Clothes communicate.
What do yours say about you?
Got style?
Know everything about good business dress?
Answer these 7 questions and find out.
True or False
1. Standard shirt collars are dressier than button down collars.
2. A grey or blue suit, white shirt, and small pattern tie is your best bet when attending a job interview or making a presentation.
3. Accountants who dress down are wise because it creates rapport with casually dressed clients.
4. At work, you should dress for where you want to be, not where you are now.
5. People are more productive in casual clothes.
6. Bosses should wear jackets even on ‘Jeans for Genes’ days.
7. The shoes you wear to work are important indicators of your status.
What the experts say:
1. True. Forget what you've heard, read or think, button down collars arecasual. The buttons originate from the sport of polo where they kept the collar tabs from flapping up into the faces of the players as they galloped around on horseback. Hence, button down is sporty and casual. That’s why you don’t see button down collars at a formal black tie event. Smart dressers won’t even wear them with a double breasted suit.
2. True. This is classic male business wear for a reason: it communicatestrustworthiness. Unless you are in an artistically creative role, departing from this classical look entails risk, ie, you can blow your credibility, fast.
3. False. Clients prefer accountants who look like accountants not swingers. Traditional formal business wear, ie, suit and tie, communicate the professionalism that people seek in their accountant. As always, the issue is credibility. If your image does not mesh with your words, the client won’t buy.
4. False. This is a common misconception. To follow this suggestion strictly is absurd and counter-productive. You think your boss won’t notice that your threads are better than theirs? The objective of ‘dressing above’ your current role is to allow others to visualize you in a more senior role. But use common sense. Dressing like the CEO when you’re a management trainee will backfire, send you broke, and convince people that you lack judgment. Instead, observe how your direct superior dresses – then consider emulating their level of dress.
5. False. There is no reliable evidence that casual dress increases productivity. In fact, there is far more evidence to the contrary. For example, one study of Fortune 500 companies reported that 70% of CEOs claim that casual dress at work reducedproductivity. This finding correlates with our research. We've yet to find a company claiming improved productivity through the adoption of casual dress.
6.True. Jackets denote formal authority for both genders, but especially for women. In one study, 85% of observers assumed that a woman who was not wearing a jacket was junior to her jacket wearing counterpart. So wear your jeans in support of the day – but keep your jacket on if you’re exercising authority as a Manager.
7.True. Shoes are the most revealingsocio-economic indicator that you wear. For centuries our language has used shoe metaphors to convey messages about status, eg, ‘down at the heels’, ‘best foot forward’, ‘shoe on the other foot.’ To convey credibility, your shoes must be in excellent condition and appropriate for the situation. For corporate men, it’s a simple choice between lace ups or slip-on shoes.
Score
7 Correct: Congrats! You should be appearing in GQ instead of reading it.
6 Correct: Excellent! Go to the head of the class.
5 Correct: Good. You’re heading down the right path, probably in well shined shoes.
2-3 Correct: Fair. You’re stumbling down a path, possibly towards unemployment.
1 Correct: Poor. You’re eligible for a federal subsidy for the stylishly challenged.
0 Correct: Congrats! You're a strong candidate to appear on Total Makeover.
