Recently I said that I was:
Observing that people’s dressing and turnout almost invariably reflect their skills and attitudes.
and that prompted such a flurry of responses that I thought I should pen down a few thoughts on the subject.
What had happened was that I had been roped in to evaluate a series of presentations, a sort of beauty parade, by vendors pitching for a contract. Apart from looking at the merits of their case, I could not help but notice and recall how, in typical human fashion, I would tend to categorise and make distinctions and, yes, judgments, around the way people were dressed. That triggered a train of thought on a subject that I have visited in my mind for a while, so here are some thoughts and conclusions I’ve come up with (generally, and by no means referring to anyone at those presentation sessions).
(All examples given are in terms of menswear as, out of concern for personal safety, I’ve decided to steer clear of women’s clothes for the moment.)
You have a choice:
- You can let your dress and turnout reflect your skills and your attitude, or
- You can let your dress and turnout affect your skills and your attitude
By default, the way people dress and turn out will be a reflection of everything – their economic background, family and social culture, language, schooling, workplace culture, etc.
For example:
- In Malaysia, if you turn up in black shoes but wearing white socks, I am willing to bet money that your background included some years in a school where the first language or medium of instruction was Chinese. Here I can identify a specific feature.
- You can spot a Malaysian and know they are not from Singapore, Hongkong, Indonesia, Philippines, India, etc, simply from the clothes they wear! Now, this is where I cannot quite put my finger on specifics, but we can tell pretty accurately.
There is more:
- If you wear a suit with a tie and a white shirt, you’re likely to have been educated in or influenced by an organisation run by people educated in the UK or Europe. If your turnout is a mixture of severe and boring, then maybe the USA.
- If you wear a suit with a coloured or striped shirt, but no tie, you could have been to college in the US and possibly Australia.
- If you wear a suit with a coloured or striped shirt and a tie, your background is likely a Malaysian college or university, or you worked up the ranks without having gone to a university.
And we could go on and even try to write a book on it, but, so far, we are just looking at only one dimension of what’s involved. And all this conclusions on cultural, language and educational background are less and less decisive as people become more multicultural and open in their outlook.
You also judged against the particular situation and what is the expected norm. Whether and if so how you comply or don’t comply with the situation and expectations can expose the underlying motivation and attitudes.
In a situation or context where the expectation would be suits and tie, attitudes could be communicated in almost unambiguous ways:
- If you sport a suit that is anywhere from sloppy to short of decent, it could mean that you did not know any better, in which case I might justifiable be anxious whether the limitation in knowledge might apply in other areas. Or it could mean that you don’t care, in which case I would worry whether you have my best interest as a customer at heart. If these people can’t even take care of themselves…
- If your turnout is decent but unimpressive, I would grant that you will get things right, but if the job at hand requires some creativity, I will need to look out for that quality in you and you’ll be forgettable the moment I see someone else whose clothes are that little bit more elegant. The last time I was sold on somone like you, I regretted it because I found someone who did not understand that they were supposed to solve my problem and not spend all their time justifying themselves to me. Dealing with a stick in the mud is heavy work…
- If you turn up fashionable and elegant, never mind no tie, never mind no jacket, and you are smooth and confident, you’ll win, provided all that elegance and confidence communicates skills, ability and service. Your informality tells me not so much that you’re casual as you’re comfortable and will therefore be accommodating with me as your customer. However, if you’re too slick, I will doubt you the value you offer and suspect overpricing on your part. And if there is any hint of arrogance, you’ll be dropped faster than everybody else.
So the bottom line is that you can come across as competent, confident and offering premium value if you show up:
- elegant
- fashionable
- confident
- comfortable
With these qualities, you can overcome even the established conventions and expectations around suit, tie and white shirt.
If you disagree with me and hold that clothes do not reflect on skills and attitudes, consider that people will take it that way anyway and that:
Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society. -Mark Twain
As to non-business situations and as to how clothes can affect skills and attitudes, we’ll handle these in another post on this blog, so watch out for it!
Meanwhile, what do you think? Let us have your comments below!
kh
