Naked Ambition
At a time when casual Friday has been joined by dress-down Monday through Thursday, in an age where entire industries have shed formal dress codes as if they were whalebone corsets, what a relief to think that we’ve finally achieved a workplace fashion meritocracy.
At last, a sartorial utopia where you’re judged by the content of your “out” basket, not the color of your briefcase. A place where navel rings are an expression of diversity and platform shoes won’t hamper your ascent up the corporate ladder.
Wake up and smell the Armani!
No matter how many studies those casual-garb makers crank out to prove that the grunge look is good for morale and productivity, image mavens say workers should enter this mosh pit of fashion at their peril. How you look can be almost as important as how you perform when you’re trying to catch the eye of upper management.
Forget the egalitarian hype. Dressing for success has gotten tougher than ever precisely because the old ironclad rules have been swept away. The folks in charge have cooked up a whole new fashion ethos while the rest of us struggle to decode the real meaning of “business casual.”
Although you may see a fresh-faced team player in the mirror when you don that golf shirt and khakis on Friday, your boss may see the caddy who lugs her bag down the back nine.
“It has gotten more difficult because the rules are vague . . . and many employers are uncomfortable discussing it,” says Susan Morem, a Minneapolis-based image consultant and author of “How to Gain the Professional Edge.” “You may be making a big mistake in your career because no one is going to tell you about it.”
It’s a fresh obstacle course to the executive suite that’s particularly tough on women, according to John T. Molloy, author of the workplace grooming bible “Dress for Success.” The polo-shirted Bill Gates notwithstanding, Molloy’s research shows that sharply dressed employees receive more promotions and make more money than the Dockers set. He contends that female fast-trackers pay the biggest penalties for running afoul of the fashion police.
“If the world’s most clever male chauvinist were to design a dress code to keep women out of power, he could not devise a more effective one,” Molloy writes in the “New Women’s Dress for Success.” “When men dress casually . . . they lose some of their authority; when women do the same, they lose most of theirs.”
Before we place Levi Strauss at the grassy knoll of this fashion conspiracy, it helps to put the link between fashion and office politics into some historical perspective.
Ever since he rammed the first bone through his nose, man has used dress as a means to convey status and power. Whether it’s the gourd-wearing tribes of New Guinea (the bigger the squash, the higher the rank) or the sable-clad denizens of Park Avenue, the upper crust has always dressed to stand apart from the masses.
To be sure, ruling classes have adopted common dress from time to time to show solidarity with the working stiffs--particularly those bearing brickbats and guillotines. Witness the fire sale on big puffy wigs and brocade following the French Revolution.
But as author Lawrence Langner observes in his book, “The Importance of Wearing Clothes,” even the most ambitious efforts to eliminate class distinction through dress are only temporary. Just as military brass invented epaulets and insignias to distinguish themselves from other uniformed grunts, power brokers have always found a way to do the dress code one better.
Enter business casual.
Hailed as a way to break down barriers between bosses and subordinates in the office, business casual has become a sartorial Bermuda Triangle for aspiring managers, image consultants agree.
Even within the confines of casual dress, the folks in charge figure out how to display their rank and power. Maybe it’s linen slacks and $800 Italian loafers on dress-down Friday, or a crisp jacket over that snazzy sleeveless dress. Walk into any company on casual day and chances are you’ll have no trouble figuring out who runs the show.
Meanwhile, some employees get so hyped up at the idea of dressing comfortably that they switch off the style radar that guides them well in other circumstances. From there it’s just a short slide into fashion oblivion: Sweatshirts, tennis shoes, spandex. The boss is not likely to entrust the company’s most important account to someone who reminds him of Richard Simmons.
“Well-dressed people just look more successful and competent,” says Dianna Pfaff-Martin, founder of California Image Advisors in Newport Beach. “Management reacts to that. It’s psychological and subliminal.”
Craig Kaminer found out the hard way in his first job out of college.
Now the owner of a St. Louis-based online marketing concern, Kaminer was working in New York for a firm that sold men’s fragrances and skin conditioners. The boss told him he didn’t have to wear a suit every day, so he relaxed his look a bit. That is, until El Jefe started sending him out to fetch his lunch or cigars.
“When I was casual he treated me like someone who would run his errands for him,” says Kaminer, 35, owner of Influence. “But when I wore a suit, he treated me like an executive.”
Women need to be particularly careful when traversing this fashion swamp. Fridays are bad enough with half the staff looking like the cast of “Roseanne.” Now some women are taking their cues from small-screen vixen Ally McBeal and going for the high skirt, higher cleavage look in the boardroom--a big mistake.
“Women have a tough enough time being taken seriously,” says Morem, president of Premier Presentation Inc. “They need to guard against bringing their sexuality into the workplace. It puts them at a huge disadvantage.”
So are we all supposed to dress like French President Jacques Chirac at the World Cup final, looking stiff and idiotic in formal attire while everyone around us has fun? Of course not, say the style gurus.
When you think casual, think classy. Throw a sports coat over that golf shirt and put spit-shined shoes under those well-pressed khakis. That flowing skirt and soft blouse will feel cool and comfortable on a Friday, but they’ll also scream sophistication.
Remember, good clothes can never mask poor job performance. But when management is looking to groom someone for moving up, you’ve got an advantage if you already look the part.
“No matter what the dress code says, the old rule of thumb still applies,” Morem says. “Don’t dress for the job you have today. Dress for the one you want tomorrow.”
