by Aran M

Created on: August 06, 2009   Last Updated: September 10, 2009

What is and is not appropriate to wear to work will largely depend on where you are working. It would be madness to head off to your first day at a building site in a suit and tie and equally disastrous to turn up at a board meeting in your old jeans and a t-shirt.

As soon as you step into work you are no longer an individual, you are nothing more than a wage slave, a cog in your bosses wheel, a robot within the system and you must comply or die. To put it another way companies have a brand image they want to portray and employees are expected to represent that image especially if they are dealing with clients face-to-face.

NEVER violate the dress code.

A dress code can be a formal document that you are expected to follow to the letter or just a general set of unwritten rules. The latter is, of course, more difficult to comply with because it is up to your discretion. You will need to look around your work environment in order to understand the companies style.

NEVER dress impractically.

It is not a good idea to dress in a way that will make it harder to get your job done. It's all well and good looking great but if you are wearing something that makes it uncomfortable moving around your workspace your productivity could be affected. Choose an option that fits with the brand image of your employer and is practical for you to work in.

NEVER make the same mistake twice.

If you dress inappropriately for work once and get funny looks or a 'friendly' chat from your boss, don't do it again. This may sound obvious but the fact you did it once probably means you didn't understand the dress code properly. Make sure you understand what is expected of you and make sure you have the right things in your work wardrobe.

NEVER wear dirty clothes.

Make sure your clothes don't have marks or stains on them. Make sure there isn't a bit of breakfast on your nicely washed and pressed suit, if you are particularly clumsy when you first get out of bed you may even want to eat breakfast before changing.

Of course, if you do actually work on a building site then this bit of advice probably doesn't apply , turning up in super clean nice clothes would actually most likely be a bad idea!

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