Incorrect Attire For Work

larmen

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I used to work for the ‘best formal wear’ business in the country (well, they called themselves that, probably interchangeable along Jermyn Street) and I never wore a suit. Jeans, trainers, then a blue shirt or polo. Not because the tops are smart, because it is easy and I have dozens of them.
The guy I hired as admin has an unlimited supply of football shirts from South America, got to see all of his collection over time. Apart from the board there were a handful of people wearing a suit, out of a couple of hundred in the office.
Only one former ceo word a tie all the time. And one accountant.

Ties and cuff links seem to be for estate agents only.

You can see all formal wear players trying to adapt and sell more business casual wear these days. But you are suddenly competing with the high street which has years more experience in it.
 

HeftyHacker

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With everyone being out the office for 20 months our company are slowly starting to open up again and its caused mayhem on the dress code. It was always a business wear dress code but had become slacker over the years (eg. I had started to wear chinos with polos or shirts). Now though, there are people in jeans, t shirts, full suits and ties and even one girl I saw in jogging bottoms.

I wonder how long it will be before a formal communication is sent out. Our GM hinted at business wear being required for customer visits to site but other than that he seemed pretty relaxed about it. Guess we've just proven that we can keep the business going successfully whilst wearing just our underwear and a foodstained t shirt at home for the last 20 months so what benefit does a dress code serve?
 
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With everyone being out the office for 20 months our company are slowly starting to open up again and its caused mayhem on the dress code. It was always a business wear dress code but had become slacker over the years (eg. I had started to wear chinos with polos or shirts). Now though, there are people in jeans, t shirts, full suits and ties and even one girl I saw in jogging bottoms.

I wonder how long it will be before a formal communication is sent out. Our GM hinted at business wear being required for customer visits to site but other than that he seemed pretty relaxed about it. Guess we've just proven that we can keep the business going successfully whilst wearing just our underwear and a foodstained t shirt at home for the last 20 months so what benefit does a dress code serve?
Perception. If I'm paying for a professional service I expect the company/person supplying it to make the appropriate effort. If I booked an appointment with a private heart surgeon and he was dressed like a tramp I would go elsewhere.
 

BiMGuy

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Perception. If I'm paying for a professional service I expect the company/person supplying it to make the appropriate effort. If I booked an appointment with a private heart surgeon and he was dressed like a tramp I would go elsewhere.

Whereas, if I’m paying for a professional service. I simply expect that what I’m paying for is done as required. If a heart surgeon turned up to a meeting stinking of booze and BO, that’s a problem. Wearing shorts and flip flops? No problem.

People have been delivering professional services perfectly well in their pyjamas for the last 18 months.
 

HeftyHacker

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Perception. If I'm paying for a professional service I expect the company/person supplying it to make the appropriate effort. If I booked an appointment with a private heart surgeon and he was dressed like a tramp I would go elsewhere.

We build fighter planes, there's not a huge amount of choice on the market and decisions as to what company to go with are invariably political. I'd be amazed if we lost a customer because somebody wasn't wearing a suit.

Having said that it wouldn't surprise me either with some of our customers!
 

Bunkermagnet

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As long as someone is "presentable" I have no problem with what they wear.
I for example, wear shorts for work as soon as the temperature is up to about 16 or 17 ambient. When anybody comments, my reply is always " I work better when comfortable and as cool as possible. I'm sure you would appreciate that" Plus there is the health and safety aspect of sweating like a fountain in someones kitchen or over their appliances.

I also know of plenty of hair salons that like (or even "suggest") their hairdressers to have long nails to show they care about appearances, and also many clients like the massaging of the scalp when the hair is washed with such nails.
 

AliMc

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Whereas, if I’m paying for a professional service. I simply expect that what I’m paying for is done as required. If a heart surgeon turned up to a meeting stinking of booze and BO, that’s a problem. Wearing shorts and flip flops? No problem.

People have been delivering professional services perfectly well in their pyjamas for the last 18 months.
We have a surgeon playing at Dunbar, regularly turns up to play in shorts, straight to the course from the theatre
 
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We build fighter planes, there's not a huge amount of choice on the market and decisions as to what company to go with are invariably political. I'd be amazed if we lost a customer because somebody wasn't wearing a suit.

Having said that it wouldn't surprise me either with some of our customers!
That isn't really a relevant comparison though is it. If I want to buy a fighter plane I'm not going to be looking on checkatrade to see who has the best rating.
 

BiMGuy

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That isn't really a relevant comparison though is it. If I want to buy a fighter plane I'm not going to be looking on checkatrade to see who has the best rating.

Does checkatrade show pictures of potential tradespeople so you can prejudge them based on their attire?
 
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Does checkatrade show pictures of potential tradespeople so you can prejudge them based on their attire?
Of course not but I wouldn't expect a tradesman to turn up in a suit. I would expect a professional person to be wearing a suit/tie or at least smart trousers and shirt/jacket but you carry on being pedantic with your argument if you wish. I'm not interested in getting into a childish spat (y)
 

SocketRocket

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We build fighter planes, there's not a huge amount of choice on the market and decisions as to what company to go with are invariably political. I'd be amazed if we lost a customer because somebody wasn't wearing a suit.

Having said that it wouldn't surprise me either with some of our customers!
There's quite a lot of competition in the fighter plane market. I worked for BAE and would be astounded if anyone in the commercial department didn't dress smartly at work or Infront of a customer.
 

Neilds

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There's quite a lot of competition in the fighter plane market. I worked for BAE and would be astounded if anyone in the commercial department didn't dress smartly at work or Infront of a customer.
I used to work with BAE in Lincolnshire and it made me laugh on ‘dress down Friday’ when they all wore their corporate polo shirts. They looked more uniform those days than the RAF guys ?
 

NearHull

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I used to work with BAE in Lincolnshire and it made me laugh on ‘dress down Friday’ when they all wore their corporate polo shirts. They looked more uniform those days than the RAF guys ?
When I worked for BAE I wore a suit and tie every day and refused to take part in dress down Friday - I didn’t really understand why it was a tradition ( albeit not an old one).
 
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