In-Your-Face Dressing
By
BOL Guru Sandy
Dumont
The dot-com revolution
brought with it a new dress code as young
millionaires with more money than style decreed
suits were dead and ties were an abomination. It
was the birth of "in-your-face" dressing that
decreed, "I make so much money I don't have to
dress to impress anyone." Such arrogance
foretold of mass bankruptcies in later years.
Nevertheless, money talks, and the
fashion victims listened and followed. Casual
Friday became de rigueur, even in the most
conservative establishments. Once-formal bankers
and investment brokers now loosened up on
Fridays. In time, it became a bother to dress
formally and "business casual" and "corporate
casual" were born. This attire soon looked more
like "corporate casualty," since it could not
quite be defined and was sorely abused.
The recent successor to business casual
is the "in-your-face" dressing that announces,
"I'm so hip and with-it that I don't have to
wear a tie." These professionals are commonly
seen in a black silk Armani T-shirt and
expensive sport jacket. There are problems other
than the "in-your-face" message that this look
sends.
For one thing, it easily creates
the impression that you are "slick," and maybe
headed for Las Vegas instead of the board room.
Some females have even observed that this look
can sometimes give the impression of being a
womanizer. In either case, credibility goes down
dramatically. And if you have a slim build,
something else happens. Normally when a sport
jacket is worn with a shirt and a tie, these
garments fill out the neck area of the jacket so
that it doesn't pull away from the shirt at the
neck - a real No No if you want to look polished
and professional. However, with a thin T-shirt,
very often the jacket may not fit snugly at the
neck, causing the neck to look frail or weak.
Other "in-your-face" looks include
inappropriate ties that suggest, "I'm so
successful that I can wear Mickey Mouse or baby
pink ties to the board room." Or, women who
refuse to wear makeup or proper business attire
to the office.
Beware of this stance.
Menswear designer Joseph Abboud recently booted
two investment bankers out of his New York
office because they were not wearing ties.
Abboud said, "They blew it because they offended
me by being too casual." Ultimately, casual
attire suggests a casual attitude. However,
"in-your-face" attire suggests a smug attitude,
which most people resent.
When a person
of the stature and power of Donald Trump takes
an "in-your-face" stance and wears a pink tie in
New York City, it sends the false signal that
such a tie must be a Power Tie. It is not; not
even in Palm Beach or other cities in the Deep
South, where pastel ties are popular and
accepted. Pastel ties are for the country club
or dining out with friends. In real "power"
situations, they cause a man to look less
powerful. Of course, powerful men often live by
the credo, "Do as I say, not as I do." In other
words, for them, power trumps decorum.
Unfortunately, "copycats" of this "in-your-face"
dressing who do not live in the Deep South risk
having their credibility decreased.
True
professionals know instinctively that in order
to be taken seriously, a serious appearance is
required. They dress to impress, even though
this attitude may be more subliminal than
conscious. Most people make an effort when
calling on an important client because they know
it affects the outcome. Their attitude is
positive, and their appearance should also be
positive. In-your-face attire is smug or
arrogant.
We had a brief foray into
"madness" with the dot-com revolution, and
during that time "monsters" were created in the
working environment. Outraged employees protest
today that they don't want to return to formal
business attire. They love corporate casual and
simply do not want to be bothered with dressing
up again. It is still arrogant, and
in-your-face, to think that your comfort is more
important than your client's attitude toward
you.
Young "GenY" female employees
wonder why they are not permitted to wear their
suggestive club attire to the office. Satin and
lacy stretch camisoles fall into an entirely
different category than in-your-face attire. Pop
stars spawned this look, and what young business
professionals forget is that they are not pop
stars. They are business professionals who must
represent their company in a business-like
manner. As one male executive responded, "We
don't sell that."
A recent university
study concluded that females who wear suggestive
attire to the office lose all credibility when
they are in management positions. Only females
in lower positions with little hope of promotion
were not judged negatively in suggestive attire.
In reality, if women are informed of the
negativity of suggestive attire and refuse to
change, it would be as in-your-face as a baby
pink Mickey Mouse tie.
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Sandy Dumont is Executive Director
of the Impression Strategies Institute. She has
30 years experience in the field of image
consulting, and is a recognized authority on the
subject. Contact her at (757) 627-6669 or www.theimagearchitect.com.
First published on
BankersOnline.com 4/19/06
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