by PKMitchell

Created on: February 17, 2009

Appearances may be deceiving, but in the minds of your customers, what you wear defines who you are. In a business setting, personal choice in attire has to incorporate considerations of your work environment, the industry, and your customers' and employer's expectations. Regardless of whether your dress is comfortable or is the "real you," if it is not appropriate for the environment in which you work, it will color the attitudes of co-workers and customers.

Your co-workers may grow to know you better and be able to look past inappropriate dress, but customers will draw their conclusions based on minimal contact. Unfortunately, a customer's impression of one employee can sometimes be the basis for their image of the entire company. A large part of providing quality customer service involves appearances of the store and of the employees. Sloppy dress implies an employee does not care enough about his or her job to take the time to dress well before going to work.

A customer has a certain expectation when walking into a certain type of business. A professional service business such as an accountant's office or a lawyer's office carries with it a conservative image, which has to be maintained throughout the office dcor as well as the employees' dress. If a customer is expecting a suit and tie, or at the very least business casual, and encounters jeans and a t-shirt, that customer's impression is that the employee is not professional enough to provide the type of quality services needed in an accountant or lawyer's office.

Co-workers' reactions are generally based on what they fear the customers will think. Your co-workers may well wish they could dress like you in the workplace; however, they know that the customers will react negatively and that the company will quite possibly even lose customers because of an employee's inappropriate appearance.

The appearance issue was addressed recently by the student government president of NC Central University in Durham, North Carolina. In an article in the local News & Observer, Kent Williams Jr. described his campaign, which has gained national recognition, as being aimed toward young men and women who just need to think more about what impact their choice of dress has on others' impressions of them. Williams stated in the article, "I believe we are professionals in training . . . If we reach [young people] before college, teachers won't have to tell students to pull up their pants."

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