The New Professionalism — Dressing for Success or Dressing for Stress?

By Mary Lou Andre
President, Organization By Design, Inc. & Editor, dressingwell.com

Copyright 2001 Careerbuilder.com — Reprinted with permission.

Lately, getting dressed to go to work in the morning has become confusing enough to make many people want to jump right back into bed still wearing their pajamas!

For the past several years, casual dress for the office was the "in" way to dress with many "experts" actually touting the death of the suit in corporate America completely. Now, formal business attire is said to be making a comeback. Or is it?

While it's true that torn jeans and t-shirts in the workplace are vanishing as quickly as the dot-coms that popularized them, don't trade in all your polo's and khaki's for pinstripes just yet. The relaxed but polished look that gained acceptance during the last decade is most likely here to stay in one form or another.

Addressing the Dress Code

So what is happening to corporate dress codes? For starters, they are becoming more buttoned-up than they have been the past few years. Fashion tends to reflect the economy. When things turn shaky, people dress more conservatively.

Also, because many employees took their company's casual dress policies to extremes, many dress codes are being revamped. Worried about the negative impact of employees coming to work dressed either too sloppy or too provocative, human resources professionals are issuing new dress guidelines that suggest that employees return to a more formal business look if it will better position them with customers and colleagues.

It's All About Options

The best course of action is to step back, take a deep breath, and tap into your own common sense. Start by looking at your own industry and the culture of your workplace. If you're a banker, you may want to opt for a suit and tie. If you're writing ad copy, you may want to leave the jacket and tie at home. In both cases, however, dress with an eye to the sensitivities of your particular firm.

Following are some additional tips to help you make sense of dressing in the new economy:

• View your dress as a business communications tool. Your outfit speaks loudly about your professionalism. Make sure it's creating the right impression. Casual dressing doesn't mean never having to iron again. Whatever style of dress you decide to wear, make sure it's wrinkle-free, in good repair, and pulled together with unifying elements such as matching belts and shoes.
• Stand out, but blend in. A neat, tied-together look will help you stand out. Too much jewelry or t-shirts with logos will also help you stand out — but not in a positive way. Clothing that is distracting and calls attention away from the business at hand is inappropriate to wear to work. While noisy bracelets might be fun to wear on evenings and weekends, they can be annoying at a team meeting. A t-shirt with a logo is almost always unacceptable in a professional business environment.
• Plan ahead. Step back before you get dressed in the morning and think about what you'll be doing that day, where you'll be going and who you will be meeting with. Going on a sales call or to an offsite meeting? You might have trouble connecting with your clients if you arrive in a suit and tie and everyone else is wearing khakis and sweaters. Call ahead and ask about the dress code. Receptionists and secretaries are becoming accustomed to answering such questions, and meeting planners have become more savvy about defining dress codes for attendees at the conferences they organize.

Last Word

Companies spend millions of dollars on their identity. Yet, when customers walk through the door, it's the employees they're doing business with. Your dress should reflect your employers' culture, its values and its industry. It should also reflect you. So treat your wardrobe like a tool to achieve your personal and professional goals. Thanks to business casual, you can dress in comfort. But leave the ripped jeans at home.