Obey the office dress code
I started a new assignment with a new client last week. Now that fall is here, I am starting to break out my sweaters again. They felt really good last week when I was at the heigh of my cold. On the second day, they joked with me about the dress code requirement that everybody must wear a shirt with a collar. You can wear a sweater, but it must have a shirt with a collar underneath it.
That is a new dress code requirement that I have never heard at any other place I have been to. They joked that nobody cares until that one random person in the office decides to report you. As a consultant, I am not going to be pushing it.
But, several people in the office do. I have seen people in sweaters and others in shoes that were a little too casual. Still others wear shirts that might be a little to old to wear.
I personally have a couple pair of pants that I am working on phasing out because the cuffs are a little tattered. Over the last couple weeks, I have bought three new pair of pants and plan on picking up a couple more to round out the wardrobe.
I am not a fancy dresser but I do what I can to avoid getting in trouble. Smarter employees than me show up to work dressed in new, clean, ironed clothes regularly. They don’t just obey the dress code. They exceed it.
Fancy clothes will not get you big promotions. You still have to know how to do the job. Dressing well does make you look like you are happy to be at work. They make you look more confident. But, dressing for success in addition to having the job skills will help separate you from the other guys that may not look as sharp.
Which reminds me. I still need to pick up some more pants and maybe get a new pair of shoes over the next few weeks. I try not to think of it as a work investment, though. Instead, I think of it as an investment on date night. My wife is probably more sick of some of my old clothes than my coworkers.
My new rule of thumb is that if I get home from work and don’t have at least a little concern of the kids getting my clothes dirty then it is probably time for the item to get pulled out of work rotation.
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POSTED IN: Dressing For Work
1 opinion for Obey the office dress code
Reba
Oct 24, 2006 at 7:12 am
They say dress for the job you want, not the job you have. When I work with new trainees, I tell them to look nice on group meeting days. Sure, its not required, but when everyone is assembled in one place, do you really want to be the one who sticks out because you are wearing a overwashed sweater with pills on it? Save that sweater for a day when you’ll be sitting all alone in your cube all day.
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