Cracking The Dress Codes of Business

Cracking The Dress Codes Of Business

DRESS CODES OF BUSINESS

Company dress codes are not well defined and are rarely written down. They are mostly gleaned by observing: “What is there basis dress code that every office usually falls into, as one personal dress code. Follow these guidelines and you will be safe.

CORPORATE DRESS CODE

The most formal standard of dress there is, the corporate dress code means suits with shirts, usually white and ties. This the dress code of law firms and investment banks. In the past few years, the corporate dress code has eased somewhat, but it is recently coming black strong. Once again, the “suits” upstairs are wearing suits.

BUSINESS CASUAL DRESS CODE

If every day were casual Friday, this is the dress code that would apply. In the business casual world, not only is a suit not necessary, but a jacket may not even be required. But a casual dress code does not mean that you can let it all hang out. In fact, neatness may count more than ever in this environment. If you wear khakis and a white oxford shirt to work most days, make sure they’re clean and pressed. Polish your shoes and never wear sneakers to the office. Wear sweaters that fit well and not ones that are baggy, wrinkled, or have holes in them. A sense of professionalism must be maintained at all times.

THE EVOLUTION OF BUSINESS APPROPRIATE

Business has often been cast as a Darwinian struggle, and the development of business appropriate dress in the workplace is an excellent example of the phenomena. Over the past 20 year the pendulum of corporate dress has swung from one extreme to the other: Starting with the buttoned-up world of pinstripes and power ties to the worn down world of faded jeans and T-shirts. CEOs of powerful industries established both trends. In the go-go days of the Wall Street-tech bubble it became practically mandatory to dress casually to establish your credentials.Then the bubble burst, and as the economy changed so did the dress landscape. A new dress code evolved, not from the top down but instead lead by the people on the job. Without a memo in sight, people stared to upgrade their look jacket with nice dress shirts and slacks, and even an occasional tie. There’s tacit evolutionary understanding that as the times get tougher, the smart species survives by adapting to the environment.And so business appropriate has emerged as midpoint between business casual and corporate dress codes. Silicon Valley meets the man in the gray flannel suit, and business appropriate is the offspring.

BUSINESS APPROPRIATE AND BUSINESS APPROPRIATE CASUAL DRESS CODE

This dress code is somewhere between corporate and casual, and can, in some ways, be the most difficult to navigate. The business appropriate dress code requires that you have a secure sense of what is appropriate for your office and industry. A suit is no longer mandatory, but if you wear one perhaps you don’t put on a tie with a dress shirt. A sport jacket and trousers with a dress shirt would also be an acceptable alternative. In the business appropriate world, one can even opt to wear a nice polo shirt or sweater with a sport jacket. The idea is that you can allow yourself some comfort, but you must always look polished and professional.
The Evolution of Dress Codes
Corporate
SUIT
Mandatory
SHIRT AND TIE
Mandatory
The suit and tie ensemble is a constant. A classic of American business, it has grow from a stiff authoritative structure to a more comfortable expression of business. But don’t be confused. It is still about joining the club
Casual
JACKET: WITH TEE
Mandatory
WITH SHIRT OR SWEATER
Optional
JEANS
Only okay if you’re the boss or the office is homeThe days of “whatever, I’m too busy” or “too creative to bother about what I’m wearing” are over. Casual means pulled together, nothing faded or ragged. In many ways it’s difficult to pull off without appearing to be trapped at summer camp.
Business Appropriate
SHIRT
Mandatory
TIE
Optional
JACKET
Mandatory
SUIT
Preferred
Rapidly becoming the “new stander,” it is more about dressing the context of the day or occasion to tie or not to tie is the question. But there is a covert understanding that a jacket is a necessity.
Business Appropriate Casual
SHIRT OR SWEATER
Mandatory
JACKET
Not required but preferred
“Casual” under this dress code means understanding that a more relaxed look is not an excuse to look like you came into work during the weekend. A good rule of thumb is if you’re called in to see CEO you won’t need to make excuses about being casual.

Get Job
YOUR DRESS CODE
Regardless of the dress code employed by your office or industry, over time you will begin to develop your own sense of style and perhaps even some sartorial trademarks. Do you only wear ties with polka dots on them? Are you the kind of man who insists on cowboy boots with a suit? Does everyone notice your cuff links? Whatever your personal dress code is, you must, of course, still look professional. And as you climb the corporate ladder, it will become easier to express your personality through your clothes. After all, who will tell the boss he shouldn’t wear pink checked shirts?

LERNING INDUSTRY DRESS CODES

Just as offices have dress codes, too, do industries. And even if your office does not adherer to the industry standard, when you go for an interview or meeting at another office, the best preparation is to research what that company’s policy is. Call someone in the human resources department and get a sense of what the guidelines are. In general, industry dress codes have become more relaxed, but a safe rule would be to maintain a high level of dress whenever you are uncertain. Going to a law office? Wear a suit and tie. Meeting people at an advertising agency? Business appropriate would not be inappropriate. Feeling at ease with the way you are dresses will alleviate some of the pressures that you may be feeling about the job itself.

DRESS CODE EXCEPTIONS

Even if you understand your office industry dress code perfectly, there will still be exception to the rules. For instance, you work in a corporate dress code office, but there is an off-site workshop at a local hotel and you have been told you can dress down. The smart move would be to dress business appropriate. Or perhaps you work in a business appropriate office but you are meeting clients for lunch who are business casual. Simple solution: Remove your tie. No matter what the situation is you should always be prepared to adapt your wardrobe and get down to business.

Due Diligence
SHOE TREE
nother smart investment aid more consistent than your friends’ stock tips shoe trees are cedar molds that fit inside your shoes. They help dry out the sweat of the day, keep the leather from sinking and cracking, and keep your shoes odor-free and new looking.

NO EXCEPRION

Want to be sure to create a bad impression in whatever dress code your employer prescribes, or blow your job interview? It’s simple: Never polish your shoes, let the heels get worn and the leather cracked. If however, you would rather make a good impression or land that new job, some preventive maintenance can a long way.


SHINER
Either go to pro or spend some time each weekend 15 minutes per pair polishing your shoes 1. Take a rag that’s moist and swirl good wax polish on your shoe in a circular motion. 2. Keep up this motion as the previous shine disappears and is replaced with a deeper shine. 3. Then use another rag and buff to the shine level you prefer. Buy an edge dressing, which is simply a dye to paint the leather edges. Every six months have your shoe repairman check the soles-good for shoes, good for your career.

We Remain with Best Regards,
E-tailor at www.mycustomtailor.com

Clothes Talk, People Listen

“We’d all like to be taken for what we’d like to be.”MALCOLM FORBES“

In corporations where a shirt-sleeve atmosphere reigns, it is possible to acquire high visibility by always wearing a jacket, which makes one look more solid, conservative and reliable than anyone else.MICHAEL KORDAPower

!In the high-tech, high-speed world we live in, instant gratification is often not soon enough. We like our news 24 hours a day and expect tomorrow’s information to be here yesterday. Among the many perils of this fast-paced society is that we are quick to make judgments about the appearances of others. In such a world, we need to send signals immediately and hope that people get the message we intend to send.

When Steven Case, chairman of America Online, and Gerald Levin, chairman of Time Warner, nearly as much news as their two companies, their clothing generated nearly as much news as their business deal. Case, the epitome of a laid-back dot-com mogul, appeared at the press conference in a tie, while Levin, a lifelong corporate soldier, chose not to wear one. Of course, at the CEO level, one can, for the most a clear signal that two corporate worlds had already begun to blend.

CLOTHES-MINDED
So what are your clothes saying about you? It’s not always easy to know because, like having bad breath or spinach in your teeth, people are not likely to tell you when you are dressed inappropriately. The goal is to determine the ultimate message you want to send. And for the most part, that message is simple: You want to appear competent at all times and show people that you belong.
Each office, whether it’s a white-show law firm or a red-hot advertising agency, has a dress code. Adhere to it and you signal to everyone that you are part of the team. This Is not to say that individuality can’t be expressed, but sometimes the best impression is no impression at all. In other words, you dress so appropriately for the office that no one notices. It is simply assumed that always look the part.Of course, adhering to the clothing standards of an office or industry does not guarantee that you will make a good impression. Imagine the two junior salesmen with very similar skill sets are up for the same promotion at an insurance company where the men all wear suit or sport and most wear ties. One of the candidates always dress in a sport jacket, crisp white shirts, and creased trousers, but he never wears a tie. The other always wears a suit and tie to the office, but his shirts are usually wrinkled, his ties are frequently stained, and his shoes look as though they haven’t been shined since he bought them. Who gets the job? Well, the first guy may never wear a tie, but he clearly pays attention to other clothing details, and others will relate that to his work ethic. He looks sharp and ready for action and eventually, perhaps from the money he’ll get from the promotion, he’ll get himself a few ties.

The lesson here is that dressing smart is not always about dressing formally. Paying attention to the subtleties of style may impact your appearance far more than simply adhering to an overall dress code.

DRESSING AS IF YOUR PROFESSIONAL LIFE DEPENDED ON IT

In today’s business environment, there are more potentially hazardous clothing situations than ever breakfast meetings, client lunches, black-tie dinners, golf outings, board presentations, TV appearances and dressing smart means you have to be prepared for every one of them. Clearly, you cannot wear the same outfit for all of those occasions, but you can maintain a certain standard that suggests you could be ready for any one of then at a moment’s notice. For instance, a coworker calls in sick and can’t make in to a charity dinner that night. Your boss mentally runs through replacement options. He knows that you come to work in a suit every day, so he asks if you have a tuxedo. You do, of course, and suddenly you become the tenth person at the table seated two places away from the CEO.How to Dress Smart-The Chic Simple Process

ASSESS, DEJUNK, RENEW-UNDERSTANDING THE CHIC SIMPLEE PROCESS
Building the perfect work wardrobe does not happen by accident. You could go to work for a decade and not have a proper wardrobe because you didn’t identify your needs carefully enough. You could have built one in several years, but because you didn’t take care of your clothes properly, they are actually working against you. Or perhaps you simply have a wardrobe that is outdated.

The key to an ideal work wardrobe can be explained in there easy steps:

1. ASSESS: YOUR LIFE, YOUR CLOSET
When you are finally ready to be serious about professional life, you have to accept this reality: All the clothes you normally wear are play clothes. Sure, you may get compliments on them and they might even look fine in a nice restaurant, but your career is serious business and you should now understand now understand that you must have work clothes to match.
The first step in assessing your clothing needs is to recognize that your closet is like your desk. The better organized your desk is, the easier it is to find that stapler you need. The same is true is true for shirts and ties, shoes and suits. Arrange your closet by work and play, week and weekend. The suits stay with the sport jackets, the jeans and khakis are arranged with each other. Your dress shirts should be easily delineated from the casual shirt you wear on Saturdays. Sneakers don’t mix with dress shoes, and so no. With a little bit of work your closet will be ready for work.

2. DEJUNK: TAKING INVENTORY
Now that your closet is neatly arranged, what do you have in there? Are there clothes you haven’t worn is a year or so? Get rid of them. Are there sport jackets that are too big? Take them to the tailor. Pants that are two sizes too small? Give them to a thinner friend. Ties with soup stains? Let the dry cleaner hit the spot. Shoes with holes in them? Walk away.
The best way to determine your needs is to make a list. In one column, list all the thing in your closet. In the column next to it, name all the clothing that would make that item more versatile Left: Black-and-white houndstooth jacket. Right: White shirt, black tie, gray pants, black pants, black shoes, gray polo sweater>. The right-hand side will then become your shopping list. And if there are items in the list that can go with several other things in your closet such as the gray trousers, then circle those items and make them a priority when shopping. The more versatile the purchase, the smarter the shopper.

GOT SILK?
Too overwhelmed to deal with your closet? Start small. Look at your collection of ties the gifts, the mistakes and start to divide into recycle and keepers. Next week take the keeper pile and do it again.

We remain with Best Regards,
E-tailor at www.mycustomtailor.com