What should you wear at work?

Do Clothes Still Maketh the Man (and Woman)? A guest post by Black Marketing's  Sofianna Ng. You can also read it here. My reply follows her post.

Chris: “Well what about her then? Look at what she’s wearing, you didn’t object to it…”

Me: “Just because I didn’t say anything, doesn’t mean I don’t object to it...”

Amirah: “Ooooh… Snap, oh no you didn’t…” (Laughter ensues)

And so began another one of those moments in the Black Marketing (BM) office – and open discourse on “What (Not) to Wear” to the office. For the uninitiated, our office is:

Made up mainly of women. By mainly, I mean 95%

The CEO (Chris J. Reed) has a purple mohawk and is allergic to suits.

I admit, I am the catalyst. This all first started when I made a flippant comment from my little corner, when looking up, I saw a candidate walk in a sheer, black lace top (that’s see through in the back), and a body con skirt. Mind you, she is an attractive girl (thus me looking), and she carried the look off – there was nothing wrong with the outfit. My so-called gripe and immediate comment (when I found out what she was here for) was – “Who wears clubbing clothes to an interview?”

And that apparently surprised my boss. Because I myself am not exactly what you would call a “conservative” dresser. He pointed out that sometimes, I too, wear clothes that go quite comfortably from the boardroom to the bar. To which I retorted, yes, but never to an interview.

I understand that in today’s modern corporate world, when mixed with the fickle world of fashion, has changed the rules of what’s appropriate and allowed in the office. This is particularly so in the creative industries. These days, there are even places where shorts and flip-flops are the style du jour. And at BM, one of the ways that Chris tries to cultivate creativity is to allow us to express ourselves freely through dress.

His take – “If you are not meeting anyone, then I don't see why you have to wear anything that you would not feel good about yourself in... in fact, if you are meeting someone they are buying our services, our brains, our knowhow, our experience and our ability to save them time... They tend to be entrepreneurs so don't tend to care what you're dressed in... Go sexy, go conservative, go the way you feel on that day… as long as that makes you a better Black Marketing professional when you meet a client, and when you're just in the office with your head down getting on with stuff.”

Not going to lie, it’s an awesome principle. In theory. Like I mentioned earlier, I understand that the “lines have been blurred,” so to speak, when it comes to office attire these days. But I stand by my (somewhat judgey) comment because at the end of the day, the rules for an interview and the psychology of forming an opinion of a person when you first meet them, have not. Your aim in an interview, is to impress and allow others to form the best opinion of you in their evaluation, and as superficial as it sounds, looks play a part.

“Whether you like it or not, your appearance is the first thing people notice about you–and first impressions are usually formed within the first 30 seconds,” says Brenda Ferguson Hodges, a California-based image consultant and career coach. “Appearance affects hiring decisions and plays a major role. Hiring managers need to be able to visualize you in that position they are trying to fill.”

So what’s my point in all of this? Nothing really, other than I stand by my comment, while fully enjoying the perks of being in BM – creative dressing and crazy coloured hair (thanks Chris). But let’s face it, beyond the experience, I got here because I dressed appropriately for my interview first (sorry Chris).

The reaction I received though, has raised many other questions in my mind, more out of curiousity and an interest in the human psyche than anything else. But the biggest one is: if the girl had not been attractive or even overweight, in the same clothes, would we be having this conversation, or would she have been looked at head to toe and dismissed as unsuitable? Be honest.

In conclusion, I guess while the clothes no longer maketh the man (or woman) anymore (status-wise), it still does make up a huge percentage of people’s perception of you. “Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society” - Mark Twain.

I wrote this piece from a behavioural viewpoint, as opposed to a guideline of what to or not to do / wear. But just a little insider information – if you’re a guy turning up for an interview at BM, don’t show up in a full suit. Just saying…

Cheers Sofie, interesting perspective. So my 2 cents on this is that you can wear whatever you want and whatever you think is appropriate for the person you are meeting or the environment that you work in.

I let my team make the call. I don't dress differently for meeting a CEO to having an interview, speaking at a conference to leading a team event, it's all me....the only time I wear  a jacket is for speaking/events and half the time that comes off as I found no one cares what I wore and if I do it's more to carry my business cards and the ones I collect around with me! Plus they tend to be funky jackets anyway!

I tell my team that at the office itself if you are not meeting anyone then I don't see that you have to wear anything that you would not feel good about yourself in. If you are meeting someone they are buying our services, our brains, our knowhow, our experience and our ability to save them time. They tend to be entrepreneurs and CEO's of both MNC's and SME's and therefore beyond needing to impress someone in a suit and they certainly don't tend to care how you're dressed.

So I tell my team go sexy, go conservative, go the way you feel on that day, as long as that makes you a better Black Marketing professional when you meet a client or/and when you're just in the office head down getting on with stuff that's got to be your call and the way that you feel. If you dress to impress but feel uncomfortable then you're not going to give of your best.

When I worked at The Times I worse a stripey suit, waistcoat and tie in the 90's and you know what it made no difference. It was more about my confidence in dealing with the top people at News Corp than anything else, super powerful editors and execs who all went to Oxbridge (I needless to say did not!).

Now I don't care and I have the confidence, the credibility and the experience. If people don't like it then I won't be untrue to myself in order just to win business. It's always been much more of a talking point and a positive than it has ever been a negative. No one has ever not bought our services because of my mowhawk or me not wearing a suit, in fact the reverse is true.

Personal branding, any event people know who I am, any bar any restaurant in Singapore. So i tell my team dress how you want, express yourself and go get noticed, remind people who we are, stand out, make a difference, what we do is unique, so be unique and we pick continually up more clients because our brand is different than not and that has to be reflected in the way you feel and the way you wish to dress.

Express yourself. I gave my staff the ultimate employee benefits, we pay for them to dye their hair but it has to be a unique and cool colour. I told my team to go purple, go blue, go red, go green. I told them you have the power, you dress how you want that enables you to do the best things for our clients...and feel good about yourself at the same time, go for it.