Clothes Really Don’t Make Us
I can certainly empathize with the folks up north. CNN reported that a heat wave with triple-digit temperatures hit this week. Someone recently asked me what I do here in South Florida when the temps climb over the summer. I laughed – stay inside! Might sound crazy, but it’s true.
All this talk about heat reminds me that I only shop for clothing during the summer. South Florida is considered a tropical climate with the average lows in 
When I worked in Corporate America, I had two sets of clothes; work clothes and play clothes. Now, I work from home. I don’t have client meetings every day, so I’m able to wear casual attire. And many of my clients have business casual dress codes. This is causing me to take a real hard look at my wardrobe. How much clothing do I need to have? And is there a way to be professional yet comfortable and not maintain two sets of clothes?
One of my new fave blogs, Get Rich Slowly, talked about The One-Year Wardrobe Project. Basically, you turn the hangers around in your closet so you can notice what you wear and what you don’t wear. Then you can get rid of the stuff you don’t wear because it’s just taking up space.
I’ve decided to give this a try. In the first couple of weeks, I noticed a few things:
- I fell in love again with a few pieces of clothing I forgot I had wasn’t wearing.
- I got rid of a few things I had no intention of wearing again (especially shoes!)
I’m also paying a lot more attention to care labels. Dry cleaning is expensive. That doesn’t mean I’ll eliminate dry cleaning…but I’m trying to be smart about it. Tell me – am I the only person doing this?
One of the best gifts we can give ourselves and our employees is changing our opinions about dress codes. It costs absolutely nothing and can put extra dollars in our employees’ pockets. Having expectations where expensive attire, luxury handbags and designer shoes are concerned is putting financial pressure where we don’t need it. For example:
- Telling job candidates to wear a suit to an interview when they will never wear a suit when they work there is irresponsible. They could use that money for something else.
- Teleworking employees should not be required to maintain two wardrobes for the handful of times they come to the office.
- Let weather set the stage for attire. Suits can be are unbearable in 90 degree weather.
- If you provide logo wear, encourage sustainability by using eco-friendly fabrics.
As the office environment changes, so should our old school thinking about work attire. Your employees will thank you for it.
Image courtesy of Le Turc
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