Casual Dress Can Limit Your Paycheck

Dress codes have been relaxed to the point that employees don't know what to wear anymore. Do people dress casually where you work? You'd be interested to know that, 40 percent of respondents say they wear jeans or whatever is most comfortable to the office. But most still think how they dress affects their performance reviews according to an NPR news item this week. Dressing for work can be a bigger problem than "what will I wear?"

In fact, by chilling out as they dress, workers may risk career success for the sake of comfort, according to two recent surveys. But here's a fact more puzzling... "At the same time," according to surveys by Yahoo Hot Jobs and Banana Republic, "61 percent of workers admit they either don't know or don't care about their company dress code."

Attractiveness Consider for a minute that the neurology of beauty impacts decision makers in your workplace. Remember the school playground where kids were selected on the basis of looks and popularity. Let's face it, attractiveness affects others' perceptions. So how does casual dress fit in?

Keep clothes handy to "dress up" quickly Even when you're in a casual environment, Tom Musbach, managing editor for Yahoo Hot Jobs suggests it's a good idea for workers to keep a nice pair of shoes and blazer in their cubicles, to be prepared for a high-level meeting.

Trends changed over the last few years for both guys and gals. Consider this guys... Barber shops gave way to styling salons; more men seek cosmetic surgery and dye their hair; and at newsstands men's health and fitness publications now equal shelf space with women's magazines. Appearance is critical for many men at the top.

Women: avoid dressing like men Gals, be sure not to dress like the guys, if you want that promotion...

When male executives are asked what holds top women back in the workplace, appearing too masculine is always in the top five, says Benton. Most men think women should be business-like, but should not try to join the boys' club.

Tone Down - Stay Stylish Bobbi Engelke, a litigation 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," says Engelke, who usually dons a pantsuit or other professional attire for the office. But even on "casual day," she says, "you can dress casually and still be stylish and professional."

Along with this, South Florida business consultant Luis Mago advises, "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 says.

Matt Kennedy, 24, a public relations account executive in Orlando, no longer wears his hair to work in a fashion that looks like a modified mohawk. Instead, he wears glasses and sweeps his hair to the side in a style he describes as a bit like Clark Kent.

"Before, I was struggling to get a job. Then I got three job offers in one week," Kennedy says. "On the weekends, I wear my trendy clothes and jeans that are bleached out."

It's the reason Brian Chernicky, 30, owner of the newly founded San Diego-based Real Online Marketing, wears a pair of fake glasses when wooing clients. He thinks it makes him look smarter. "Marketing is perception," he says.

Appearance and your paycheck "Your appearance, good or bad, can affect size of your paycheck," according to Stephanie Armour. Continuing research reveals that how you look is influential. Here's an overview of research results...


Hmmm.... what will you wear today?