Most people don't realize that in their workplace there is an established level of what type of clothes people wear. There is usually an attire range that members of a group follow, an example of this rule would be an intern might just wear a dress shirt, pants, shoes and a tie and at the same time someone in an executive position would wear a three piece suit. Both people wear relatively similar attire but are different based on their respective positions.
Also, an employee midway between the intern and executive positions could be, lets say, a supervisor. The supervisor would most likely dress more professionally than the intern and not so professionally as the executive, therefore the supervisor would probably dress the same as the intern but with a suit jacket as well.
Monday
Thursday
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.
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.
Can Dressing Casually Effect Your Productivity?
A study done at The Master's College wanted to determine if a casual dress code would have an affect on staff and students' performance.
"The research indicated that although there is an effect on performance because of casual dress in the workplace, the type of effect has not been observed or classified by work-study supervisors at The Master’s College since the relaxing of the campus dress code. Therefore, it was determined that casual dress does not have a defined effect on performance in the workplace."
This is interesting because it seems what people wear can have an affect on who they behave. I would like to see what further studies of this nature uncover about human psychosocial behavior.
For students of course I would think casual apparel would lead to a better performance whereas in a professional setting casual apparel would have a negative impact on performance.
Most if not all of us have been in both the classroom and office environments. Perhaps we already know a thing or two about what influences come from what we and our peers wear.
"The research indicated that although there is an effect on performance because of casual dress in the workplace, the type of effect has not been observed or classified by work-study supervisors at The Master’s College since the relaxing of the campus dress code. Therefore, it was determined that casual dress does not have a defined effect on performance in the workplace."
This is interesting because it seems what people wear can have an affect on who they behave. I would like to see what further studies of this nature uncover about human psychosocial behavior.
For students of course I would think casual apparel would lead to a better performance whereas in a professional setting casual apparel would have a negative impact on performance.
Most if not all of us have been in both the classroom and office environments. Perhaps we already know a thing or two about what influences come from what we and our peers wear.
Know What to Wear From Day One
First impressions are important, someone can form an opinion about you before you even say hello. Knowing what to wear is crucial in business it is a way of telling other people who you are, what you want and what you are capable of before you say anything and if done well it will have a lasting impression.
With all the different fashions and trends out there and new ones always popping up it can be mind boggling what is appropriate especially in a new work environment when you are just starting out. So what is someone starting out supposed to do? Well before your first day on the job you will need to visit the workplace for an interview and in many cases a second interview. While there you should take the time to observe what your 'could be' coworkers are wearing. In addition try to spot some common similarities such as tie clips or pulled back hair, little things that will make the integration process smoother. Another valuable source to observe will be your interviewer(s) depending on if it is one-on-one or a panel. Typically your interviewer will be your potential supervisor and/or people above him/her. Taking note of what your coworkers and superiors wear is a sure fire way to dress so that you will fit right in on the first day.
With all the different fashions and trends out there and new ones always popping up it can be mind boggling what is appropriate especially in a new work environment when you are just starting out. So what is someone starting out supposed to do? Well before your first day on the job you will need to visit the workplace for an interview and in many cases a second interview. While there you should take the time to observe what your 'could be' coworkers are wearing. In addition try to spot some common similarities such as tie clips or pulled back hair, little things that will make the integration process smoother. Another valuable source to observe will be your interviewer(s) depending on if it is one-on-one or a panel. Typically your interviewer will be your potential supervisor and/or people above him/her. Taking note of what your coworkers and superiors wear is a sure fire way to dress so that you will fit right in on the first day.
Tuesday
Dress For The Job You Want
A good policy to go by in furthering your career is to Dress for the job you want. In the highly competitive job market, you can't afford to put yourself at any disadvantages. But, thousands of people go to job interviews every day wearing the wrong clothes and sending the wrong message before they even say a word. It is as if they are turning up to an ice-skating rink wearing rollerblades. The styles, colors, lengths and fit of your fashion choices will speak volumes about your ability to do your job. If you are concerned about your career, you'll be more concerned with looking professional than looking cute or trendy. In general the more distracting a piece of clothing or jewelry is, the less appropriate it is for office wear.
Saturday
Perils of Casual Apparel in the Workplace
You can divide the members of any organization into two sides; the people up top and the people down low. As you can imagine the upper positions of an organization carry a higher standard, and thus a more relaxed standard lower down. But all over employers generally oppose casual apparel because employees push the boundaries on what is appropriate, they say that absenteeism, tardiness, and flirtatious behavior have increased since dress-down policies were implemented. Relaxed dress codes also lead to less productivity and lax behavior. Most people agree that authority and credibility of casual apparel executives are undermined. Also customers are more resistant of casually attired employees.
Friday
Evolution of Suits and Briefcases in the Workplace
If you've worked in a corporate environment over the past few decades you will recollect what I will be talking about. If you haven't then this should be educational and entertaining for you.
Suits
So in this post I just want to talk about some changes in apparel over the past few decades, I cannot provide dates because changes are gradual so I will be giving you rough timelines. First I want to take a look at suits. Suits were mandatory for businessmen back in the 50's, 60's, mid 70's, then in the late 70's it became more common for businessmen to wear a colorful suit (lime green jacket with a yellow tie) and a mustache. I think this is interesting because it seems to reflect the popular culture of the time in North American with the flashy colors, more laid back attitude and abstract approaches. Into the 80's suits switched back to neutral colors but this seems to have been the beginning of dress codes that did not require jackets and in many cases no tie either. This style continued into the 90's and most of the 2000's. But these days I've noticed more and more businesspeople are switching back to full suits including the coat. I think it is interesting how the styles change with such regularity and what will change within the next few years. Will businesses go back to everyone wearing a full suit, dress shirt or something else entirely? Briefcase
Second, I want to talk about the evolution of briefcases in the workplace. Everyone can picture the old-timely businessman walking into work with a leather bound briefcase packed with folders and documents. But what happened to briefcases? The answer is, they have been replaced. The way I see it is as technology advances, the environment that surrounds them must change as well in order to compliment the technology as best it can. So with this in mind you probably have an idea of what happened to briefcases. These days everything is digital, email, documents, planners, it is all accessible through our computers and more recently the advances in smartphones and tablet devices. So these days there is no need to carry stacks of paper that are all on your USB flash drive which weighs only 6 grams. So in many ways the briefcase has been replaced by the laptop bag, they can be carried over the shoulder so weight is distributed evenly amongst the body and no need to put it down and forget it somewhere. What do you think the future has in store for how people transport their documents and possessions?
So in this post I just want to talk about some changes in apparel over the past few decades, I cannot provide dates because changes are gradual so I will be giving you rough timelines. First I want to take a look at suits. Suits were mandatory for businessmen back in the 50's, 60's, mid 70's, then in the late 70's it became more common for businessmen to wear a colorful suit (lime green jacket with a yellow tie) and a mustache. I think this is interesting because it seems to reflect the popular culture of the time in North American with the flashy colors, more laid back attitude and abstract approaches. Into the 80's suits switched back to neutral colors but this seems to have been the beginning of dress codes that did not require jackets and in many cases no tie either. This style continued into the 90's and most of the 2000's. But these days I've noticed more and more businesspeople are switching back to full suits including the coat. I think it is interesting how the styles change with such regularity and what will change within the next few years. Will businesses go back to everyone wearing a full suit, dress shirt or something else entirely? Briefcase
Second, I want to talk about the evolution of briefcases in the workplace. Everyone can picture the old-timely businessman walking into work with a leather bound briefcase packed with folders and documents. But what happened to briefcases? The answer is, they have been replaced. The way I see it is as technology advances, the environment that surrounds them must change as well in order to compliment the technology as best it can. So with this in mind you probably have an idea of what happened to briefcases. These days everything is digital, email, documents, planners, it is all accessible through our computers and more recently the advances in smartphones and tablet devices. So these days there is no need to carry stacks of paper that are all on your USB flash drive which weighs only 6 grams. So in many ways the briefcase has been replaced by the laptop bag, they can be carried over the shoulder so weight is distributed evenly amongst the body and no need to put it down and forget it somewhere. What do you think the future has in store for how people transport their documents and possessions?
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