At Erblaw, we have a casual Friday dress code. It’s the one day of the week where denim has our blessing and is especially welcome in the summer time, when it’s really too hot to dress up anyway.
In the flush 1990s, many companies adopted radically casual “dress codes” for every day. In an increasingly competitive job market for employees (meaning that employees could picky about their job choices - remember, it was the 90s!), employers had to find angles to woo and keep employees. One such angle was to allow a very liberal definition of casual in the workplace. Some companies, especially those of the dot.com variety, trying to woo a younger crowd, had full time casual days and practically no dress code at all.
By all accounts, that strategy backfired. Women wore flip flops to work. Some men wore shorts. According to a study by Accutemps conducted in 2000, 39% of respondents felt that employees were “too casual” on casual day.
And so the tide began to turn.
Employers started tweaking the dress code with “Dress Up Thursdays” and other strategies meant to encourage employees to dress better. This was, of course, boosted by claims in joblessness, which meant that there were fewer jobs to be found and employers, once in the unenviable position of bending their rules to accommodate potential employees, again held the upper hand. Even President Bush got into the act, reversing the dress code from President Clinton’s term, which allowed a more casual attire.
So, who’s to blame (or cheer) for this reversal? As you could expect, the men’s dress suit industry has definitely been at the forefront of the movement. According to an article in Business Week, menswear companies have banded together as the Men’s Apparel Alliance to pitch the “Dress Up Thursdays” idea; one company, Christopher’s Men’s Stores has even launched a website to encourage CEOs of corporations to return to a more conservative approach on attire.
Is it working? Perhaps. Following the dot.com crash, the tech world was stunned to Steve Jobs, a self-avowed casualist, present at Macworld 2001 in (horrors!) a suit. He was there to pitch the release of OS X as well as some new developments with iMacs and G4s. He meant business and wearing a suit signaled that to the world. It was the beginning of Apple’s return in the computer world and Steve apparently wanted to make a statement. He did, with photos of him wearing a suit garnering almost as much press as the OS X release date.
It didn’t last long. Ironically, in 2005, with Apple riding high, Steve has returned to his casual attire for keynote addresses at MacWorld.
So, that begs the question: Are suits for losers? And by that, I mean, do suits project an image that says “I’m here to win” while the more casually attired person says “I’ve already won.” If you follow the economics of the dot.com world, you might think so.
If true, you might think that lawyers across America would be darting to the mall for Dockers. But it appears that lawyers are holding onto the business attire for a bit longer - at least in the courtroom. However, at least one judge in Georgia just happens to think that casual dress makes people more comfortable and has instituted his own version of Casual Friday - no suits except for formal trials.
At Erblaw, I’ll confess that I hate suits. Chris wears them occasionally - mostly when he has to go into Center City to meet with (gasp) other lawyers. Laurent often wears suits - maybe it’s a French thing? Armana is always dressed to the nines (though I’ve never seen her in denim, ever), as is Angie, but neither wears a suit. Madeline wears the occasional suit, and almost always has a jacket. I guess, as an office, we’re a mixed bag. I like to think our casual attitude makes clients comfortable - it sure makes us comfortable!
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