One Size Does Not Fit All - Analysis on Professional Dress
One Size Does Not Fit All
In recent years, the trend of informality and casual dress in corporate America has gained popularity. The majority of employers and companies have shifted their dress codes from more traditional business attire (business suit and tie) to a “business casual” mode of dress. Recently, “a poll by the Society for Human Resources Management shows that 90% of U.S. office workers go to work in business casual clothes at least once per week.” (Norton 1) Under the impression that a more casual clothing code would result in enhanced employee satisfaction, morale, and productivity, the implementation of “dress down” days and “Casual Fridays” have become ordinary in corporate America. With any culture shift, this new tendency has created controversy and disagreement in the business world. What remains to be determined is: Do less formal dress codes really benefit businesses? While more casual dress codes may be effective in portraying a friendly, approachable working environment, dressing down may damage a company’s image. With that being said, do the costs of implementing an informal dress code outweigh the benefits? This seemingly uniform shift towards the “business casual” trend of dress, however, does not seem to be the most beneficial. A certain amount of strategy can be employed to help enhance dress codes and, in effect, further assist businesses.
Defining Business Casual
To fully understand what has become known as “business casual” one must look back to the history of dress code trends. Traditional workplace attire once included a suit and tie, much else was typically frowned upon as being unprofessional. With the “dotcom boom”, many information technology businesses in Silicon Valley adopted a more casual dress code in response to an energy crisis at the time that forced employers to raise thermostat settings. This new mode of dress (losing the jacket and tie) quickly became popular in America, and more recently, has
In recent years, the trend of informality and casual dress in corporate America has gained popularity. The majority of employers and companies have shifted their dress codes from more traditional business attire (business suit and tie) to a “business casual” mode of dress. Recently, “a poll by the Society for Human Resources Management shows that 90% of U.S. office workers go to work in business casual clothes at least once per week.” (Norton 1) Under the impression that a more casual clothing code would result in enhanced employee satisfaction, morale, and productivity, the implementation of “dress down” days and “Casual Fridays” have become ordinary in corporate America. With any culture shift, this new tendency has created controversy and disagreement in the business world. What remains to be determined is: Do less formal dress codes really benefit businesses? While more casual dress codes may be effective in portraying a friendly, approachable working environment, dressing down may damage a company’s image. With that being said, do the costs of implementing an informal dress code outweigh the benefits? This seemingly uniform shift towards the “business casual” trend of dress, however, does not seem to be the most beneficial. A certain amount of strategy can be employed to help enhance dress codes and, in effect, further assist businesses.
Defining Business Casual
To fully understand what has become known as “business casual” one must look back to the history of dress code trends. Traditional workplace attire once included a suit and tie, much else was typically frowned upon as being unprofessional. With the “dotcom boom”, many information technology businesses in Silicon Valley adopted a more casual dress code in response to an energy crisis at the time that forced employers to raise thermostat settings. This new mode of dress (losing the jacket and tie) quickly became popular in America, and more recently, has