Reading the article below referring to how people can actually be too well dressed for work made me think. There's no doubt at all that there are certain situations at work where your manner of dress needs to be appropriate to the situation.
Here at PIE we prefer to adopt a more casual approach to our office attire - but with the understanding that there will be times when this isn't appropriate. So on occasion a smart suit is required for certain meetings.
However the lines are becoming ever more blurred as to whether this is now necessary in this day and age - and the chances are that your meeting could easily be with someone who hasn't similarly suited and booted. Candidate's attending our offices for meetings are increasingly in casual attire; would they attend a formal interview with a client in similar sartorial fashion?
Ensure you avoid any potential embarrassment over dressing for interviews by asking questions about dress codes upfront and if you're not able to do so, its still better to err on the side of caution. After all - better to look like you've made an effort!
When Swiss bank UBS's 44-page dress code, which advised client-facing staff on everything from appropriate underwear to the importance of regular haircuts, was leaked in 2010 it was widely mocked. The guide said a well-groomed outward appearance helped to communicate the firm's values. It prompted derision and disbelief. UBS may have gone overboard, but there's plenty of evidence that the bank was right to think that what you wear to work matters. Research by Karen Pine, a psychology professor at Hertfordshire University, shows that people are judged on their overall head-to-toe appearance within seconds, and clothing is a big part of that first impression. She found that a man in an off-the-shelf suit is judged as less successful and less flexible than his counterpart who wears a tailor-made suit, for example.
Read the original article here