What Not To Wear

Much ado has been made of what you wear, and more recently, “What Not to Wear”. I know that I have certainly had my fill of Stacy London on the Today Show dressing everyone from Boomers to babies. Does your what you wear to work still matter?

If you ask the writers of the countless books on what to wear to interviews, most notably, John T. Molloy (author of Dress for Success and New Women’s Dress for Success), you’ll get a resounding “Yes”. But, if you ask me, it’s much ado about very little.

There was a time when clothing did indeed make the man, a time when “dressing the part” was key to success. That time ended in most workplaces sometime in 1997 with the triumphant beginning of the dot.com era. In addition to being a time of instant and eye-popping wealth, the dot.com era also represented a big shift to the casual workplace. Suddenly guys in jeans and tees, not guys in pinstripes, were making all the moves and the money and everybody else wanted to be a part of it. Employers in traditional industries tried to simulate the environment of dot-com companies to keep employees from jumping ship. They brought back “casual fridays” and instituted “business casual” policies. The result was an environment where employees were supposedly happier because they could work more comfortably at work. Well, the bubble burst in 2001, but the casual dress codes remain.
Today, post-dot.com era, many workplaces have very general dress code policies. Most simply ask that you exhibit a professional appearance, that you are neatly groomed and that you not wear clothing with offensive writing or big logos. The expectation is that employees and candidates hoping to be hired will dress “appropriately” for the workplace.

What does “appropriate” mean?

If you are applying for a job you should know how current employees usually dress when they report to work. That’s how you’ll know what’s appropriate. If you don’t know what employees there usually wear, visit the office or work location a few days before your first interview. If it’s not possible to visit the location before, ask the HR representative or the recruiter and visit the company’s website to see if there are photos of employees. If all else fails, over-dress. It’s far better to dress better than you need to than to dress too casually.

So to answer the question asked at the start of this article…Yes, what you wear to work does still matter…just not as much anymore and not as a rule. Happily, many employers have recognized that pinstripe suits and high heels and hose don’t make people smarter or more productive, and relinquishing that bit of control won’t create chaos or alienate most clients. You’ll note this is true in most retail, tech/IT, creative and marketing firms.
In those environments that still need that bit of control, those who still serve clients who are reassured by Armani suits and shiny shoes, you will, unfortunately, have to conform to the very traditional dress code. This will generally be true if you are applying for work in more traditional industries like banking, financial services, accounting, legal services and professional services/consulting.

Still other work environments have settled in the middle, opting for uniforms that are casual enough to be comfy, but still appropriate and controlled. Retailers, restaurants and supermarkets are famous for this. The good part about this is that you’ll never have to worry about what to wear after the interview. The downside is that you and a few hundred of your friends will be gold-dust twins.

That’s my commentary on the issue of what to wear to work. If you hadn’t picked it up, I think the topic is a little fluffy. I think there is far too much emphasis placed on attire and far too little emphasis placed on talent. I also believe that some clothing and appearances can be distracting and offensive to co-workers and clients, and thus should be weeded out. That said, I recognize that we don’t own the companies we work for, and we have to please our employers’ customers in order to stay employed. So, it would be irresponsible to downplay the fact that we must all abide by certain standards of dress and appearance in order to land and keep jobs.

So, here’s a guide to ensuring that you are dressed and quaffed appropriately.
What You Should NOT Wear to an Interview:

Short skirts
Tight pants (both men and women)
Jeans
Flip-flops or sandals
Sneakers
T-shirts, tanks, sleeveless or low-cut tops
Caps or hats
Clothing with big logos
Edgy hairdos (unnatural hair colors, spikes or big hair, patterns shaved into your scalp, wild crimping, too many barrettes, combs or beads)
Unkept facial hair
Sunglasses
Hoodies
Too much bling (Nugget rings, huge chains or necklaces, noisy charms or bracelets, dental jewelry, big distracting earrings)

What You SHOULD Wear to an Interview:

Khakis or slacks (Natural, sage, brown, black or grey) and not too baggy
Button-down shirts or polo shirts (brand doesn’t matter)
Shoes or boots in good condition (anything nice)
Neatly-styled hair (Note: If you currently wear a style that may be considered “edgy” or “ethnic”, either change it before the interview if it’s not appropriate for the workplace in which you want to work OR wear it proudly so that the employer knows what to expect from day one and can either accept/not accept)
Well-groomed facial hair or clean-shaven
Conservative jewelry (a watch, a ring and a necklace, at most)

This should get you through the interview. The dress code will tell you what to where once you’re hired.

More information on what to wear to work