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Thursday, September 20, 2007

Poll: What do you wear to work?

What do you wear to work?

How does it affect your personal attitude?

How does it affect how others at work respond to you?

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6 comments:

Amy said...

I dress casually for work, unless I have a meeting.

My students also dress casually for work, more so than I do.

I used to dress business casual. I haven't noticed much difference in how they treat me since I gave in and started wearing jeans.

I enjoy dressing in casual attire because it makes work a more comfortable place to be.

Anonymous said...

My wife recently lauded me for one of my more unique talents: that of the ability to not only wear whatever I feel like, but to get people to compliment me on it.

I'm the Executive Director of the largest Arts organization in Waco. I interact on a daily basis with bank presidents, the mayor, business owners, foundation heads, and other notable people. I am very accustomed to being the youngest person in any room during my normal days. I cultivate that. I intentionally dress a bit more casually than I should. I make sure that my merit speaks for itself and the result is that people tend to view me as young, energetic, creative, and outside-the-box.

If I know I'm going to be around any other Arts organization representatives I go even further out of my way to look young or trendy. It makes them look old and outdated. I make it work.

Do I come off as a bit brash or even cocky? Yep. I try to. It works for me big-time. I've had to. I took over an organization that was struggling for its existence and I needed people to know that the status quo was over and that I represented a major shift in direction and trajectory. The person who held my job before me was a middle-aged woman who was in over her head and everyone knew it. So I make sure everyone knows I'm as opposite of her as possible.

We're now on the verge of breaking all existing sales records only two years out from near closure. So I think it's working out okay.

The Secret Life of Kat said...

Cach...you seriously are doing a great job. My husband and I are young parents who don't get out much and aren't at all into the city social scene, but even we can tell what a difference you've made...

On to Euphrony's question - pj's. That's what we wear until about 10:00am. I'm a stay at home mom and Jimmy works from home, so The Small Person is the only one who gets dressed before 10. Yes, I'm often in my pj's when I drop her off for school and Jimmy has meetings with important people while wearing a pj's and a robe.

Once we actually get dressed our wardrobe basically consists of a variety of t-shirts and jeans.

Sometimes Jimmy will "dress up" for work and put on a button down shirt and khaki's - but he rarely wears shoes.

I don't think our attire affects anyone but us so we just like to be comfy.

euphrony said...

Cach,
So you're saying that its all an act? You're not really young, energetic, creative, and outside-the-box, or even trendy? I know the brash and cocky can't be an act.

Amy, enjoy the comfort.

Kat, I think we can all say that we envy the ability to go to work in a robe - without being a part of the adult services industry, that is. And no shoes is pretty cool, too.

----------------------------------

As for me, I wear the typical "business casual" - some sort of khakis or less expensive equivalent and a button down shirt (short sleeves in the summer and long in the winter, 'cause they keep the office frigid). But that is entirely my choice. A lot of people at work just wear jeans, even tee-shirts. I started dressing this way at my old job; I was doing work that was beyond what someone in my position was supposed to be doing (or even be able to do, if you asked what they really thought). To help make them take me more seriously I started dressing a little more “professionally”, and it helped to remind me to act more professionally, as well. It actually worked, over time, and they may not have liked me doing what I was doing but at least they began to respect my doing it and doing it well. The funny thing is that it caught on! After a while, the people I was trying to get to respect me a little more started dressing more business casual and less jeans and tees.

Now, I actually prefer to wear the khakis and button down shirts. I find the khakis to be more comfortable to me than are jeans, and my button down shirts have pockets (in which I can put my pen and other essential items). I hate polos, though. Never wear them. If I dress more casually it will usually be wearing short pants and a button down shirt (because I still need my pen and other essential items).

Douglas said...

Jeans or khakis and a polo/button down shirt. Mostly business casual. On Fridays I get to wear a Hawaiian shirt and dress down a bit. If no customers are around, I take advantage of shorts days that my office earns by kicking booty in the company food drive. For some reason, I'm the only one that does this. Some people do treat you with more respect if you dress well, but I never thought the added benefit was worth it. I belch and fart and dress the way I want, and let people respect me for my work and caring and not my social graces. Since my office is next to the lone female engineer's office at our branch, I get to test these limits on our employee with the best social etiquette. I know that I have succeeded in breaking her down when I can rip a good one and hear her chuckle from the next office.

MB

Anne said...

I'm late BUT - I wear my jammies to work.

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