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Lydia Ditzenberger
Adam Padgett
English 102
15 November 2016
Changing Times: Is Casual Dress in the Workplace Really that Great?
Business attire has been around since the mid-1600's, after a plague outbreak, never
disappearing just changing with the times and fashion trends. Business attire follows the
guidelines of projecting a professional image for the company while focusing on the
clients/customers and gaining their trust. Currently, this is often interpreted by men wearing a
matching or non-matching suit, an optional tie, black or brown belt, dress socks, and polished
dress shoes. For women, it is interpreted as a dress pant or skirt, non-matching jacket, collared
blouse or professional top, optional pantyhose, simple jewelry, polished shoes, and natural
looking makeup. However, lately through my own personal observations, there appears to have
been a shift in the attitude of companies and their requirements for employee dress. It appears to
have shifted to a casual look often consisting of jeans and a collared shirt or t-shirt with few to
no restrictions on accessorizing. The change has been a controversial topic for many businesses
in recent times. Which leads me to question, what exactly is the best dress attire? While dressing
casually is often thought of as a facilitator for communication and breaking down socially
constructed barriers, I am generally one to argue that business casual (a jacket or sweater, a dress
shirt, dress pants or skirt, dress shoes, and tastefully simple accessories) is the best way to dress
in the workplace because general population trends towards wanting to wear business casual

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attire, it is preferred by most business-oriented students, and it has a strong effect on the
businesses image to its customer and the public.
With each definition of the clothing groups also comes with a connotation. Formal attire
comes with an association with competency, authority, ambitiousness, respectability,
organization, determination, punctuality and career oriented. Business formal, more specifically,
shows status. Business casual shows productivity. Casual attire has an implication of being less
refined, embarrassing and unprofessional. Jensen, a business growth, efficiency and marketing
consultant, agrees with this as he states that allowing casual attire implies that [companies]
allow a casual attitude, which results in a casual (lazy) work ethic (Jensen). On the other hand,
it has the overtone of a friendlier atmosphere to better develop connections. It does so by,
eliminating the natural communication barriers between managers and employees thus it
improves communication between management and employees, and instills a sense of
togetherness in organizations (Franz 79). That is where the confusion comes into play.
Companies want to foster the environment that is associated with casual attire while remaining
professional in appearance. It all boils down to the fact that business formal and casual are more
desirable forms of attire than its counterpart casual attire to preserve the company image.
There have been multiple studies on the changes in work-worn attire over the past two
decades to determine how severe the changes in attire are. A law firm, Jackson and Lewis,
indicated that 44% reported an increase in tardiness and absenteeism and 30% reported a rise in
flirtatious behavior after the implementation of dress-down policies (Karl 445). In this instance,
there was clearly a negative effect on implementing a more casual dress environment within the
workplace. It is also noted by Franz and Norton, that between 1992 and 1995 the percentage, of
companies allowing employees to dress in casual attire, went up twenty percent from thirteen to

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thirty-three percent. This shows a large uptick in the overall trend towards casual work
environments. However, Gallup ran two polls in two separate years, 2002 and 2007. The results
of these two polls showed a small difference between what attire employees fancied wearing; the
change being between four and ten percent, depending on the category. In the chart depicted
below, it can be noted that there was an increase in Business Casual from thirty-two percent to
forty-three percent from Aug 5-8 2002 and Aug 13-17 2007. However, there is a decrease in all
others (omitting the all/mixed/(vol.) category). Business dress falling from twelve percent to nine
percent, casual street clothes from thirty-two percent to twenty percent and uniform from twenty-

three percent to nineteen percent. Overall, there is an uptick in companies/employees dressing in

business casual attire, further enforcing the notion that it is a general population trend.

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Now, people tend to believe that this uptick in casual dress is due to the younger
generations. Medici suggests, that relaxed dress codes are due in part to the preferences of
younger generations entering the workforce who believe more in the value of the work they do
than the image they present (Karl 456). However, a study done at two east coast colleges,
suggest otherwise. The data collected supports the idea that "students about to enter the
workplace strongly prefer business casual over casual" (Cardon 358). Business students (in the
traditional sense of a more formal office space setting) specifically, see strong contrasts in
professional characteristics associated with the degree of formality in workplace attire (Cardon
357). It should also be noted that "Younger professionals clearly associate authoritativeness and
competence with more formal business attire, productivity and trustworthiness with somewhat
formal workplace attire, and creativity and friendliness with more casual workplace attire
(Cardon 358). This goes to show that students are taking an active role in observing the
associations with attire and roles within a company. As I, myself am a student, I must concur
with the previous statement. Having previous work experience as an intern and full-time
employee, it was very easy to tell who had the power, in what ways, and at what time solely
based upon the attire they were wearing and at what time they were wearing it. The owner and
president of the company were consistently in business formal. The vice-president was
consistently in business casual. Each department head and employee thereafter were dressed
somewhere between business casual and casual. The position of power was directly laden with
the attire of each employee. My experience alone is proof that the younger generations are still
observing and practicing the traditional business atmosphere created by those before them.
Which, is unlike what popular belief has assumed about young peoples thoughts and beliefs.

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There is also the public perception that should be accounted for when determining the
attire of a workplace. J.S. Bowmen did a study on public managers in 1992 were, "more than
85% agreed that an employee's appearance is important to the organization and its image (Karl
456). More recently in 2008, a survey by Smith, determined that forty-four percent of managers
felt a dress code makes a professional atmosphere. With thirty-three percent feeling as though it
created a better public image (Karl 456). Body art is a topic that cannot be avoided when
discussing dress codes in the workplace. As of 2006, twenty-four percent of American's have a
tattoo and fourteen percent a piercing other than on their ear. Thus, companies have had to come
up with a way to deal with the body art, but they have not always been so successful. In one
study, seventy-three percent were "repelled" by unusual hair color, seventy-two percent by body
piercings, sixty-nine percent by unusual hair styles and sixty-nine percent were also "repelled"
by visible tattoos (Karl 456). However, after surveying customers, tattoos were found to have
the least impact on the perception of customer service. Hairstyles, hair color, and facial piercings
were in the middle of the road. But, clothing with tears, rips or holes or were overall revealing
had the largest impact on perceived customer service. The chart below visualizes the
aforementioned data. It is easy to see how off the perception of tattoos isnt as significant as
other factors. After working in the fast food industry for a few months a lot of these
assessments of employees were noticeable. A fellow coworker had a small tattoo on each arm
and gauges in his ears and a shaven head. He was a very good and hard worker. Yet, there were
people who would wait in another, longer line to order food because the gentleman appeared to
be intimidating and hard to work with even though he was not. Another coworker, who was free
of any tattoos or piercings and had a natural looking blonde bob, was often favored even though
she often had a lower quality of service for customers overall. That is a prime example of how

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much appearance and attire factors into the perception of quality and service in the workplace.
While fast food restaurants are not the most professional as they come, it should be realized that
there is a certain standard of professionalism recognized by the majority, that tends to be the
expectation of a business casual attire. However, it should be noted that each company
environment varies. The surveys from which the data was collected were given to more
traditional, formal companies. But, the point remains the same. Each company must look at their
own circumstances and evaluate the environment that they want to create not only for their
employees but also for current and potential customers as well as focusing on the impression
given off to other competitors and companies with which you collaborate with.

After analyzing collected data, the overall verdict, from a survey given to city employees,
was that business casual was the preferred mode of dress for most public employees
(Karl 463). When asked what, they liked to wear to work forty-nine percent responded with

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business casual attire, twenty-eight percent with casual attire and only six percent stated formal
business attire. When asked what, they wore to work fifty-five percent responded with business
casual attire, sixteen percent with casual attire and eleven percent with formal business attire
(Karl 463). The aforementioned data is presented below where one can clearly see the
staggering difference between the types of dress liked and not liked. It should also be noted that
visually one can see that the difference between what one wants to wear and what they actually
do where is not that far off, according to this survey. Which, enforces the clear winner amongst
the employees surveyed is business casual attire by a twenty-one to thirty-nine percent difference
between casual and business casual attire. In a separate study, sixty-four to seventy-three percent
of respondents preferred business casual attire over any other attire (Salary). A survey conducted
also determined that when given the option to create their own dress code seventy percent would
enact a policy aligning with business casual attire (Salary). In comparison, nine percent would
enact a formal dress code, eleven percent jeans, and t-shirts, five percent would not instate a
dress code and just one percent would have a dress code consisting of shorts and flip-flops. Thus,
it is apparent that employees do tend favor some formality when dressing for the workplace. The
overall population, in multiple areas of work, trends towards a more business casual attire to
function in during working hours.

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We as a society, put an extreme amount of thought and judgment into how we look every
single day not only on ourselves but on others. That mentality of judging an individual is also
placed on a company, based on the individuals within it. This can be done simply by drawing
lines in the sand about what to wear in the workplace. As Ruchika Tulshyan, a writer for Forbes,
so eloquently put it, if you wear a t-shirt and jeans at workand a t-shirt and jeans on the
weekend, can you differentiate between your work self and weekend self? Does it mean
youre in work mode 24/7? Or conversely (Forbes). After evaluating data and experiencing
the effects of attire in the workplace I must argue that business casual is the best dressed in the
workplace. It creates that simple line in the sand for employees to understand who they are in the
workplace and what they are doing. Even though facilitating communication and breaking down
socially constructed barriers is a well thought out argument for casual dress in the workplace,
general population trends clearly move towards employees wanting to wear business casual

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attire, it is shown with a higher preference by most business-oriented students, and it has a
positive effect on the businesses image to its customer and the public. So, listen, observe, take
notes, evaluate. Does your place of work need men wearing a matching or non-matching suit, an
optional tie, black or brown belt, dress socks, and polished dress shoes? Does it need women
wearing a dress pants or a skirt, non-matching jacket, collared blouse or professional top,
optional pantyhose, simple jewelry, polished shoes, and natural looking makeup? Or is it
acceptable for employees to be wearing a casual look often consisting of jean and a collared shirt
or t-shirt with few to no restrictions on accessorizing? Take your time to answer these questions.
Then take steps to draw that line in the sand towards a successful business atmosphere for your
place of work.

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Works Cited
Cardon, Peter W, and Ephraim A Okoro. PROFESSIONAL CHARACTERISTICS
COMMUNICATED BY FORMAL VERSUS CASUAL WORKPLACE ATTIRE.
Business and Professional Communication Quarterly, vol. 72, no. 3, 11 Aug. 2009, pp.
355360.
Cracking the Dress Code Dilemma. Salary.com Business, Salary.com,
http://business.salary.com/cracking-the-dress-code-dilemma/.
Franz, Timothy M, and Steven D Norton. Investigating Business Casual Dress Policies:
Questionnaire Development and Exploratory Research. Applied HRM Research, vol. 6,
2001, pp. 7994.
Gallup, Inc. "Business Casual" Most Common Work Attire." Gallup.com. Gallup, 04 Oct. 2007.
Web. 22 Nov. 2016.
Jensen, Andrew. How Does Workplace Attire Affect Productivity? Andrew Jensen, Andrew
Jensen, 21 June 2016, http://www.andrewjensen.net/how-does-workplace-attire-affectproductivity/.
Karl, Katherine A et al. City Employee Perceptions of the Impact of Dress and Appearance: You
Are What You Wear. vol. 42, no. 3, Sept. 2013, pp. 452470.
Tulshyan, Ruchika. Is Casual Dress Killing Your Productivity At Work? Forbes, Forbes
Magazine, 17 Oct. 2013, http://www.forbes.com/sites/ruchikatulshyan/2013/10/17/iscasual-dress-killing-your-productivity-at-work/#12ce9bd22ed0.