I remember m first ke note speech for a major Fortune 50
financial institution. I
impression, so I
anted to make a po erful first
ent to Nordstrom and spent 10% of m speaking
fee on Jimm Choo shoes that
success. I ve since
orld. And
ould demonstrate m business
orn those black stilettos on stages around the
hile the do indeed make me feel strong and
po erful, the also hurt m feet.
An one
ho has
orked in a corporate environment has learned
the spoken and unspoken rules of attire in the
orkplace. From
e pensive suits and heels to subdued colors and st les, man of us
dutifull fulfilled those e pectations in order to move up in our
careers
a realit that is especiall true for
omen. Traditional
business attire is safe, and the rules of etiquette are often
selectivel and unfairl enforced depending on someone s
reputation, relationships, or business results. It can feel easier to
just put on a suit and focus on the
ork. But after t o ears of
hastil thro ing a business jacket over a T-shirt and s eatpants
hile letting people into our homes during the Covid-19
pandemic, our tolerance for conformit
and discomfort
has
changed.
The business dress code is evolving. A recent Wa S ee J
article ackno ledged the
a
orkplace Wild West, and Manhattan
mens ear store o ner Ken Giddon discussed the uncertaint on
NPR:
No
kno
the operative
ord is confusion People reall don t
hat to do. With offices opening back up, [Giddon]
has noticed folks are less certain about
ear dress slacks to
ork? Do ou
hat to
ear. Do ou
ear khakis? Can ou
ear
jeans? he said. Nobod reall has dra n the line, and
nobod reall kno s
hat the right ans er is.
Have ou been rethinking our
into the office, but ou re
Here are a fe
ork attire as ou transition back
orried about
hat others
ill think?
steps to tr if ou re considering changing things
up.
If it feels risk to independentl make a
others in our office and observe ho
m clients to learn
hat the
ardrobe change, look at
the dress. I started polling
ere observing in their offices.
Recentl , in a series of group coaching sessions, I asked (male)
financial professionals if the dress codes
ere changing as the
returned to the office: Most of them nodded their heads. Their
ans ers included: I used to err on the conservative side. I ve
dropped the tie. It s refreshing! to The last time I
(aside from
hen our CEO came to visit)
as
ore a tie
hen I visited a
client in a retirement home. The commented that clients
ere
also dressing more casuall , leading the dress code to go from
formal business attire to
hat one e ecutive called countr club
casual. You don t have to follo
hat others are doing, but seeing
others take those first steps ma embolden ou to make changes
ourself.
Observe the boundaries as
ell. M clients noted that the
much more likel to dress do n
hen the
clients. Look for the nuances in ho
and
ere
eren t meeting
ith
hen people dress
do n.
What if our colleagues aren t noticeabl changing their attire,
but ou feel strongl that ou should? Take the lead: Tr out one
particular change and evaluate the response to it. Perhaps ou
drop the tie like m clients described above, or ma be ou forgo
the high heels for comfortable flats. Observe ho
react and
(or if) people
hat the response is.
As a professional speaker, I have more lee a than if I
ere part of
a large corporation. Still, m clients are large corporations, so m
instinct has al a s been to pla it safe. But I decided to
e periment. Earlier this ear, I
as preparing for m first big-
stage appearance in over t o ears, for the American Bankers
Association. While packing for the event, I tried on m black
stilettos but simpl couldn t bring m self to
ear them. The felt
off someho . So I tried something ne : Instead of
traditional po er shoes, I chose ne
earing m
sparkl sneakers to pair
ith
m business dress.
I
ore those sneakers for t o straight da s at the conference, and
t o ama ing things happened. First, I felt even more po erful on
stage than I had ever felt in heels; instead of
orr ing about the
heels falling bet een the cracks on the podium, I could focus on
m message and m audience. Second, I
b people
as constantl stopped
ho complimented me on the shoes. Elegantl dressed
bankers approached me to ask hopefull , Can
e
ear those
no ?
I shared a photo of the sneakers on LinkedIn and
as
over helmed b the response. The post received over 130,000
vie s and 1,000 comments, mostl from m net ork of financial
services professionals, and all
ere 100% supportive of the
change. Comments ranged from I thought it
this
a
as just me
to comfort is a confidence-booster,
professionals sharing their ne
ho felt
ith a number of
office foot ear.
Lest ou fear that dressing do n might make ou appear less
successful to our peers or clients, fascinating research conducted
b Harvard Business School professors Silvia Belle a, Francesca
Gino, and Anat Keinan points in the opposite direction. In The
Red Sneakers Effect: Inferring Status and Competence from
Signals of Nonconformit , the found that, Nonconforming
behaviors, as costl and visible signals, can act as a particular
form of conspicuous consumption and lead to positive inferences
of status and competence in the e es of others.
Those sneakers might make ou look even more successful than if
ou simpl
ore
hat others normall
ear. Ho ever, the
authors stress that this effect onl happens
the behavior is intentional
dress code. And
beholder. That is
hen it s obvious that
as opposed to simpl misjudging the
hat counts as intentional is in the e e of the
h I recommend ou start
ith observation
and e perimentation.
No , it s time for ou to set our o n dress code. A fe
months
after m LinkedIn post, I came across a post b Naima Judge, a
Managing Director & Market Investment E ecutive at the Bank of
America Private Bank,
photo of herself
hom I had met in the past. She posted a
alking confidentl in
hite pants and a
beautiful, bright ello
shirt
ith an African print. Her
ords
ere: Toda s business attire. That s all. #carr on
#Investmente ecutive
Intrigued, I reached out to her to learn more about the change.
She e plained that, after the pandemic, she decided to esche
the
traditional black and bro n suits of the financial services
industr for brighter colors, comfortable sneakers, and st les that
felt more authentic to her.
In the beginning, it
as about comfort, she said. But it soon
became about something much deeper: a change in mindset
around bringing her authentic self to the office. It
as about
anting to represent herself in the clothes that she
that, as a
ore. She said
oman of color in a ver conservative industr and
holding a role that not man
omen of color have, she
anted to
consciousl serve as a role model to others. She said it s becoming
more
idel accepted to allo
our attire to be an e pression of
ho ou are, as opposed to a formal environment to
hich ou
need to mold ourself.
I asked her, What benefit do ou think this has on ou personall
and on our organi ation? Her ans er
as illuminating: It takes
energ to not be our authentic self. If I can be more authentic, I
can then use m energ to focus on m clients and uplift the
people
ho report to me.
Authenticit sends a po erful message, and
post-pandemic is that comfort does as
hat
e are seeing
ell. Business e ecutives
can set the tone, as Judge has done, b demonstrating to others
ho
the office dress code is changing. The can also discuss the
boundaries so that no one gets caught in the middle, just as I
feared
ould happen to m stiletto heels
hile I
as
alking on
stage.
At this ver moment, as
e continue our return to the office,
e
have a unique opportunit to re rite the rules of office etiquette.
What behaviors
ill
e keep? Which outdated practices no longer
serve us? Let s create those rules ourselves and, in doing so, create
space for others to bring their authentic selves to the office. We ll
feel more fulfilled and more confident as a result, and our feet
thank us.
teaches The Arts of
Communication at the Harvard Kenned
School and is the Founder/CEO of Global Public
Speaking, a training firm that helps emerging
and established leaders to speak clearl ,
concisel , and confidentl . She is the author of
the ne book, S ea
hI
ac : H
C
a d he R
a d I f e ce O he
(HarperCollins Leadership).
ill