Originally published October 7, 2007 at 12:00 AM | Page modified October 7, 2007 at 2:03 AM
Job Market
Dress options
Seemingly a faux pas for business dress: tight, short skirts, cleavage-baring tops and ragged jeans.
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Seemingly a faux pas for business dress: tight, short skirts, cleavage-baring tops and ragged jeans. But in today's casual workplace, appropriate attire may not be so apparent.
Casually dressed workers may be risking career success for the privilege of being comfortable, according to two surveys.
How employees dress at work directly affects their prospects for a promotion, according to a survey of workers and human-resource professionals by Yahoo HotJobs and Banana Republic.
At the same time, 61 percent of workers admit they either don't know or don't care about their company dress code.
Another survey, by TheLadders.com, a site that features $100,000-plus salary jobs, looked at executives' attitudes about dress codes. It found that while employees who dress casually are perceived to be more creative and more fun, they run the risk of being taken less seriously.
"Employers have lost focus on what business is," said Boca Raton, Fla., business consultant Luis Mago "They want to give employees perks, to work at home, to feel relaxed. The purpose of business is to make money. We're not there to be relaxed."
Can workers be fashionable, comfortable and businesslike?
"People need to understand business casual. You can't wear what you wear to the gym," said Tom Musbach, managing editor for Yahoo HotJobs.
Companies often have dress codes but don't communicate them well, he said. Pay attention to what your boss wears; that's a good guideline, Musbach said.
Andre West, chairman of design at The Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale, advises workers to "dress for the environment you're in." Workers "have to look at themselves in the mirror and see how they fit in that group. 'Is my skirt the right length? Is my tie the right width?' "
Most of all, make sure clothes fit well, West said. "Too tight or too loose, that is a problem."
Another pet peeve of his: no cellphones clipped to a man's waist, unless it's the necessary BlackBerry.
![]()
Bobbi Engelke, a paralegal at the Boca Raton law office of Adorno & Yoss, considers herself a stylish dresser but tones down her look for work.
"I don't want to give someone the wrong impression," said Engelke, who usually dons a pantsuit or other professional attire.
But even on "casual day," Engelke said, "you can dress casually and still be stylish and professional."
Still, some workers go to extremes in casual dress and employers sometimes take action. Engelke recalls with a laugh the former employer who sent an e-mail to women banning thong underwear in the office
"Now they're going to tell me what kind of underwear I can wear?" she said.
Mago, a former military man, created his own dress code. Even in the heat of the summer, he wears suits.
It's best, he says, to always be ready for an unexpected meeting with the CEO.
"Let's assume you're in a business meeting with a client, and all of a sudden the president of the company walks in and you're wearing shorts. You're not going to get that business," Mago said.
Copyright © 2007 The Seattle Times Company
UPDATE - 09:46 AM
Exxon Mobil wins ruling in Alaska oil spill case
UPDATE - 09:32 AM
Bank stocks push indexes higher; oil prices dip
UPDATE - 08:04 AM
Ford CEO Mulally gets $56.5M in stock award
UPDATE - 07:54 AM
Underwater mortgages rise as home prices fall
NEW - 09:43 AM
Warner Bros. to offer movie rentals on Facebook

nwautos
Turismo upgrade "Gran Turismo 5: XL Edition" for PlayStation 3 has features such as new car-tuning settings, new NASCAR vehicles, better replay video...
Post a comment
- Lakewood cop accused of embezzling $150K meant for slain officers' families
- 3 big health insurers stockpile $2.4 billion as rates keep rising
- Agency set to investigate handling of 911 call about Josh Powell
- Quick decisions: How Washington hired its new football staff
- Historic day for gay marriage as another fight looms
- Justin Wilcox's versatile defensive style is the right fit for Huskies | Jerry Brewer
- It's Terrence Time: Enigmatic Ross leads Huskies
- Social worker recounts minutes before Powell fire
- $25B settlement reached over foreclosure abuses
- Club promoter convicted in brutal 2010 murder of Des Moines prostitute
- Gay-marriage bill passes House, awaits Gregoire's signature
438 - Historic day for gay marriage as another fight looming
350 - Sheriff's office unhappy with 911 dispatcher in caseworker's call
283 - 3 big health insurers stockpile $2.4 billion as rates keep rising
238 - Source: NY, California to sign mortgage settlement
225 - Wanted in Seattle classrooms: more teachers of color
177 - Oregon live game thread
155 - Pac-12 picks ... including the UW game
140 - Worker: Josh Powell told son he had 'surprise'
84 - Council members get briefing on arena proposal, minus details
82
- State Medicaid program to stop paying for unneeded ER visits
- 3 big health insurers stockpile $2.4 billion as rates keep rising
- One man's audacious pursuit of sailing history
- Darren Berg gets 18-year sentence for Ponzi scheme
- Wanted in Seattle classrooms: more teachers of color
- $25B settlement reached over foreclosure abuses
- A wandering gene's destructive path | Book review
- 'Gauguin and Polynesia': dazzling mix-and-match | Art review
- UW opening incubator facility for startups
- Controversial principal at Lowell Elementary takes job in Tacoma







