Why is everyone down dressing these days?

Why? Why do more and more professionals dress casually these days? Is it due to comfort, trends or a apathy.

Who could have guessed that IT workers would be one day setting fashion trends. Perhaps during the tech boom and dot com era twenty-something year olds in hoodies were sitting at the head of conference tables and the trend carried on. How about in todays world where profits are down, bankruptcy is up and even the most loyal of employees are getting the can, changes need to be made. Time is money and you can't afford to look as though you spent an extra fire minutes this morning ironing your collar and looping the perfect half-Windsor. There is a new feeling in the work place, "if you look good, your not working hard enough" which says a lot about priorities and effective business mentality.

Merit should be established from abilities that come from the inside, not the outside. Take a look at the late Steve Jobs, well known for his black turtleneck. It's a casual, brilliant and professional look that simply works.

Woman in the office can be under more criticism about their attire, a double standard of sorts. Dress too well and allegations of unprofessional or distracting behavior can be thrown around. Dress too casually and it has the exact opposite consequences.