The younger man in the house embarked on a new mission with little enthusiasm. This was six years ago when he had taken up his first job and entered the corporate world. Every night he would lay out the ironing board and press his shirt and trousers. The company had asked employees to be dressed in business casuals. Jeans were allowed only on Fridays.
I discovered an opportunity in this situation. Perhaps my boy would master this art, and ironing chores in the house could be outsourced to him. Obviously I was being unrealistically hopeful. That dream has remained unfulfilled to this day because his dress-preparation ritual was short-lived.
A year later, COVID-19 struck the world, and the work-from-home (WFH) culture became the norm of many. So why would anyone care about what he or she is wearing when they do not have to meet any of their colleagues at work? I can at least speak for my son, who was delighted not to be formally dressed during that entire phase when he was home!
With life returning to normalcy after the tumultuous COVID years, we have people returning back to the offices, but working from home has not gone out of fashion. That brings up an important topic for discussion. WFH folks have the liberty of being in their house clothes without restrictions.
Attention: There is an important video meeting!
Professionalism counts and needs to be maintained in the office environment. So how can one even think of turning up in pajamas or shorts when business is at stake? Well there is a solution to everything.
“Business on the top, party on the bottom,” is a tag line so familiar to those who need to make their online presence visible while working from home. During the COVID days in particular, it almost became a habit for many to wear formal attire on top and casual clothing on the bottom.
Not too long ago, a news story went viral when the Royal Bank of Canada asked its employees to come to work wearing the clothes they had put on during their Zoom meetings. A group photo shared from the company was indeed a hilarious one. All the men in the picture had blazers with ties on the top and shorts paired with sneakers at the bottom. One even sported funky pajamas!
The dress code for remote workers!
Dressing in casuals is obviously comfortable and eases stress. Rather than having to worry about what to wear, one can concentrate on the work. This enhances productivity.
Could there be a downside? Might the boundaries between work and personal life blur if someone wears home clothes all the time, making it hard to transition into work mode? I would say that a person who is truly diligent and sincere will not fall into that trap. Conversely, someone who slacks off or habitually misrepresents their work will goof off even if dressed formally from head to toe.
When celebrations in a social circle tell guests what to wear
We cannot generalize about whether people like or dislike being given a dress code. Whether someone enjoys attending a party clothed in an assigned style is purely personal and situational. If you enjoy experimenting with clothes, following the protocol can be fun. Conversely, it can be annoying if you aren’t interested in fashion and do not like being bound by rules that dictate what you must wear.
Human behavior is peculiar and often unpredictable. Someone who usually complains about the rules at parties may react very differently upon discovering that many outfits in their wardrobe already conform to the dress code on the invitation. In that case, they may feel genuine excitement.
Dropping the drama!
I once heard someone say that she was thinking of skipping a party because of a strict dress code. She didn’t have anything that matched what the host had suggested, and my sympathies lie with her. Why should she buy an outfit for an event for which she was only a guest?
It’s a lovely sight to see guests dressed beautifully and coordinated, but it’s unfair to pressure people to go out of their way to fit in. The goal of any gathering is to foster pleasant camaraderie and have fun. So even if you set a dress code for your event, keep it simple – go easy and skip the drama!
rashmi writes 