:: Do people drive more professionally in a Mercedes than a Toyota? ::

Tuesday, August 16, 2005

I will agree with Ben Stein that the workplace of today may be suffering from excess casualness, though I take issue with his insistence (a call to yarns?) that all men of business wear a suit. My own personal pet peeve has always been the atrocious spelling, syntax, and grammar of the modern workforce, especially in e-mails, but I suspect the ability to communicate in writing with someone several thousand miles away is somewhat more vital than the unseen sender's choice of dress. I disagree with the logic that dressing better means working better. If you're not versatile or trustworthy enough to perform your duties under a variety of conditions, I consider that malfunction of discipline, not wardrobe. There is no panacea for being unprofessional, though I'm sure Mr. Stein would argue that slipping on a BrooksEase 3-button* just makes a man feel like capitalizing proper nouns. Some of the stories I hear from friends at the investment banks whose employees he says "dress beautifully" point to the contrary.

Drawing a connection between attire and mentality works against you as well. I hear those in suits complaining about being pigeon-holed when walking into a bar. I agree with them: I don't think wearing a suit makes you a "suit", and I even think the word's co-optation as an epithet is unfair at best and classist at worst, but you can't have it both ways. The argument that one should wear a suit to affect others' perception cannot be espoused when convenient and abandoned when deleterious. You should not expect art gallery patrons to withhold the judgment you expect from business associates**.

A dose of pragmatism, that cornerstone of American industry, is in order. A business needs to service its customers. If you have clients like Mr. Stein, or can't tell ahead of time whether he or she would prefer you to be over or under-dressed, dress formally. If your company interacts with anyone (e.g. stodgy external partners) who will help you service your clientele and expects a certain level of sartorial pomp, dress formally. In absence of these or other common-sense needs, wear ass-less chaps and a Speedo for all I care, so long as it makes you more productive.

Furthermore, I would like to point out that Mr. Stein's repeated preference for Brooks Brothers is, to resume the automotive analogy from this post's title, not unlike an antiquated preference for high-end Buicks. They are reliable and appropriate, but neither are what they were back during the Nixon administration** when I suspect this opinion piece would have been more appropriate.

Choire's take is a bit more succinct.

* I am making the risky presumption here that Ben Stein would approve of the relatively recent shift in popularity of the 3-button suit jacket over the 2-button. A less risky presumption is that he would condone the movement from double to single-breasted jackets over the past ~100 years.

** I'm not referring to TW or MT or anyone in particular here - most suit-wearers I know stick with one argument (suits influence perception, there are benefits and drawbacks) or the other (suits are a quirky necessity and signal very little). I have though heard antithetical positions ("you need a suit to project certain qualities" followed by "why do people assume certain qualities about me just because I'm wearing a suit?") from single pairs of lips and I just don't see how they reconcile it.

*** This specific reference is a low blow on my part, serving mostly to bring up the anecdote herewith about Ben Stein openly weeping when Nixon announced his resignation.

Posted by morland @ 01:10 PM

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