needed to be spelled out.
• No patterned shirts. No checks, no stripes. Think, barely visible, stripes may be acceptable.
• The only rule with ties is that you have to wear one. Freedom.
• Hair cannot, repeat cannot, be too long. If it touches the collar, get a cut.
• The cufflink debate: Do only senior bankers wear cufflinks? Popular opinion suggests that five years’ experience is an ‘acceptable’ level of experience to graduate up from buttons.