In response to a trend toward more casual office dress, the Tailored Mens Clothing Group, a New York-based group of clothing retailers, is asking companies to promote a concept called Dress-Up Thursdays.
The idea is to reverse the trend in the American office from suits and ties to a more casual look, which some believe is leading to less productivity and a decline in the overall civility in the office, said Beth Thorpe, a Carlsbad style and image consultant.
The problem comes when workers are expected to know which clothes are acceptable in a particular business setting, and which are not, she said.
“Some people just don’t have a clue (to what is appropriate). They’ve never been trained or don’t have an eye for it,” Thorpe said.
In San Diego, office workers have a tougher time knowing what to wear mainly because of the city’s proximity to the beach. But in general, the overall type of dress that’s acceptable here is called casual tailored, or level three on a continuum that ranges from tailored, softly tailored, and the lowest rung, untailored.
Each style has its place, and companies should be clearly aware of what image they want to project, because the way workers look has a real effect on the way they think, feel, act and how they respond to others, Thorpe said.
What is appropriate dress for an engineer at an Internet company may be way out of line for a banker, for example.
Beyond having a dampening impact on productivity, the relaxed look is also causing more anti-social behavior, Thorpe said.
“Not looking so nice, people tend not to venture out into the community as much, think couch-potato syndrome and cocooning behaviors that were synonymous with the ’90s,” she said.
While some of this may sound like a stretch, Thorpe says things have gotten a bit too relaxed in the office, and we need shaping up.
The nattily dressed standards that once prevailed in corporate America are making a comeback, and rightly so, she said. “The buzz this fall is spruce up!”
It’s a call to which we in the journalism biz offer a pronounced, collective yawn.
