You Are What You Wear
By Shamni Pande | India Today Group – Wed 11 Sep, 2013 12:09 AM IST
First name: Mess. Second name: Hot', was the message
emblazoned across the T-shirt front of a young executive attending a Saturday
office brunch meeting. The dress code was indeed 'casual', but wasn't this a
little too casual? A senior executive acquaintance of mine, who attended the
lunch, certainly thought so. He had been toying with the idea of offering the
executive a project to work on, but now felt unsure whether the person was
mature enough to handle the responsibility.
To some extent, choice of work clothes varies according to the industry a person is in. Some work environments are more casual than others. But still, people often get it wrong, says Shital Kakkar Mehra, author of Business Etiquette: A Guide for the Indian Professional. The book has been selling very well, going into reprints. Consulting firms, pharma majors and some multinationals have been consulting her to articulate a dress guide for their employees.
Mehra says she often gets calls from top CEOs. "One CEO wanted me to counsel a very competent chief financial officer who was indifferent towards dressing appropriately," she says. This was becoming an embarrassment for the company as the CFO was required to be part of negotiating table while striking deals and even had to travel overseas.
Generally, women tend to take more pains over dressing appropriately than men. "However, both genders flounder when it comes to casual dressing," says Mehra. The big tip here is that casual dressing is no excuse for poor hygiene, lack of grooming or sloppy attire. Many, however, continue to believe that clothes do not/should not matter. They call those who try to correct them 'snooty' or 'dress-obsessed'. Even in the creative industries where casual dressing is the norm, the yardsticks change when, say, presentations have to be made.
Overall, it is always better to err on the side of formal dressing rather than informal. No one will accuse you of being obsessed with taking showers or wearing crisply ironed shirts.
To some extent, choice of work clothes varies according to the industry a person is in. Some work environments are more casual than others. But still, people often get it wrong, says Shital Kakkar Mehra, author of Business Etiquette: A Guide for the Indian Professional. The book has been selling very well, going into reprints. Consulting firms, pharma majors and some multinationals have been consulting her to articulate a dress guide for their employees.
Mehra says she often gets calls from top CEOs. "One CEO wanted me to counsel a very competent chief financial officer who was indifferent towards dressing appropriately," she says. This was becoming an embarrassment for the company as the CFO was required to be part of negotiating table while striking deals and even had to travel overseas.
Generally, women tend to take more pains over dressing appropriately than men. "However, both genders flounder when it comes to casual dressing," says Mehra. The big tip here is that casual dressing is no excuse for poor hygiene, lack of grooming or sloppy attire. Many, however, continue to believe that clothes do not/should not matter. They call those who try to correct them 'snooty' or 'dress-obsessed'. Even in the creative industries where casual dressing is the norm, the yardsticks change when, say, presentations have to be made.
Overall, it is always better to err on the side of formal dressing rather than informal. No one will accuse you of being obsessed with taking showers or wearing crisply ironed shirts.
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