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Workwear 11-10-2006
TimesDaily
Dress codes evolve from pinstripes and pantyhose
By Kenda Williams
Staff Writer
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Missie Pickle and Liz Shirey, who work at Thompson Family Chiropractic in Muscle Shoals, dress casually on Fridays. Workplace dress codes have evolved through the years, depending on numerous factors, employers say. JIM HANNON/TimesDaily |
Workplaces constantly adapt and evolve their policies for employee uniform and business attire. - Business officials say this happens for a variety of reasons, including company policy changes, influence from society, practicality and workability.
Whatever the reason, modern workplaces are seeing constant changes from the attire of yesterday. Doctor's offices, for instance, are not all starched white uniforms anymore, although uniform attire still exists.
"We do wear scrubs," said Lisa Thompson, office manager at Thompson Family Chiropractic in Muscle Shoals. "It just projects a more professional image. It makes the patients feel more important."
She said scrub uniforms are not merely worn for aesthetic reasons.
"They're created to be … more conducive to the type of work we do," she said. "(They) are comfortable, functional and professional."
Professional attire has to be constantly stressed to employees in some workplaces.
Uniforms or professional dress ranks high in importance, especially when bringing a new employee to the company.
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Georgia Hendricks, sales, marketing and communication partner for Regions Bank of North Alabama, said banks are still conservative for the most part in projecting a professional image to customers.
She said at most banks, women are required to wear hosiery with dresses, a dress suit and dress slacks, and men are required to wear dress slacks and shirts.
"We want our customers to perceive our associates as professional bankers," she said.
Like doctor's offices, uniforms still are worn at restaurants to project a professional image.
Brent Fratesi, store manager of Rosie's Mexican Cantina in Florence, said all employees wear a white shirt, with male servers wearing black pants and female servers wearing black skirts.
He said the restaurant has always required dressier work attire and uniforms for its employees and believes it is pertinent for employees in fine dining establishments to give off a positive, professional impression to the customer.
"I think if more people see you, you need to be in more business (type of) attire," he said.
Hendricks said she believes dress codes have become stricter and more professional lately because businesses are becoming more full service.
"The knowledge and expectations of the customers have changed over the past decade," Hendricks said. "Now, they're coming in with higher expectations."
She said services cost more and people are more educated, which trigger higher expectations in workplace professionalism and attire.
Some companies believe the workplace attire rules are becoming more relaxed, especially with "casual Fridays," when employees are allowed to wear khakis and a company polo or sweater while still maintaining a professional appearance.
"We have casual business Friday, and we allow our associates to wear khakis and a Regions shirt with a collar… (and) a professional type of shoe," Hendricks said.
Jeff Isbell, a vice president at First Southern Bank in Muscle Shoals, said he has spoken with several banks across the South that have made dress code policies more relaxed and are now "going casual throughout the weeks ... especially in the summer months in the Southern states."
The chiropractic assistants at Thompson Family Chiropractic wear scrub uniforms during the week, except for Fridays, when they are allowed to wear company T-shirts and jeans.
"We want our employees to be happy at their workplace and believe they're more productive if they're happy and equate a casual or dress-down day with a more positive environment," Thompson said.
Isbell said society has a lot to do with trends of work attire.
"The workplace is just kind of following what society has made acceptable," he said.
Isbell said the reason for casual business attire's popularity could be to enable employees to better connect with customers and to blend in with the rest of society.
"Some people will make the argument that you don't want to dress too stiff; you want to dress more similar to what your clientele (wears)," he said.
Laura Moody, the senior vice president and chief communications officer for Bank Independent, said the bank expects both male and female employees to wear professional dress attire throughout the workweek, with "team day" attire on Fridays that allows them to wear a shirt with the bank's logo.
"Through all 25 of our offices, we want our people to be professional both in their attire and demeanor," she said.
Moody said, in her experience, she has seen relaxed attire cropping up throughout the business world.
She said, however, that "in any organization you should -- whatever line of business you're in -- strive for your employees to be professional."
Kenda Williams can be reached at 740-5720 or kenda.williams@timesdaily.com.
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