Do You Dress For Your Boss?

Nov 26, 2007 @ 10:05am

Gisele and Emily Blunt in The Devil Wears Prada

Bored with What Not To Wear this weekend, my best friend from home swiveled on the couch and asked "How funny to be one of the girls on this show."

Yeah, except if you weigh an ounce over 100 lbs, Nick Arojo thinks you need some sort of hair bob, which makes you look like the fat girl wearing nice lip gloss.

But anyway.

"I'd love to dress cooler," moaned my friend, "But anytime I wear my Marc Jacobs wedges to work, my boss just smiles and says, 'Interesting choice of footwear.' And you'll never get a promotion if you don't dress for your boss." This girl works in public television.

Meanwhile, I'm reminded of two conversations:

1. Last week with a very successful good friend, who insists she hires her interns and assistants specifically to look cooler and hotter than she has the energy to look. "I want to be the girl in charge, surrounded by all the hot chicks," she admitted. "It sends a very powerful impression to the other people in the company, especially our new clients."

2. Several years ago, my boss called me into her office about a fellow colleague. "Can you please start telling her to choose better clothes?" asked the boss. "She can't represent us if she looks so clueless and tacky." I had no idea what to say, so I just smiled, nodded, and bolted back to my desk.

I'm sure you've all had similar office experiences, so we should probably discuss them / explore them, to figure out when and if they're ever appropriate, and how exactly to deal when your boss encourages you to sift through your colleagues' closets.

And also: Are you dressing for your boss in the morning?

(Usually I'm dressing for you guys, so I guess my answer is "yes" and "no"...)

posted by curious

Nov 26, 2007 10:42AM

I dress for myself in the mornings, I work in a very casual soho based clothing co and after my 1st week i was told that I dress up too much! it only takes me half and hour to shower, dress, and style my hair...this is how ive been since high school, i guess im just effortlessly fabulous

posted by JennyB

Nov 26, 2007 11:17AM

Well, since I live in the midwest and work at a not-for-profit, black pants and cashmere v-neck sweaters are about as daring as I get. I do like to spruce things up with accessories, but only on casual Friday.

posted by guest

Nov 26, 2007 11:47AM

totally depends on your job - being a lawyer in a law firm.. you dress in suits. ta da!

posted by tahl

Nov 26, 2007 12:05PM

Sadly, yes. However, I happen to think that my boss dresses incredibly well herself, so maybe it's the need to impress?

posted by guest

Nov 26, 2007 12:17PM

I'm curious as to what kind of things your "clueless and tacky" colleague was wearing.

posted by guest

Nov 26, 2007 12:36PM

My boss apparently wants to own every article of my clothing, from my navy DVF wrap dress to my sparkly Rock and Republics, as well as at least half of my lipsticks and glosses. She's your stereotypical Staten Islander (no offense to SIers, but... totally MTV True Life here) but dresses darn cute - for a 25-year-old. She's over 50. I don't know whether to be concerned or flattered.

I also just realized I totally didn't answer the question in the post so, um, I guess?

-TK

posted by guest

Nov 26, 2007 12:49PM

well, if you work in fashion, obviously your look has to be fashion-savy, hip&cool.
I can not imagine Meredith's assistant wearing something boring and dark, or in the other hand to flashy. lol
But I've heard that 70% of the interns in the fashion industry are chosen by their look.

posted by guest

Nov 26, 2007 1:02PM

Yes, definitely! (but I work in fashion editorial, so..) I don't dress so much for my boss as her boss (which basically means heels all times she is around, a good amount of edgy black, and statement jewelry), but I know it makes a huge impact for me career-wise, so I don't mind. Plus it means I HAVE to go shopping for certain occasions (run-thrus, etc), so it's a win win situation in my eyes.

posted by guest

Nov 26, 2007 1:32PM

how do you guys get these jobs? I wear black pants, a black shirt, and a green apron. Would you like that not-fat? I've got this closet full of beautiful clothes for the job I hope to have someday, but for now and for health insurance, it's a uniform for me.

posted by mpw

Nov 26, 2007 1:56PM

Our office is small and fairly casual, but I still try to look put together because my boss is always dressed very chicly -- which is a nice change from the rest of book publishing, where most other bosses seem to be a bit dowdy.

posted by superflippy

Nov 26, 2007 2:47PM

My boss wears a coat and tie every day even though he doesn't have to. He wouldn't fire me if I wore jeans and flip-flops into the office, but I know he prefers his employees to be a little more dressed up than that - he's complained of people in the past who wore beat-up shorts and old t-shirts. So I stick to a business casual look (nice pants or skirt) and try to make it interesting.

I'm only in the office one day a week. The rest of the time I work from home and wear whatever I feel like.

posted by guest

Nov 26, 2007 3:18PM

what is up w/ nick and the bobs?!

posted by greygreygrey

Nov 26, 2007 4:16PM

In my case, it's my boss that's clueless. We work in fashion, but she tends to dress less than professionally, let alone fashionably. Her wardrobe consists of polyester grandpa pants, pleated plaid miniskirts (though she's over 30), and tshirts that are too short. Basically, the wardrobe I had when I was 15 and wanted to be a punk rock girl.

Of course, there's some degree of snobbery involved, but we are in the fashion industry where one is judged by their looks and ability to put a decent outfit together. I don't think it's unreasonable to expect more from someone who has made fashion their career.

posted by southweststyle

Nov 26, 2007 5:30PM

I was once asked by a male boss to have a talk with a colleague and ask her to not wear such low-cut stuff to work...I guess she was dressing for HER boss...

posted by guest

Nov 26, 2007 5:48PM

I work in a high-powered corporate environment (aka very smart, very accomplished people) and it is really not considered professional to dress fashionably, something which took me a while to truly understand. it didnt make sense that such interesting and economically viable people wouldn't want to express their point of view through their clothes. i certainly did.

after about a year at the firm, i now see that, especially starting out as a young woman, standing out too much for any reason other than the quality of your work is probably more of a barrier to success than not. its more about projecting an aura of confidence and competence, which can absolutely be done via clothing, but which requires a degree of subtlety.

what really bums me out is that the fashion magazines consistantly espouse work looks that work for the fashion/pr/media world only. i would love to see them create looks for the majority of women with disposable income who work in a traditional office

posted by Becca

Nov 26, 2007 6:27PM

Was just discussing this with my roommate a week ago. She works in government and has been having facetime with Charismatic Politician. Yeah, she got two new suits.

posted by Rose

Nov 26, 2007 7:59PM

I work in an art gallery and when I asked my boss about dress code, she said "Well, we have a conservative clientele, but we ARE an art gallery...." and that was it. Then one day she wore keds. So basically, I use my job as an excuse to dress up more than I do for school, and with that as guidance wear whatever I like!

posted by guest

Nov 27, 2007 12:43AM

guest at 5:48, you made an excellent point about "work outfits" in magazines. Usually what they show is in no way appropriate for my super-corporate, super-conservative work environment. You also make me wonder if my not so conservative choice in footwear is part of the reason why I no longer work there.

posted by guest

Nov 27, 2007 3:15PM

Well, i'm going out with my boss, so uh... i kinda do dress for him! Less flippantly, my job involves running about, but i like fashion too much to not make an effort, so i wear clothes that look chic, up to date and interesting, without hindering my work any. Clever knitwear, slim clean lines, edgy details, good colours, few patterns, never too much leg or cleavage (and if i wear something short, I always wear opaque tights, never bare legs). Fashiony but practical. But our office can be freezing sometimes and my bosses don't understand the difficulty of layering adequately without looking like a football. I got told off last week for sitting there in my jacket, shivering, but I can only afford (and wear!) so many long-sleeved, fine knits.

posted by StaceyMcGill

Nov 28, 2007 2:26AM

Sigh. EVERY, but EVERY morning, my boss gives me the Girl Once Over. So, yes. I've stepped up my game a bit since I started working there.

posted by electrictick

Dec 01, 2007 11:43PM

i have two bosses. one never washes her hair and wears the same sweatshirt skirt pants every day. the other is older and wears very coordinated outfits. i can always hear her clicking down the mall to check on us. i really make an effort in my appearance, but i think i am too "arty" for the place. they are ordering us company sweaters on monday. on an unrelated note, i'm quitting.