Article: Decline of Business Casual

I read the following and found it to be interesting. It points out the lack of pride that is often associated with dressing poorly, which is why I recently decided to make an effort and be one of the better dressed people at work.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/bw/1042b4199...hldHJhZ2ljZGVj

Sandy Dumont, an image consultant from Norfolk, Va., believes the biggest challenge in overhauling an office worker's wardrobe is avoiding hurt feelings. Her suggestion: Hire a professional image consultant. She was brought in to help a female employee at Rolex who was offending an executive with her "klutzy" footwear -- which turned out to be orthopedic shoes. ("She had a slightly deformed foot," says Dumont.) Fearing that a confrontation would offend the woman, Dumont led her on a guided shoe-shopping spree on the company's dime.

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Orthopedic shoe issue aside, there's a world of difference between an office with a dress code, and an office where management hires a consultant to dress an employee who wears "klutzy" shoes.

Yes, we are business formal except fridays and between memorial day and labor day, but hiring a consultant is just weird.

Originally Posted by detroiter

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Yes, we are business formal except fridays and between memorial day and labor day, but hiring a consultant is just weird.

Waste of money. Especially in this economy.

Not implying that i agree with EVERYTHING in the article!

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It can be money well spent. It depends on how much the cost is and how qualified the consultant is. (That way of dealing with a bad foot sounds iffy and shouldn't have been the only reason for the contract, but Sandy Dumont is considered one of the top image consultants and seems to know how to dress men for corporate situations.) Also, it depends on how much bad dressing is hurting business, which is hard to quantify. If somebody isn't making sales because he looks like a joke (hat plus spectator shoes for corporate use sounds like a forum clothing enthusiast) or is deemed unsafe to promote to a position where appearance is very important.... Unfortunately, companies rarely have someone in-house who could and would help unofficially without causing lingering dislike, and badly dressed people sometimes need to be strong-armed into reform. Another task image consultants can do while there is write a reasonable dress code. It's another thing that might not be doable in-house and can help reduce the number of future problems.

Originally Posted by patrickBOOTH

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Waste of money. Especially in this economy.

them consultants need to make money at this time of the economy too

Image consultants don't normally, if ever, solicit business from companies. They are contacted. (Disclaimer: yours truly doesn't do corporate and therefore might be wrong.) If they overcharge, that's a different issue.

It depends on what your company does for business in my opinion. The comoany i work for is a consultancy firm so there are a lot of client facing situations. And because of that the boss is super anal about dressing well and he stresses how important first impression is and how difficult it is to change someones view of you once they form a negative first impression. Plus you don't get a chance to change their opinion if they turn down your offer of service do you?

So if you need to deal with clients but your workplace's dress sense is a joke then it pays to get a style consultant.

Probably gone off topic a bit...

Originally Posted by bjornb17

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I read the following and found it to be interesting. It points out the lack of pride that is often associated with dressing poorly, which is why I recently decided to make an effort and be one of the better dressed people at work. http://news.yahoo.com/s/bw/1042b4199...hldHJhZ2ljZGVj
Well, I don't know about that. In some circles pride is taken in dressing poorly. (Palo Alto, I've got my eye on you!)

Originally Posted by Animal Thug

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However, professional image coach Lizandra Vega remembers meeting a male worker at the New York staffing firm where she's a managing partner. He arrived for a meeting in thin white cotton slacks -- and no underwear. "He was," she recalls, "hanging loose."


No trousers either, if it was that much of a problem to her.

I understand certain intelligence agencies pride themselves on dressing well, others on dressing poorly to contrast themselves with the prudes at the other agency who dress well.

I work in a very non-corporate but still business-oriented environment, where the secretary feels it's OK to wear flipflops to work. To make a contrarian statement, I decided a few weeks ago to observe Dress Up Fridays and wear some of my finest each Friday.