Someone on LinkedIn was mentioning that their company was enforcing the “dress code” to “professional attire.” Co-workers were discussing this in the lunch room and complaining on how expensive it was going to be to “dress professionally.”

WHAT? I smiled at this. When did casual Friday take over the entire work week anyhow? And is “dressing professionally,” really so expensive?

Come on – 2 black pants and 4 work shirts bought on sale, rotate them during the week, same pearl necklace/earrings and 2-3 pairs of shoes. For a woman, a little boring, but it works.

OR, better solution, do what I did in manufacturing – dress in ALL black or all blue every day and change your scarf. Boy was that easy! Do you know I was receiving compliments on my scarves every day, no one even noticed I wore the same outfit – they “loved” the scarves. OK, the scarves were very bright and colorful, but you get the point. Dressing professionally can be as expensive or cheap as you make it. And you sure get dressed quickly in the morning when you have a “personal uniform.”

Interviewing has been a bit challenging too. It used to be we wore a blue suit, white shirt, and pearl necklace. Keep it simple. Now for many jobs if we go in a suit, we are over dressed. For example, a suit now would be used for a marketing/sales job interview, but if I go for an interview for a manufacturing job then going in a suit is inappropriate when they wear jeans. We would all feel awkward. Trust me, I made that mistake.

So… have we gotten too casual? Is it really that expensive to “dress professionally?”

And finally, do people work better when they “dress professionally” versus “casually?” I wonder!