Strict Dress Codes Are Alive, Well in Laid-Back L.A. : Fashion: Dressing for success is still the norm in corporate America. Disney spells out the rules. IBM’s are unspoken. Job counselors say in a recession, flamboyance is risky business.
Rumor has it corporate America is dressing down.
The talk started with Converse, makers of athletic shoes. Based on a survey of 201 human-resource executives nationwide, the company reported fewer dress codes, shorter skirts, more loafers and more “casual Fridays.” That prompted the media, including the Wall Street Journal, to announce casual is the buzzword of the day.
Now Levi Strauss, makers of 501 jeans, has chimed in with results from a similar survey of 504 human-resource managers nationwide.
So if the rest of the country is hanging loose, just imagine the freedom in laid-back Southern California. Dress-for-success and the codes that bind must be history, right?
Wrong.
Rejecting the dress-down theory, many Southern California executives say the trend is toward more power dressing, not less.
For men, that means business as usual in dark suits, crisp white shirts, tasteful ties and stalwart shoes, such as wingtips. Sport coats, striped shirts, tan or other light colored suits, loafers--even blue blazers--are considered too casual or trendy to cut the corporate mustard in many circles.
Women may have been freed from the tyranny of boring suits and little bow ties, but many still consider it risky business to wear pants, perfume, flashy hosiery, ostentatious jewelry and extreme hemlines (too long or too short) on the job.
Eliminating the risks is critical at Disneyland, according to Carla Marlenee, appearance coordinator for Disney West Coast Resorts and Attractions.
A 15-page manual, titled “The Disney Look,” spells out the rules “for everyone from the hourly employee to vice presidents and presidents,” at all theme parks and resorts, but not at the Disney Studio in Burbank, Marlenee says.
Changes in the manual are rare, but last year there was one. Now, women can wear black, brown, white or gray sheer hose, in addition to standard beige.
Among remaining taboos are: bracelets (they interfere with work); pants without a jacket; earrings larger than a penny; eye liner, eye shadow or false eyelashes; chipped nail polish; “unnatural hair color” (brunettes who go blond and vice-versa) or letting unsightly roots show.
Men cannot wear beards, mustaches or bracelets “except for medical reasons.” Suits, shirts and ties are required for important meetings. But Marlenee says at other times, employees can wear sport jackets with turtleneck sweaters, chambray shirts with ties or “well-tailored” khaki pants.
The rules originated with Walt Disney and remain to protect his dream. “He wanted his theme parks to have nothing to do with the ‘oily’ amusement park image of the past,” Marlenee explains. For employees that translates into “all those buzzwords: well-groomed, classic, neat. “
The words ring true at IBM--where contrary to rumor, there is no printed dress code, just one unwritten rule, according to Richard Martin, communications manager for IBM Los Angeles.
“We say you should dress professionally, so what you wear does not distract from what you are talking about.”
Martin defends aspects of the silent code, such as white shirts, by explaining: “They exist for a practical reason. It’s easier to color coordinate a suit and tie with a white shirt.”
Although he has seen women wearing pants to the office, “it is not widely done,” he notes. And men generally do not wear sport jackets.
Susan Levine--owner of Career Group, a Los Angeles employment agency specializing in secretaries and office managers for Fortune 500 companies--takes dressing for success so seriously, she makes house calls.
Before job interviews, she or one of her counselors will telephone candidates with instructions. “We will tell them exactly what we want them to wear and the image they need to project,” Levine says.
Women are coached to wear neutral-color stockings, a conservative suit or dress and to match the color of their handbag to their shoes. A white handbag with red shoes is a Levine nightmare.
When she lectures in public, she says she is often asked: “What can I do to ensure I’m not laid off?”
Her response: “Do the best job you can and make sure you look great. Dress professionally. Even if you can get away with dressing casually, now is not the time.”
Michael Sitrick, owner of a Century City public relations firm, agrees.
Despite a glitzy clientele that includes Orion Pictures and L.A. Gear, Sitrick says he wears “only conservative suits, because we are in a business where our advice is sought on critical matters. And how you dress affects how you are viewed.”
Aware of flaws in the power suit principle, Sitrick asks: “Do I think how a person dresses is indicative of the quality of their work? Probably not. Do I think it is a fact of life? Yes.”
At Giorgio corporate headquarters in Santa Monica, the fact is addressed in “a fairly open-ended (written) code, which says dress has to be appropriate for the job,” explains Jacqueline Cohen, vice president of communications. “Our goal is to maintain a standard of appearance that is reflective of the Giorgio Beverly Hills image.”
That image has not been affected by the company’s casual Friday. “It allows people to relax a little bit. But we expect Monday through Thursday they will dress more,” says Linda LoRe, president and chief executive officer.
She might wear stirrup pants, which otherwise are not allowed, but the rest of the week LoRe sets the standard others follow. And despite the fashion-related nature of her business, she says: “I don’t dress for shock value. I don’t think it’s a good idea, particularly if you are the CEO of a company.”
Ironically, the freewheeling fashion industry is steeped in dress codes, written or implied. Saks Fifth Avenue in Beverly Hills, for example, used to prohibit trousers for female employees.
“It’s only in the last year, we’ve been allowed to wear pants--with a jacket,” says fashion director Ginny Sydorick. “We had a different manager and he was dead-set against pants. Of course, leggings are a no-no.”
Despite written rules against visible cleavages and tight clothing, such as miniskirts, “people get lax,” Sydorick notes. “Every once in a while, we have to do a fashion show with do’s and don’ts, what is professional and what is not.”
Cynthia Ojeda, project coordinator with a Los Angeles manufacturer of custom furniture, prides herself on knowing what is professional. “A dress code is acceptable to a certain extent,” she says. “But things can get out of hand.”
For Ojeda they got out of hand when she worked in the retail division of Lanz, a California manufacturer of traditional women’s apparel and sleepwear.
Although a Lanz spokesperson denies any pressure on employees, Ojeda says: “There is an unspoken dress code that is kind of spoken, which requires you to own Lanz dresses. It was put very subtly in my briefing. It was basically: ‘You know, it makes our department look good when you wear Lanz dresses.’ ”
Ojeda says she stalled “until our spring samples were up for sale. Then, it was like, ‘OK, girls, let’s pick our dress.’ It was presented as an opportunity to buy at a discounted rate.
“Basically, I had to tone down my wardrobe. I was really limited in what I was able to wear to work, because I didn’t want to invest in this type of merchandise because it wasn’t me.”
Being “me” should be easier for Craig Coogan, a vice president at Cinergi Productions Inc. in Santa Monica. The film company that produced “Medicine Man,” starring Sean Connery, “is very casual,” Coogan says.
But he is not. “I went to prep school in Massachusetts and had to wear a coat and tie every day. And those are the habits one has for life.”
Now that he’s in the Hollywood fast lane, he’s trying to be “a little bit more hip.” A typical show biz outfit for Coogan is a dark olive shirt, khaki slacks, a green and burgundy print tie and a double breasted navy blazer.
But if he meets with bankers, his dress for success image is different. “I’ll kick back into the blue or gray pin-stripe suit and that is when I dust off the white shirt. If, for example, I went out in prefab ripped jeans and a T-shirt with my hair greased back, I’m going to be perceived very differently than if I arrive in my gray suit and red power tie.”
Coogan doesn’t call his suit and tie a costume, but Alison Whalen might.
A partner in the Century City legal firm of Irell & Manella , Whalen says: “It may be true corporations are encouraging employees to dress down. But I don’t see it in the service business, which is essentially my business. In law and finance, you’re trying to create an impression of confidence, not frivolity. In other fields, there is more tolerance for both.”
In practice 10 years, Whalen has seen “changes in style, but not formality. I think especially for a woman, dressing too casually with a client, even a client you know very well, will affect your credibility.”
An Anne Klein fan, she avoids anything “too obvious,” such as sleeveless clothing or dresses and suits with too much color or pattern. “The image I strive for is polished professionalism,” she says.
And like millions in corporate America, she finds dressing by the rules “reassuring. If you feel you’ve put on the right costume, it’s one less thing to worry about.”
