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Americans began the 20th century in bustles and bowler hats and ended it in velour sweatsuits and flannel shirts—the most radical shift in dress standards in human history. At the center of this sartorial revolution was business casual, a genre of dress that broke the last bastion of formality—office attire—to redefine the American wardrobe.
Born in Silicon Valley in the early 1980s, business casual consists of khaki pants, sensible shoes, and button-down collared shirts. By the time it was mainstream, in the 1990s, it flummoxed HR managers and employees alike. “Welcome to the confusing world of business casual,” declared a fashion writer for the Chicago Tribune in 1995. With time and some coaching, people caught on. Today, though, the term “business casual” is nearly obsolete for describing the clothing of a workforce that includes many who work from home in yoga pants, put on a clean T-shirt for a Skype meeting, and don’t always go into the office.
The life and impending death of business casual demonstrates broader shifts in American culture and business: Life is less formal; the concept of “going to the office” has fundamentally changed; American companies are now more results-oriented than process-oriented. The way this particular style of fashion originated and faded demonstrates that cultural change results from a tangle of seemingly disparate and ever-evolving sources: technology, consumerism, labor, geography, demographics. Better yet, cultural change can start almost anywhere and by almost anyone—scruffy computer programmers included.
The answer, apparently, is Nerds! NERDS!!
(Score: 4, Interesting) by NotSanguine on Friday May 26 2017, @06:53PM (6 children)
I'm old, and I joined the workforce when the *corporate* (read big companies) world still required formal dress of their employees.
For the first five years of my adult working life, I worked for small companies which preferred that you maintain a certain level of personal hygiene, but weren't so particular about your dress -- unless you were interacting with clients.
Once I entered the "corporate" world, things were quite different. It was expected that men wore suits and ties, and women wore (with greater variety) a feminine analogue. It wasn't really all that big a deal. One could wear a suit (assuming no staining or other discoloration) at least four or five times before cleaning. If one owned several suits, that gave you several weeks worth of clothing.
Well fitting shirts were important, but not all that expensive for the most part. Nor all that difficult to maintain, as those same people who would dry clean and press your suits were happy to launder, press and starch your shirts as well.
While I never went for the bespoke suits (buying stuff off the rack and having it altered to fit me was quite inexpensive compared to the cost of the suit -- which would last, with proper care, at least a decade), I did, for a time, spend an extra 10-20% on bespoke shirts. They fit better, looked better and were much more comfortable.
I recall significant consternation among some people when the large financial institution for which I worked announced a "casual Friday" policy. The primary concern of most people was that they had "work" clothes and "leisure" clothes. The "leisure" clothes didn't match with the "business casual" idea.
Starting in the late 1990s, more and more organizations (remember, we're talking *big* companies -- ala the Fortune 100) had a "business casual" standard rather than formal attire.
From that time and into the 2000s, I saw, as a consultant to many of those companies, business casual become the norm rather than the exception. As a consultant, however, it was important (at least then) to show respect for your clients. One way to do this was to dress formally when meeting them. As a general rule, after initial meetings, when one was working onsite along with the client, the consultant would adopt the dress code of the client.
From a personal perspective, I never really cared about it too much. It was all about what the situation required. I believe that people are most productive when they feel most comfortable. If that means more casual dress, music in their headphones or life-size, cardboard cut-outs of Linus Torvalds, Richard Stallman, Donald Trump or Gertrude Stein in their work areas, I have no issue. Results and productivity are most important.
I read through so many comments from folks who disdain formal dress and even belittle those who think it reasonable. I suspect that many of those folks have never been in roles which required them to interface with customers/clients in soliciting business and/or providing the sense that the customer was *important* enough to don formal attire for them.
Why do fast-food outlets and retail stores require their employees to wear uniforms (or at least a certain level of formality)? Why do UPS and FedEx delivery people wear uniforms? The idea of formal dress isn't some throwback to meaner times, nor is it an evil plot to force the younger generation to adhere to some outdated standard.
The primary reasons (IMHO) for formal dress in the workplace were to give all employees a sense of the seriousness and respect for the company (and when companies were loyal to their employees as well, this made much more sense -- much less so now), to have a work environment where all members of an organization could relate on a similar footing (if everyone, from CEO to admin assistant are wearing comparable dress, the level of discourse is on a much more even keel), and to give clients/customers the sense that they are valued and respected.
I'm not saying it's always (or even mostly) appropriate, nor am I telling anyone what they should do or want to do. Culture changes. Usually slowly, but sometimes more quickly.
All that said, before you denigrate those who have a different idea about anything (in this case, formal dress at work), perhaps it might be worthwhile to attempt to see other perspectives and consider that othe people may have different ideas or cultural experiences. Just a crazy thought.
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 26 2017, @08:14PM (1 child)
Can't agree.
I wore multiple uniforms in my life, including military, and at times the full corporate monkey suit including a tie.
Maintenance-wise, the monkey suit is expensive. Comfort-wise it sucks any time you're not just sitting at a table chit-chatting, because woven fabrics have less flex than knit fabrics. Durability-wise it's just terrible.
Uniforms are about marketing, plain and simple. In the military, you're trying to beef up esprit de corps and look tough and serious. In FedEx, you're supposed to be identifiable as the guy bringing your next shipment of adult novelties. Hey! Use FedEx! They bring good stuff! ... like that.
In the days when clothing was still a major marker of status (this person has enough money for the nice shit) it made some sense to exude an aura of affluence, because in those days upper-class markers of status still correlated with aspirations. In the days of grunge and gangsta rap, the monkey suit made you a tool; visibly. Programmers became the high priests of a new religion, and the latitude that they were offered became something to which people would aspire, the same way that politicians ceremonially planting trees don hard hats and safety vests, regardless of how meaninglessly, because it shows them doing real work, dammit, like real people, instead of the stuffed shirts we all know they are.
In short, your ancient iconography has been subverted.
(Score: 2) by NotSanguine on Friday May 26 2017, @10:15PM
I'm sorry. My heart goes out to you.
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 2) by kaszz on Saturday May 27 2017, @02:14AM (3 children)
I'll suspect most of the complaints come from people that on days when they are very unlikely to ever see anyone not employed at the company or even anyone outside their working group. Still are forced to wear a high maintenance, expensive and most of all uncomfortable suit.
In sales situation it's more like a when blue collar workers use a dress because of a practical need like not getting the skin ripped etc. But sales-customer situation is about human interaction so it surely could benefit from dropping a dress that is clumsy. It's not far fetched to suspect it's there to signal that you can afford the money, time and uncomfort. And thus is a reliable partner.
(Score: 2) by NotSanguine on Saturday May 27 2017, @02:34AM (2 children)
Your point is a reasonable one. However, as several others have pointed out (and I can attest to it as well), wearing a suit needn't be uncomfortable at all. If it is altered to fit you well, a suit can be quite comfortable.
It is more expensive to own and maintain, yes. But again, that's really not a big issue these days anyway, since most workplaces don't require a suit any more.
Regardless, I don't really care what other folks do. I was merely pointing out that culture changes, and fashions with the culture.
I'd also point out that many of the complaints about "suits" related to the idea that someone wearing a suit was necessarily incompetent, pompous or trying to lord their status over others. This, as someone who almost never wears formal clothes anymore, seems to me either a great conceit, simple insecurity or a different cultural experience.
Regardless, as I mentioned elsewhere [soylentnews.org], wearing formal garb (or not doing so) doesn't imply anything about the value, intentions or personality of an individual. Their words and actions define them, not their clothing, IMHO.
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 2) by kaszz on Saturday May 27 2017, @02:53AM (1 child)
I have however noticed this pattern at a slight distance. People without technical skills have a tendency to compensate with other attributes in a technical situation. Thus it becomes a warning sign. People with suits can be very skilled, it's not that. But rather that when skills are lacking the compensatory behavior shines through.
Try a thought experiment. If you had a billion dollars in fortune. Would you dress in any way you didn't like for people that weren't really important? or if your skill set were the best since sliced bread and you know it, and the people around you knew it? The focus would rather be on comfortable clothes and getting on with the job.
(Score: 2) by NotSanguine on Saturday May 27 2017, @03:40AM
I understand your point and even addressed in my initial post under this subject heading. But at the risk of repeating myself:
I don't need to do a thought experiment. Even if I'm not a bllionaire, I will dress as I feel is appropriate. Full stop.
As I mentioned in the initial post in this thread, I believe that people are most productive when they feel most comfortable.
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr