Have you ever entered an office building where everyone seem to be wearing the same clothes? It seems we only see those occurence in movies but they do happen in real life. I attended schools with strict dress codes where everybody wears the same color and style of clothes every day. I can tell you it was boring and dull, although it gives the appearance that everyone is equal.
In children, however, they seem to be fascinated in wearing the same clothes at the same time. My 6 year old daughter, Kaja wants to buy clothes at H&M, apparently its where the other girls in her class buy their clothes. So gone are the flashy individual designer clothes and comes the mass produce more common clothing. I observe this phenomenon so widespread in children and that they are the true catalyst for brand and image building. I have to say peer-to-peer brand marketing thus work better compared to any other medium.
The question that lingers in my mind is should there be a dress code for men at work? I admire people who puts in the right dress for the right occassion, but how do you categorise working clothes?
I once work with a guy in a management team who is a big advocate of dressing right, and for him dressing should be of formal type. So for him a correctly dressed employee should wear suit and tie and fashionable shoes. In several instances the same person skipped very important high level meetings since he was not wearing proper clothing. Although I have know several ocassion that the same person does not necessarily practice what he preaches.
In children, however, they seem to be fascinated in wearing the same clothes at the same time. My 6 year old daughter, Kaja wants to buy clothes at H&M, apparently its where the other girls in her class buy their clothes. So gone are the flashy individual designer clothes and comes the mass produce more common clothing. I observe this phenomenon so widespread in children and that they are the true catalyst for brand and image building. I have to say peer-to-peer brand marketing thus work better compared to any other medium.
The question that lingers in my mind is should there be a dress code for men at work? I admire people who puts in the right dress for the right occassion, but how do you categorise working clothes?
I once work with a guy in a management team who is a big advocate of dressing right, and for him dressing should be of formal type. So for him a correctly dressed employee should wear suit and tie and fashionable shoes. In several instances the same person skipped very important high level meetings since he was not wearing proper clothing. Although I have know several ocassion that the same person does not necessarily practice what he preaches.
It is a fact that there is actually an unwritten dress code for men in the work place. Such dress code is a product of national culture and peer influence. One good general example is that Western Europeans normally wears formal set of clothings to work while North Americans are more of the casual type. In a lot of instances corporate culture plays a huge role on what employees wear in the office. More traditional companies tend to advocate formal tyoe of attire while creative and dynamic work places favor street-casual clothing.
I am a believer of individual preferences, I think each person should dress as they want at work based on the image they wanted to project. Although I believe in the unwritten code that anyone who is customer facing should be dress in a manner that is presentable and credible. Sometimes looking your best does have its advantages.
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