Hope you don’t mind but I have to brag a little today. I’m delighted to be quoted in this month’s issue of Real Simple magazine along with friends Jessica Miller-Merrell and Rachelle Falls. The topic: office attire.
While I’m quoted talking about some of the outrageous things I’ve seen people wear to work, I think it raises an important point about attire in the workplace. Our clothing does not define us. Case in point, Wired recently published an article titled, “The White House Gives Up on Making Coders Dress Like Adults”. The title is a bit tongue in cheek. It shares the story of Mikey Dickerson, the former Google engineer selected to lead the U.S. Digital Service, and his attire.
Dickerson was hired because of his skills and abilities, not his wardrobe.
I do understand that certain industries have expectations where attire is concerned. Wall Street is a good example. That doesn’t mean that someone wearing a pair of jeans and Birkenstocks couldn’t come in one day and be wildly successful. A suit does not tell us if a person is smart or capable. Business attire doesn’t tell us if someone is a great leader.
It’s time for organizations to put emphasis where it really matters – performance and results. If employees want to put their money in their Roth IRA instead of buying expensive suits, we should support that. Right?
In turn, employees do need to practice some level of good judgment when it comes to work attire. Clean and neat is always in style.
Trust me when I say that human resources professionals do not want to be the fashion police. We also don’t enjoy writing dress code policies. There are so many other more productive things for us to work on.
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When we talk about ditching policies, wouldn’t it be awesome to ditch dress codes? Let people wear attire that they look good in. That’s comfortable. So we could all focus on meeting goals (and making money).
Image courtesy of HR Bartender
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Sarah Charton says
I don’t want to be the “fashion police”. It sucks. However, one of the things that an employer expects from every employee is that each of those employees will represent the employer’s brand during work hours. That may mean wearing a uniform; it may mean I’m required to wear skirts longer than fingertip length; it may mean I am required to wear a suit. And, btw, I don’t know where you shop, but a suit doesn’t need to cost $500. I don’t think I’ve ever spent that much on one, not even when I was wearing designer suits to work in the 90’s.
Meg @ Soup Is Not A Finger Food says
I agree, with one qualifier: Regardless of what you wear, it’s important to project a certain level of pride in your appearance. If you look as if you care, then you’ll be taken more seriously. You don’t have to wear a suit (I own only one [one that fits, anyway], and it’s 8 years old and I never wear it), but whatever you do wear should be neat and clean and in good repair and tasteful. So, go ahead and wear your untucked polo and your khaki shorts at your start-up tech firm, but if your shirt is super-wrinkly, I think you just don’t care enough to take a few minutes to iron it, or at least fish it out of the dryer and hang it up before it sits for days in the laundry basket.
That goes for clothes and shoes. And as much as I love my flip flops, I always switch into non-plastic shoes once I arrive at my client’s office.
My favorite dresscode advice has always been: If you wouldn’t want your grandma to see you wearing it, you probably shouldn’t be wearing it to work.
Sharlyn Lauby says
Thanks for the comments!
@Sarah – Totally agree. Work attire is often a representation of the employer brand. And if it’s a uniform, typically that’s provided by the company. So the employee isn’t being required to purchase it. Unfortunately, I’ve seen many occasions where companies establish dress code policies that are more than what’s really required for their brand.
@Meg – Yes! People can definitely show they care about their appearance. And that doesn’t mean expensive clothes. Oh and I do like the “non-plastic shoes” remark.
Jennifer says
Thank you for this encouraging post. I am a college student studying Business Administration, and this discussion never comes up because we should know the appropriate business attire to represent ourselves in the best way. Of course we want to dress our best, but we also need to understand that some of the best people don’t care what they look like or how they dress. Think about it, many successful business people work from their homes, and who is going to judge what they wear in the presence of their own home?
Thank you for this encouragement.