Dress Code

With this amazing spring weather we’ve been having and the summer well on its way, it seems as though the skirts are getting shorter and shorter. As people are uncovering themselves, this raises the issue of inappropriate wear in the office. If you work in one of those companies where there is a written policy for summer clothing or a year round dress code, then you know exactly what is acceptable and not. Although, with the fast evolution of fashion trends, as a business leader you have to really keep on top of reviewing your policies in order to avoid grey areas as much as possible. While some companies have decided to ban tank tops with spaghetti straps, others have decided that having your sunglasses hanging from your shirt pocket or on top of your head is not the professional image they wish to project.

If you decide that having a policy is the way to go, are you then limiting the employees’ self-expression? Plus, who in the organization will be the clothing police. “Excuse me sir, I will have to ask you to remove your socks from your sandals”. Seriously though, this can become a less than desirable task and at the same time, a successful company needs to have some guidelines in order to maintain its professional image. I urge employers to at least have a discussion about it to determine if the way their employees are dressing is in line with the company’s values, mission and vision. The same goes for employees, make sure that you dress for success, do not let that pair of sweat pants ruin the promotion that’s lurking around the corner.

Stay classy Vancouver!