Lindsey Nordby

Something I learned really early on on a corporate career path is that “dress for success” meant something different for me than it traditionally meant.

In the traditional sense, dressing for success means business casual or formal (depending on the event). This includes slacks and jackets, suits, or dresses, with nice shoes and well groomed hair/makeup/etcetera. However, I have learned that when I am dressing for success, my mind goes to jeans and a nice blouse. Not ripped jeans or anything, mind you, but a nice pair of jeans and a nice blouse with comfortable shoes.

For me, being comfortable is critical to success, and I find myself most comfortable in jeans and a top. This is not to say that we can work in pajamas everyday, but I think that success is highly dependent on how we feel when we walk into the office.

The requirement to dress up, in a sense, for a job where I don’t see customers, has caused a strong sense of corporate discomfort to develop. This was instigated by a number of things, one of which being how sitting at a desk for nine hours a day drives me mad, but was really solidified when I was unable to dress comfortably every day. I wholeheartedly believe that, if in the right context, all employees should be able to dress to their version of success. I just truly don’t see the purpose in asking your employees to be uncomfortable all day, as in my experience this leads to lower productivity overall.

There are many other factors that lead to my discomfort in a corporate setting which I won’t get into here. However, when it comes to clothing choices, we should all be given the opportunity to dress to what success means for each individual.

Think about it. Wouldn’t you be happier overall if you were able to wake up and put on an outfit that you really felt good about? Even if you didn’t love your job, I am confident that the option to feel good in your clothes would make your perspective on your employment a little happier.

The things we wear are an outward reflection of who we are. When I dress for work everyday, I am unable to wear the outfits I want to wear. I dress fairly modestly, and the few clothing items I have that aren’t modest, I wouldn’t wear into a workplace. But I don’t feel like an accurate reflection of myself in the things I have to wear 70% of the time. I only have two days to wear things that I truly feel make me look my best. This is so sad!

Because I can’t totally decide what to wear, I have found ways to still wear the things I love at work. I’ll wear nice slacks with a top I like and a cardigan over it. Kind of a stretch to the dress code, but I feel my best and am able to do my best work. So far, nobody has had an issue with my outfit choices, so even though it’s a stretch to the dress code I have found a way to feel better on some days than other, which leads me to better work. And this is important to me!

Feeling your best is so important; find ways to do so!