Clothes maketh the profession

Solicitors

They want you to feel you can trust them, so they dress conservatively and expensively. The expensive bit is to show they are successful and your money will not be wasted on them. Suits, plain-coloured shirts and grave, sober ties are the uniform here for men. Women wear suits also, but draw the line at ties. You won't find this profession modelling ties with Disney characters or scantily-dressed ladies.

Bankers

See above. Usually with the addition of a starched handkerchief in top pocket, along with a Mont Blanc fountain pen, which is never filled, in case it might leak.

Creative types - artists, writers etc

Both sexes tend to favour long hair. Dreadlocks are out, but pony-tails enduringly popular. For women, skirts either flow to the ankles or stop not far below their navel - you will never find a woman arty type in a knee-length skirt. Men love weird T-shirts, with strange and pointless words on them, such as "Deep-frozen love"; "Meat"; and "Air Rocks".

IT types

The IT men love their shirts. They think they discovered the bias-cut print. You rarely see them with their jackets on, because they are so fond of showing off their quirky shirts. They don't like ties, as it spoils the unadulterated look of the shirt. This lot is not afraid of patterns - the busier, the better.

The women wear bias-cut print shirts too, but they just don't have the same effect.

Journalists

Unless they're in court, or in the Dáil, where they need to be respectfully turned out in a suit, journalists get away with wearing pretty much anything. Jeans, the odd pair of trousers, jumpers, shirts and sweatshirts for men, all of varying modishness, ranging from tasteful (rare) to sad (often).

Women hacks tend to be rather better at expressing their style. Bright colours, funky shoes and animal-print coats are all quite popular. Probably one of the few workplaces you can wear a short skirt and not have problems with HR.