To dress up, or not to dress up
You live in a web worker environment, do you dress up, or chill out in casual attire?
Nothing beats controlling your own schedule, but what happens when it comes to controlling your attire? Working from the confines of your own home, car, and cafe sure does have its major benefits, but how can you supercharge some possible downfalls, like wearing clothes that may be a tad too casual. To quote a business adviser friend of mine, “Just because you work from home, doesn’t mean that you should dress like you’re at home.”
OK, so you work in the confines of your own home, work when you want to, and wear what you want to, sometimes you might slip into something a little too comfortable. Lets say you have a conference call with a boardroom filled with executives, trying to sell your brand new widget to investors. You are sitting pretty at home in your comfortable faded jeans, and stretched t-shirt. On the other line, are sharply dressed business leaders serious about doing business. Now that’s not to say that the web workers are not serious, we just have different standards, and are in a different environment. However, nothing beats getting suited up and feeling powerful than dressing sharply. You don’t have to do it all the time, maybe just when an extra important thing or two trickles down the line. When a confident person is dressed sharply, a sense of stronger confidence does exude. Maybe this doesn’t ring true to everyone, but the majority of people that I have spoke to and dealt with, find this analogy to be 100% true.
What are your thoughts on this? Do you find that taking the extra few minutes to “beautify” yourself in the morning helps you to evoke a stronger sense of seriousness, and dedication to your work?
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Personally, I work better when I’m comfortable. I’m with Ryan on this one – the freedom to be without socks (or pants, for that matter) is a big reason why I love working remotely.
I work in my underwear.
I bet you’re glad your not here!
Aaron
When I work from home I’m usually dressed in jeans and a t-shirt; but there are days when the pajama bottoms stay on instead. There’s no black and white to it, however… main point is that I need to be comfortable, and if that means a button down shirt or no shirt at all, I wear what I need to at the time. :)
Never accept a job were you can’t wear sneakers to work everyday.
I rarely wear anything fancier than jeans and a t-shirt. Unless I have a meeting with clients, what’s the point? I’m going to do my best work if I feel comfortable, and I’m most comfortable in jeans and a t-shirt.
Like many web workers, I’ve been in both extremes. The last job I had it seemed like there was an unsaid contest for how casual one should try to dress. People came to work in flip-flops & ragged shorts, holy shirts, etc. Comfortable is important but that was just plain untidy and bad taste.
On the other hand, I’ve been in situations where I was made to wear stuffy business clothing even though I was only working/seeing four other developers who were made to wear the same thing.
I do agree that in certain cases getting dressed up helps boost my confidence level and wearing that kind of clothing is appropriate. There are some days or phases in a project where a lot of meetings occur, naturally. These are times when I try to be careful about what I’m wearing. I do this because obviously, not all business people have the same philosophy about the working environment and wearing something that is more neutral I think creates a better feeling. I might be wrong but that is just my experience.
:)
I agree, casual is better. Not just for comfort, though.
When I have a meeting with a business associate and they show up in a suit, it makes a negative first impression on me, because I do not perceive it as professionalism of any higher degree. I perceive it as an associate whose first order of business was an attempt to impress me by purely superficial means that bear no relationship whatsoever to their skill, knowledge, competence or experience. Any idiot can walk in Men’s Warehouse and buy a suit.
I’ve also found that casual/business casual associates are easier to work with because lack of formal costume indicates that external formalities can be dropped. You can get right to the work at hand and not sweat over parsing every word that comes out of your mouth for whether it’s “professional” or “diplomatic” enough. Too many workers nowadays are incapable of getting their meaning across because they are either unwilling or unable to speak clearly for concern over appropriateness. You can’t work together effectively if you can’t clearly understand each other.
I honestly believe that the more comfortable that you are the better it is for creativity. I have some arthritis in my knees, and a slipped disk in my back, and if it requires that I wear more that a pair of khakis, a golf shirt, and my running shoes, I’m not interested. Currently I work from an office, but me and the other IT guy are shunted off in the hinterlands of cubeville. That being said, a requirement of the job is being able to move in and around desktop workstations, some of which are located in a wharehouse environment, and that is not something I would even remotely feel comfortable doing in a $200 dollar pair of slacks, an oxford cloth shirt of equal quality, and a pair of florsheim imperials. There are times when one has to “dress to impress”, but I have gotten to the point in my life where I am more interested in finding a position where my merits are based more on my skills and work ethic, than my particular sartorial flair.
You mean we’re supposed to wear clothes? Oh.
I’m a huge fan of the casual work attire. However, when I put on a suit (NO TIE) I absolutely feel more confident and sharp. There is a crispness to the look that allows my full swagger to come forward and almost always causes deals and meetings to turn out the way I want. I feel like I can command attention easier and gain the power needed to take the situation to the right place. It’s not superficial though, I don’t do it because I want other people to think I look good. Everyone could think I look terrible, but it wouldn’t affect the way I felt… which is in control.