CASUAL APPAREL IN THE WORKPLACE
Your office do`s and don't s
What does that mean ?
To many it can mean to dress completely conservative or to other it can be dress in whatever you feel is comfortable.
Being comfortable is good but not necessarily the idea of appropriate dressing. An old t-shirt and baggy sweat pants sounds nice and cozy but not suitable in an office environment.
Over exposure is never appropriate at a workplace,
not only does it disturb some of the employee's but is also distracting to others.
Appearance is key when it comes to first impressions. For example lets say you have a meeting in the morning with the CEO of the company you are working for, now would you present yourself dressed in what is most comfortable to you or would you dress sophisticated and professional.
Appearance is crucial when it has to do with being professional. Can you really take someone serious in a workplace if they show up to work in shorts and a t-shirt ?
To be professional you must dress professionally, and yes comfortable is always nice but dress properly and accordingly.
A casual look is always suitable at any workplace because not only does it have a professional approach to it but it is not distracting or uncomfortable, so something like dress pants and a business top.
Next time before you go to work just stop to think and see if what your wearing is appropriate for the workplace or not. Try avoiding wearing any kind of summer clothing or hats and stay away from anything that is tight fitted.
Remember you want to be taken seriously in the workplace rather than being the office clown who doesn't know how to dress.
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Amrita,
ReplyDeleteIts good that you talk about first impressions. I think thats one of the most important things to keep in mind- especially in the workplace. In my opinion you should always be dressed to impressed, unless of course your job doesn't call for it. Theres advantages to both a professional workplace that requires workers to dress professionally and a more normal day to day job where you can dress casually or however you like (with certain restrictions). I personally work at a place where I can where whatever I like which is nice. However, there is something about dressing up in a suit that makes you feel so nice!
Anyways, I look forward to seeing more tips for men.
Cheers,
Ruben
Hey Amrita,
ReplyDeleteGreat post. This was an interesting read, particularly because in my work experience for different companies, dress code has always been an important factor.
I definitely agree with your point on first-impressions at one's workplace, because it's true - people's perceptions of you can get mistranslated simply because of what you choose to wear.
However, business casual, as you said is the perfect middle-ground at the workplace in terms of dressing casual and professional simultaneously. Ideally, everyone wants to give themselves every chance of succeeding in their workplace, so presenting yourself professionally is a great start. In fact, I would even go so far to say that it creates an attitude for the way you work.
Overall, I think how you dress in the workplace definitely creates an aura, because it does promote the way in which you would like to be perceived.
That said, keep these posts coming! Perhaps you can provide a few websites that would be good resources for those men/women looking to shop for business-casual clothing.