Dear Mr. Walberg: We are living in a dress-casual environment that seems to be out of control. At my job, co-workers think dress-casual is cotton khakis and golf shirts (with logos). Even my employer hasn’t a clue on presenting a businesslike image. Now, my daughter, a freshman in college, complains that all the girls wear to classes are workout shorts and flip-flops or sneakers, and in cold weather they add tights under the shorts. She thinks it’s a sorority dress code, but hates it! What is your take on dress-casual in the workplace, or “dress-sloppy” as my daughter calls it at school?
– K.P., Pennsylvania via email
Dear K.P.:
My youngest daughter, a junior (and president of her sorority) also hates the work-out shorts look and refuses to play along.
“Dress-casual,” in any venue, is an oxymoron, and is difficult to define and impossible to enforce. In any interpretation, it does not present a “here for business” attitude and leaves anything but a positive impression.
What’s more, at the height of the current economic downturn, many companies I talk to switched from dress-casual to business dress and realized an almost instant upturn in their productivity.
I suggest that the cliches about “dressing for success” and “clothes makes the man (and woman)” are correct, and I have lived through several phases of dress-casual change, and have found the following to be true:
If you dress for business, you perform more effectively, make a serious first impression and leave a favorable lasting memory.
In school or in the workplace, impressions last forever, and although your customers and teachers prefer “dress-sloppy,” they will remember your look when it comes time for doing business, reference letters for internships and networking recommendations.
Send questions to mwalberg@ bellsouth.net.
