The importance of recognizing acceptable workplace attire

I learned years ago the importance of recognizing acceptable workplace attire the hard way. I am so happy I work from home now. I don’t have to worry about how people are going to perceive me or judge me by my clothing. I can work at home in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, and do not have to spend my money on suits I don’t even like to wear. But trust me I know that when I am out in public how I look is going to affect the opinions people formed about my company and me as a person. I need to look professional, and competent. No matter where you work, there is an appropriate way to dress and you need to be aware of what that is and conform.

If you are working in the corporate world you need to spend the money on real suits. Men and women need to dress in the standard the company expects. In some companies image is every thing. How you represent your self is how you are judged. You don’t get points for putting on cheep suits, even when that is what you can afford. Some times how you dress can be more important then the work you do. Companies have an image and an expectation of their employees to live up to it as they represent the company when they are at work. This in not to say you don’t have to work if you look good, but you will be seen as being more professional if you dress professionally.

For when you are working in an office where the dress code is casual you still need to keep in mind what the actual dress requirements are. Often a company will have a very specific idea of what they consider casual. I have known people to push the boundaries of casual. They forget that how they dress still influences the way people see them and will judge their ability to do the job by their appearance. Trust me, shorts and a tank top is not a professional look. If you are sloppy, miss matched and not concerned about your appearance people will expect the same in the quality of your work. The same goes if you are always dressed well, take care of how you look, showing that you respect yourself. How you dress is how you represent yourself to your employers and co-works. You will find people will treat you accordingly.

When you work in a place with a uniform, make sure you still take care of how you look. Having a uniform that is clean and well taken care of is very important; it shows that you care about yourself. This shows that you care about your job and how you do it. If you don’t keep it clean and in good repair is shows you don’t care. That how you look at work is not important, so the job must not be important.

Now there are a few jobs out there, most of them manual labour, where the perception is exactly the opposite; the worse shape your clothing is in the better worker you are. Why, because your clothing got that way because you were working. Old and shabby clothing are more then appropriate for these jobs. It shows that you expect to get dirty, that you are going to be getting right into it and work hard.

No matter where you are, work or play, the way you dress is used to form opinions about who you are and what you are like. This directly affects how people perceive you and treat you. Show that you respect and like yourself in the way you dress then you are treated better then if you look like you don’t care.

These ladies dress this way because that is the acceptable workplace attire at their job and for the tips.