Brains, 10. Looks, 3.

[cedarlibrarian]

On Jezebel today they're discussing a show I love, What not to Wear. I love both the American and the British versions. I've stated before that I'm really good at dressing everyone but myself, and watching WNTW and seeing what Clinton and Stacy suggest for women whose body types are similar to mine has helped me build a decent work wardrobe. (

Comments

[loupnoir]

This might make me sound like a bad feminist, but the fact is, you can have all the real accomplishments in the world but I won't take you as seriously if you dress inappropriately, because clothes do matter.

I suggest you never work in IT. Or in California.

The advice my mother gave to me was never, ever judge someone by the way they're dressed. The person you're sneering at could be Howard Hughes or someone sent in to report on your reactions and service. Now, this was in Las Vegas in the seventies, but the advice still applies.

FWIW, I dressed in polo shirts and jeans for most of my very well-paying career, and I had firms court me. Dress does not make or break a deal or an interview. I've worked next to people dressed in sweats, as well as people dressed in expensive suits. Didn't matter how they looked. What mattered was could they walk the walk.

[cedarlibrarian]

I did work in California for a bit, but maybe the living-in-OC factor plus the public service factor made things a little different. I was judged more for what I wore in CA than I have been in NJ. But I think that was also a difference between the library directors I worked for.

The IT guys at work get to wear jeans and shorts and flannel shirts, and I envy them muchly. To be fair, they're also digging around in a lot of library dust. The other thing is that IT is taken a lot more seriously around here than YA services, so I do what I can to convince people that I'm a grownup. Sometimes it even works :)

ETA: I think there's also the matter of "appropriate." What's appropriate in IT is a lot more casual than what's appropriate in public libraries. It wouldn't make any more sense for a corporate lawyer or a Wall Street honcho to wear jeans and a polo shirt to work than it would for you to wear a business suit. My problem comes more from people dressing for a much more casual environment than they actually work in.

[loupnoir]

Our public library in FB is staffed by women in t-shirts and jeans. The librarians I've seen at Cal and other universities/CC wore student clothes or suits - and it wasn't apparent who was the manager and who was the student trainee.

I had to dress in suits for one of my jobs. I have the power suits and their linen and silk blouses, just as I have the chinos/jeans and polos. IT varies a lot, but I will note, before you say, See!, that I slowly worked my way down from the suits to the chinos/polos and no one said a thing. I walked the walk.

And what about engineers? You run the gamut there, too, from high-end suits to holey jeans and torn shirts in the same office at the same pay scale.

I guess I've just lived and worked and been around a different sort of workplace than you have, so I can't help but yap.

Clearly YMMV. Will shut up now and go back to stacking firewood.

[thistleingrey]

I agree, mostly, but: the front office / back office thing factors in; there's some flex in regional preference (we West Coasters tend to be more laid back) and (obviously) in industry.

So far I've been very fortunate to have jobs based 95% on what I can do/bring rather than how I'm assembled. I do dress up for interviews and, to a lesser extent, for meetings, especially committee-related ones; meetings get the sort of clothes I used to teach in. I am sitting here at work wearing a short-sleeved T-shirt and jeans, however, because today's slate is blank.

Also, heels put my neck out, as I was reminded on Sunday. :P

[dettiot]

And, for what it's worth, I respond to people based on how they're dressed. One of the librarians in the Children's Department that I'm friendly with just got promoted to acting supervisor of the department, and has started dressing more professionally (suits, blazers, etc.) And I know I respond to her a bit differently now--not in a bad way, and not to say I didn't respect her accomplishments before. But her clothes are now a subtle message to me.

I think in libraryland, where it's already a female ghetto profession, it's even more important to dress well and to dress appropriately, especially when you're serving the public. So in short, if you get voted off Feminist Island, I'd be the next one off. :-)

[blpurdom]

I know where you're coming from. When I was a stay-at-home mom I could get away with spending my days in untucked polo shirts and sweatpants. When I started working again (although only part-time) I didn't feel that sort of thing would be appropriate, even though I'm in the office of my own church 20 hours a week and don't see a lot of people during the course of the day

[kittengirly]

KittenMom always said "Dress for the job you want, not the job you have." I've also noticed that the doctors and nurses (and residents and student nurses) treat me differently when I'm a little more "dressed" - a blazer and pants and heels vs. pants and a blouse and flats. Even the ones I see day after day. Now that I'm fighting for a full time (40 hrs/week over the 36 I work now) one hospital job, I've been taking more care with how I dress. A little more Talbots, a little less J Jill.