What do you wear to work?

[RPower]

In the last few weeks, we asked Dorothy Perkins for their insight into business fashion. But we want to know, what do you wear to work every day?

There's a growing trend for younger businesses to lose formality (depending on the industry) and dress really casually - and working from home means you pretty much have free reign.

Therefore, do you think business suits and briefcases still have a place in the small business world? How do you dress to impress customers and clients?

 

[DavidWH]

Branded workwear, as most of the local competition don't and rock up in their jeans and t-shirt with half their egg butty down it.

In my opinion it just look's slightly more professional.

 

[The Byre]

Poor people tend to try to dress up. Expensive suit and silly briefcase tells me you probably haven't got two brass farthings to rub together.

Neat branded workwear always works for trades.

The boss? Casual.

Really rich? Then you can rock up in jeans and a t-shirt with half an egg butty down it!

 

[myfairworld]

I think that, unfortunately, men's suits need to be very expensive indeed to look good and even so I don't like them that much. Unfortunately business people often wear suits which sag and which are badly in need of a clean and which don't fit properly. I incline towards feeling slight distrust of the 'suited' be they male or female! I think unless you can spend a large amount on the outfit and can continue to spend a large amount on cleaning ongoing then suits should be avoided, the trouble is that if you are able to do so I may assume that you are charging me too much.

The rule in my own business is what I call 'clean casual', in other words I don't care much what you wear but it must be clean. It'd easier to enforce 'clean' if you allow casual outfits which can be chucked in the washing machine and come up smiling.

I'm female and mostly I wear rather exotic looking Kaftans but then my shop sells incense and a variety of other 'exotic' things so my rather eccentric outfits fit in with the atmosphere. My apprentice is a fashionata who dresses almost entirely from the most unlikely charity shop finds in which she manages to always look distinctly ahead of the pack in fashion terms. Younger people like what she wears, older people are sort of fascinated by it especially as it is never the same twice, I know I have customers who come in simply to see what she has on today and what colour her hair is today and they are distinctly disappointed if it is her day off.

 

[Gecko001]

I actually meet very few business owners who wear suits. They do not really impress many people these days unless those people who dream of becoming a call centre team leader. No offense to those who work in call centres.

 

[Paul Norman]

I do not wear a suit. I wear smart casual - which I accept means nothing and is totally subjective!

I do not own a pair of jeans. However, that does not mean wearing them to work would make me think less of you.

 

[john1989]

Business suits are more suited to professions. I wouldn't expect a solicitor, accountant etc to be dressed in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt.

 

[Paul Norman]

I don't think I have seen my accountant wearing a suit, come to think of it. But I am still completely happy with the quality of his work.

 

[Ashley_Price]

Most of my day is spent sitting in a little(ish) office on my own. I have no employees as such. Yet, I still look pretty much as my profile picture on the left there. <----

I still have a collar and tie, because I never know what could happen or when I could be asked to go to a customer at short notice.

 

[billmccallum1957]

Depends what I'm doing and who I'm meeting, most of the time jeans and jumper (with a big yellow jacket when it rains), but for a formal business meeting I would wear a suit, but I'm old fashioned and like to dress up once in a while.

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

I used to wear suits when my business was bigger but I dont now . I wear a smart shirt with a smart jumper and jeans with a smart pair of boots . I can put my overalls over all this and put on safety boots if I need to do any workshop work and get covered oil and grease .

I think its good to move with the times really Everybody here used to wear suits now they dont
Back in the day you would never catch a man around here wearing purple with brown and a great big beard but now its the style ,it looks good (I dont have a beard though lol) .
Things feel laid back and actully feel more comfortable dealing with people If I go to meeting with a new customer I wear this and so do everybody else

 

[BustersDogs]

Business suits def wouldn't work for us. Being smart usually means we only have mud on our trouser hems, rather than all up and down our bodies...

 

[Root 66 Woodshop]

Clothes.

 

[RPower]

Sounds pretty varied!

Working in a media office, it's very much smart casual for us (or very casual for some)

But if you're seeing clients, etc, generally we like to dress up smart to give a good impression. How important do you think appearance is for winning new business, for example?

 

[DavidWH]

I have a sales rep who who rocks up a 3 piece suit, with pocket watch. Nice guy.

Don't buy because of his attire, but down to their service and price.

I think our staff wearing branded workwear gives the client more confidence that we're not cowboys, and also set the tone that we're probably not going to be dirt cheap neither.

 

[Mitch3473]

Branded workwear, as most of the local competition don't and rock up in their jeans and t-shirt with half their egg butty down it.

In my opinion it just look's slightly more professional.

Like wise and totally agree. It's the first impression thing.

 

[Mr A P Davies]

I wear a heavy weight Cordura waistcoat, tailored to my own exacting specifications, by me. (A lot of work, but well worth it)
Usually Cargo trousers, or jeans, and big clumpy boots.
By mid day monday, I look like I've been dragged through a hedge backwards, and occasionally, I actually have been, or at least fallen off a ladder into one.
Any other items of clothing are ripped, or have been set on fire at least once.
I also stink of petrol, petrol fumes, diesel, and grass.
I go more for practicality than appearance.

 

[japancool]

I quite often work from home. Do you really want to know what I wear?

 

[Mr A P Davies]

I quite often work from home. Do you really want to know what I wear?

A Kimono?

 

[KM-Tiger]

How important do you think appearance is for winning new business, for example?

Very important.

But the clothes you wear are only one part of the overall impression you give.

 

[japancool]

A Kimono?

I do, in fact, have several kimonos.

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

Sounds pretty varied!

Working in a media office, it's very much smart casual for us (or very casual for some)

But if you're seeing clients, etc, generally we like to dress up smart to give a good impression. How important do you think appearance is for winning new business, for example?

It used to be very important but people these days are wiser they can see through it all. If your in finance or law Its different but those of us more educationally challenged are better off just being ourselves

The best one I ever saw was a bloke in a white suit getting out his Mondeo in Exeter . I thought they were filming Miami vice but Don Johnson never drove a Mondeo

 

[Madiha Khan]

formal dress , I mean do we have to select suits to wear on work ?

 

[paulears]

If you deal with clients on the telephone, you make sure you don;t have an accent that makes you impossible to understand - something many call centres seem to forget, and if you deal with customers face to face, you wear what is appropriate. For some of my work, I wear suits - quite nice ones, not bought from the local Burtons or Next. Another client likes suits, but the work area means they get plucked and get dirty - I wear cheap suits I buy from Tesco, and they last a short time, but cost silly money, but look smart. Next day will see me wearing what are called Stage Blacks - for me this is black jeans, black Polo shirt with small branding on the chest and a black fleece if cold. Clean, but isolationist. It means management ignore you, which is good or bad. Another entertainment job means smart plain black trousers, with a proper plain black shirt. Looking at the rail in my production office when away working, will be all of these, plus yellow jacket, hard hat and steel toe capped boots, because at some points, stages are work sites with hard hat rules, and if you need to be there, you comply.

Occasionally work also requires dinner suits, or for me, white trousers and Hawaiian shirts.

Picking the wrong one can be humorous or embarrassing. All are for work. Often younger people get this badly wrong - picking inappropriate clothes, and I grimace at the client's face when presented with somebody who got it wrong. First impressions shouldn't count, but usually do!

Have I got the biggest work wardrobe? Those who wear the same thing every day don't know they are born!

 

[Pish_Pash]

What do I wear to work?

Sometimes I wear only my boxers with a dressing gown to work ...but then again, I work from home & it's only my missus that sees me in such attire (well what do you expect if my office is only 7 seconds from my bedroom?) ....& besides, I normally change before going to the Post Office,

 

[sirearl]

You can't judge an apple by looking at a tree
You can't judge honey by looking at the bee
You can't judge a daughter by looking at the mother
You can't judge a book by looking at the cover.

Fat people look terrible in suits.IMHO

 

[john1989]

You can't judge an apple by looking at a tree
You can't judge honey by looking at the bee
You can't judge a daughter by looking at the mother
You can't judge a book by looking at the cover.

Fat people look terrible in suits.IMHO

For the sake of balance, skinny people look terrible in Mawashi's too

 

[garyk]

I can't believe this question is being asked on ukbf!?!?!?

I guess its a general indication of what its now becoming.

Sad.

 

[AllUpHere]

I can't believe this question is being asked on ukbf!?!?!?

I guess its a general indication of what its now becoming.

Sad.

Maybe Dorothy Perkins paid for a link.

 

[john1989]

Maybe Dorothy Perkins paid for a link.

More likely to be Primark.

 

[AllUpHere]

Fat people look terrible in suits.IMHO

The above sentence also works if you remove 'in suits'.

 

[Annoying Donkey]

Sometimes I wear only my boxers with a dressing gown to work

You're overdressed...

I max out at jeans and t-shirt (not designer, M&S specials). Clients don't seem to mind, though I have had some funny looks on first meeting...

 

[RPower]

No one paid for a link; it's a genuine question. I got the idea from a question someone asked on Aweb back in 2011 (I used to work there): http://www.accountingweb.co.uk/anyanswers/what-do-accountants-wear/516810

Business and appearances is a pretty relevant question I think, especially when you're dealing with clients. Have perceptions shifted over the years or are some professions still seen as being 'suited and booted' ones?

Some really good answers here so thank you

 

[mm88]

We work in an office and rarely deal with clients so jeans and jumper is a standard day for me, I will of course always dress up if I know I'll be having a meeting etc.

But with the up rise of video chats and such I rarely have face to face meetings.

 

[RickyD2411]

work from home so shorts and tshirt for me, what ever the season

 

[talkinpeace]

For some clients : twinset, pencil skirt, court shoes
For others : smart trousers and jumper
For others : full on suit
For others : slob about jeans and jumper at home
and if I'm doing email while on holiday : a bikini

 

[SamStones]

Regular day at the office: combats , Dunlop work pants or shorts, a t shirt and fleece.

Important meeting: jeans and a nicer fleece

Trade show (visiting): jeans and a hoody

Weddings, funerals and court appearances: a suit

I don't meet clients face to face, and I care not what my suppliers think of my dress sense or lack of it.

I've always said that if I really hit rock bottom in life and decided to apply for "the apprentice" I'd go into the boardroom on my first day in jeans and a fleece - I'd probably get ridiculed by lord sugar and 'fired' before I got chance to actually complete any of the tasks but that's just my attitude to business attire!

 

[TotalWebSolutions]

All staff semi-formal office wear - shirt/tie/trousers/shoes

 

[Karen at RED]

We've got a staff uniform - bet you can't guess at the colour . This means everyone looks smart when we have a visitor. I also think it bonds the team. To me, first impressions really count. I always wear a red dress and heels when I go to see a client or go networking. I feel professional and I hope I look it!

 

[hongfunclothing]

wear business and casual Polo shirts with your company logo printed