Is Fashion as Important for Men in the Workplace as if is for Women? (Essay Sample)

Is fashion as important for men in the workplace as if is for women?
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Is fashion as important for men in the workplace as if is for women?
In the work environment, whether you are a man or a woman, the mode of dressing and your appearance in shaping how the clients, decision makers, and the colleagues perceive of you. Research on the issue has been conclusively conducted for decades by image consultants and the focus groups that are dedicated to help the staff to dress up for their success in future. The research, however, has indicated that women are likely to suffer from the public expectation of image than men. This is mainly because women have various clothing items from their wardrobe that they can choose from. It has been established that they are likely to cause some mistakes in their mode of dressing that can affect their effectiveness on their job. This paper will highlight the question of whether fashion is as important for men as it is for women in the work environment.
The Peacock Routine and why women should let go off it
For employees that have had various experiences in different work environments one thing has been found to be consistent. This is the approach that is taken by professionals in choosing the mode of dressing depending on the gender. Variation of the location, employer, and the type of job helps in giving the employee a variety of experiences on how the issue of dressing is handled depending on the gender. According to this surveys, it has been established that majority of women lay much emphasis on their mode of dressing as an expression of their personalities than men. Men have been found to wear certain professional attire that is hardly changed in the various organizations. The men wear a variation of suits, shirts and ties. Women on the other hand are conscious on what they choose to wear on the various working days. Women also have a variety of options to choose from and often they wear statement clothing. This is clothing that is considered as part of the expression of self.
The men in those environments attempt in some instances on a certain level with their style of dressing. These attempts, however, have been found to be at a lesser intensity and often it is not designed to distract from their skills in work. The statements made by women with the style that they opt for dressing is often aimed at making the colleagues, clients, and decision makers to notice their body or clothing first. The type of statement clothing can be designed for various reasons.
The first reason is to ensure that they stand out from the men that are often dressed in grey or black suits. They also dress up to portray a certain figure and establish that they are updated with the latest trends in fashion. Image consultants have described this like peacocks that are proud to display their attractive feathers. The situation can, however, be overwhelming in professional settings and it may lead to distraction of the first impression that is created by the mode of dressing. This particularly affects the communications and public relations world where the employees are expected to understand the impact caused by visual image as an element of the specific job position. The mode of dressing can also make gender to be an essential element of first impression in the professional situations (Perkins, 2004).
Dressing to Stand Out
The trends in dressing to stand out have been changing since the 1990s. At the time, the senior employees especially in the journalism and public relations field were living through the golden era of the shoulder pad. They had survived through the tough environment that was mainly male dominated. The women were constantly being reminded to dress to standout from their male counterparts in the work environment. This sent a message to the women at the time that although they could compete with them in the work environment, they were not like them and their gender had to be noticed.
The women were being used to portray to the world the progress they were making in the work environment through their vibrant and bright clothes. This emphasis on the mode of dressing is counteractive on the effectiveness of the women since their real roles in the organization had everything to do with what they have on their brains, as opposed to what to what they have on their backs. The emphasis on dressing to standout on the part of women is also detrimental to some age groups of women. This is because with the case of men, they tend to dress up in simple suits which can be altered with other modes of dressing regardless of their age.
This is not the case with women since as they age, most women gain weight and often feel prejudiced when they are pressured to dress to impress. The appropriate wardrobe for them, an appropriate hairstyle, as well as the footwear can go a long way in ensuring that the older employees perfectly compete with the younger colleagues in the work setting. Improving the personal image plays an essential role in establishing a good rapport with the clients from the upper class social bracket.
Women as Ornaments
The privilege of working in different cities plays an essential role in noticing different phenomenon towards dressing depending on the gender. Some image consultants attribute the trend to the Sex and The City effect that was characterized by the rise in promotion of the fashion aspect in the work environment as essential part of our lives. This led to the increase in the number of people dressing to make statements on their taste on the latest fashion trends. The men on the other hand are not affected by this trends that were highly significant in women. The men still maintained their professional collared shirts, suits and in most instances a tie to compliment the suit (Kennedy, 2012).
The women equip themselves with various types of clothes to ensure that they have different looks for the various seasons. The men also experiment on different trends in fashion but in a much lesser intensity. The fashion on the part of the males included various types of a tie, a trendy type of shoe, new glasses and hair product for some people. These trends, however, did not distract them from the impression of professionals valued for their expertise in their various fields. This is different with women where there dedication to look trendy and comments on their latest outfits distracted them from the professionalism. The women are reduced to ornaments, as opposed to professionals valued for their expertise. Dressing elegantly makes people feel good and the fashion is one aspect that makes dressing interesting (Hicks, 2014).
Women as Sexual objects and Men as professionals Valued for their expertise
However, the emphasis on the outfit to wear for what season provides a picture of the surface image and the team does not have an idea of what the person can deliver in their specific tasks. The image manipulation that is key in the public relations field does not paint the picture of the authentic person. This means that being good and professional in your area of expertise is not good enough thus the women concentrate on looking good for other omen as well. This is also the case with the senior officials in the government where the men are not allocated make up personnel and their interviews given studio lighting preference. This is however a main feature with the press covers done by the senior women in government.
In the recent past, the approach has been focused on women in dressing in such a way that overwhelms the clients, colleagues, and decision makers as sexual beings. This trend has notably been associated with the younger women. The exposure of their cleavages and short skirts not only attract the attention of men, but also that of other women. This in turn affects the overall effectiveness of the employees in their specific areas. This goes against the aim of portraying a good image which is to compliment their effectiveness on their job. This trend is also not in existence with men. The men dress decently with well fitting suits with some people who are not keen about their style wearing oversize suits. These trends in men compliment their effectiveness in their specific areas of expertise (Calvin, 2013).
What men should wear to Work?
The men should also dress to ensure that they stand out in the job setting. This is particularly because the various approaches to dressing by men is said to have an influence on their professional advancements in terms of the positions that they would like to hold in the future. Analysts have suggested that it is essential for the employees that are starting out to dress for the position th...