People's dress sense/standards at work

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#1644311 2-Oct-2016 19:01

I don't really believe in dress codes because I don't think grown up professionals should need to be told what is appropriate.

If I'm meeting a client (rarely) I dress in full formal attire. If I'm just hanging around the office then I lose the suit and tie but still wear an ironed business shirt and dress trousers. To me that's common sense.

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#1644313 2-Oct-2016 19:09

I have always prided myself on how I keep my appearance, and my personal hygiene. I was taught to dress for the job I want, not the one I have.

We require a high standard of dress of our client facing staff, but even our not customer facing staff member wears professional clothing.

It's very evident if I go into a retail store in work clothing, vs weekend wear (Which is still presentable and conservative.

I don't wear a tie any-more, but everything else is pretty suit like.

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#1644316 2-Oct-2016 19:28

I think clean and tidy is key, clothes should be properly ironed and not worn out or faded. When working with a customer or someone from a different part of the organisation or from a different company I think it's important to dress with respect and in a manner appropriate for the situation.

When I worked in R&D and in labs the focus was more on high performance teams, creativity and productivity, dress can be an eclectic reflection of that. I think the fashion industry is big enough for there to be a wide enough range of ways for people to dress smartly.

Suits can be a way for both men and women to express themselves, but in the age of equality and freedom of expression it would be a personal choice for the individual I think.

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#1644317 2-Oct-2016 19:28

I used to work with someone who NEVER wore deodorant. Believe me, my eyes used to water when I sat next to her. That was a crime worse than wearing jandles or shorts to work ;-)

lagbort

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#1644358 2-Oct-2016 20:10

Wow, that all sounds awful.

I am a supervisor and myself and my entire team in the office live in jeans and t-shirts, I put on a shirt if I have to go to a client meeting and I changed into black pants with a shirt and tie once or twice when I had to run training sessions at a client site.
People working night shift in our office are often in track pants and slippers.

At least in our environment there is 0 correlation between someone's dress and work standards, even the management team and CEO have now switched to casual dress unless leaving for client meetings.

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#1644369 2-Oct-2016 20:23

Mind you, I am not saying everyone should wear suit. I am saying I do.

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#1644380 2-Oct-2016 20:35

scuwp:

Like @Rikkitic our workplace is more on what people achieve not what they dress like. Clean and tidy is the minimum standard and there are odd exceptions such as when meeting externals or special events, but otherwise reasonably flexible within generally acceptable social standards. Tidy pants and collared shirt is the norm. I present myself and expect my team to present themselves in accordance with the circumstances. If I rocked up to my primary customers with a suit and tie on I would be laughed out of their work-sites.

Yeah a suit & tie would be over the top for me as a graphic designer.

Black shorts. Black button-up shirt. Black socks. Black sneakers. Casual, but tidy. I'm more concerned with how someone does their job, rather than how they look.

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#1644382 2-Oct-2016 20:41

I'm lucky/unlucky in that I wear uniform to work, so have a choice of two

Even luckier, ties stopped being part of the daily uniform a year or so ago. I hate ties; five years of boarding school with ties, stiff collars and too much church has put me off all that

Rikkitic

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#1644391 2-Oct-2016 20:51

lagbort:

Wow, that all sounds awful.

I am a supervisor and myself and my entire team in the office live in jeans and t-shirts, I put on a shirt if I have to go to a client meeting and I changed into black pants with a shirt and tie once or twice when I had to run training sessions at a client site.
People working night shift in our office are often in track pants and slippers.

At least in our environment there is 0 correlation between someone's dress and work standards, even the management team and CEO have now switched to casual dress unless leaving for client meetings.

When I still worked I often wore track pants and slippers at the office when pulling all-nighters. Why not? Comfort aids concentration.

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#1644399 2-Oct-2016 21:20

Its weird isn't it.

There is the firm belief that professionals MUST wear a suit, it part of the rules.

And yet people are against Islamic women being forced to wear clothing dictated by their religious beliefs.

From my POV, there is no difference.

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#1644413 2-Oct-2016 22:03

Not sure why people are against suits. I quite enjoy putting on one. Oddly I do scrutinise people in suits more; on their capability - I'd say on average I deal with less than capable ones who think they can get away with it.

Outside work I do dress down considerably.

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#1644415 2-Oct-2016 22:08

Few years ago, I worked for an American firm and they strongly insisted wearing ties during weekdays except for Fridays (Fridays are for smart casuals). It is the routine. It doesn't matter whether your job role involves meet the customers or not. I found it strange seeing people wearing a tie and staring at monitors. Even stranger, when they did this ritual for years and never met a customer.

I found NZ companies more practical while setting those guidelines. Personally, I believe your dressing sense partially determines your personality.

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#1644416 2-Oct-2016 22:11

It's rare to see people in suits that actually fit them very well, also. The trousers are often far too long and the jackets look as if they have been slept in. I blame the demise of proper tailors.

Don't get me started on people who wear brown shoes with dark suits, either - they are up there with people who wear ready-tied bow ties with their evening dress.

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#1644419 2-Oct-2016 22:19

Rikkitic:

I have always strongly felt that dress codes are demeaning nonsense, like the idiotic obsession with stamping children into identical school uniforms. I detest this practice. I have always felt that people who worry about appearances do so because they lack the brain power to deal with more serious matters.

At the same time, I also think there are minimum standards that must be adhered to. I hate bad manners and poor taste. My dress code is clean and tidy, nothing else. What people wear says nothing about who they are, only who they are trying to pretend to be.

Your stances here are internally inconsistent. If it's demeaning to have standard dress (i.e. standards), why is poor taste a problem? MikeB4 is right: if you dress like a gumboot, you will be treated like one. Whether people like it or not, in most jobs/industries there are generally applicable/expected dress standards. There's no point in deliberately flouting them and making your perceived lack of good taste/consideration for others a central focus.

But you and others have touched on one thing that I think is frequently missed: just because you are in formal looking stuff, it doesn't mean you are meeting standards. Personally, I would rather see someone in a clean, new/newish t-shirt that still retains a good shape and a nice pair of jeans than some clown in a Ermenegildo Zegna blazer and Crane Brothers shirt (real example) that are both worn out and tarty looking. The other thing that the "I want to dress however I like" crowd frequently miss is that NZ is now a very diverse country and you are liable to meet clients from all over the world. There are some cultures (Chinese and Japanese, for example) where sending someone to a client meeting who is perceived to be gratuitously underdressed is perceived as a very strong, unspoken insult or sign of disrespect. Anyone in my field, even as a relatively young professional, is potentially in charge of matters/issues amounting to 7 or 8 figures -- sorry but I ain't risking getting off-side with the other party even the smallest bit in the name of some person's need for individuality.

freitasm:

On another note, dressing up is not easy. There are plenty of crap options around, like those black $150 suits at Hallensteins (seriously, 50% polyester and 50% recicled plastic? No wonder their posters show the models underwater!) and wearing that during the day. With brown shoes. And grey socks. And flower shirt.

A lot of insights in this man's post. I agree with you about dressing up not being easy, especially once you are away from the compulsory full suit and tie environment. Mercifully, there are few of such places remaining -- I personally find places filled with people wearing their jackets and ties whilst sitting and slaving away to be all a bit too stifling. In those types of places, you ironically can't go too wrong. In smart/business casual environments, if one has bad tastes, just do a quick google search and you will get some pretty sound ideas on how to combine items.

I think anyone in any kind of role that requires dressing up a bit (i.e. formal jacket, dress shirt and dress shoes to work) or chooses to, can still easily look a million dollars without too much cost and effort. The key is to find a good brand with consistent sizing/styling and hit their outlet stores and sales. My two favourite brands in this regard are Barkers/Country Road.

I often "hoard" easily worn items like shirt and shoes as the right stuff is made available on sales. Tomorrow I will be wearing a Barkers blazer (bought for $200-odd bucks, with $60 bucks worth of alterations), Country Road shirt ($60-odd bucks), Country Road brogue ($85), and a pair of Barkers chinos (less than $70 plus about $12 bucks for hemming). Many lawyers wouldn't be caught dead in either Country Road or Barkers but most people wouldn't notice whether you are in Crane Brothers or not. Heck, I own two 2k plus (each) suits from Working Style and frankly find wearing them a psychological chore, with the constant worry of wrecking them.

alasta:

I don't really believe in dress codes because I don't think grown up professionals should need to be told what is appropriate.

If I'm meeting a client (rarely) I dress in full formal attire. If I'm just hanging around the office then I lose the suit and tie but still wear an ironed business shirt and dress trousers. To me that's common sense.

Can I +1 this 20 times?

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#1644425 2-Oct-2016 22:34

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