Z/Yen, the leading risk/reward management firm, tomorrow unveils its report into the competitive advantage of business attire: "The Risks and Rewards of Organisational Dress Sense". The study is based on rigorous empirical research and nationwide surveys over the last three months. Marie Logan, Z/Yen’s business fashion co-ordinator and leader of the study insists, "our study presents a fascinating insight into the issues facing office workers in the new millennium, and, unusually for a consultancy study, recommends some practical solutions."
The following extract should provide some enlightenment.
Issue 1 – You’ve dressed down for the arrival of your favourite "dotcom" client, when your boss schedules an emergency meeting with a very formal "captain of industry".
Issue 2 – Global warming has hit your office and whatever you wear, you’re too hot.
Issue 3 – You want to wear trousers but your boss wants all female staff to wear skirts.
Jeremy Smith, Z/Yen’s new Director and expert in Financial Services explains. "Dress Down Friday’s have been a major source of angst among City professionals. Staff working on trading floors don’t have space to store spare clothes. With a spare jacket slung over the back of the chair and a pair of "reversa-chinos", traders and marketers will be fully equipped to deal with any opportunity."
Z/Yen specialises in risk/reward management, an innovative approach to improving organisational performance. Z/Yen clients include blue chip companies in banking, information technology, publishing and distribution as well as charities and care organisations. Strangely, Z/Yen’s portfolio to date is a little light on fashion houses.
For further information please contact:
Ian Harris, Jeremy Smith or Michael Mainelli
Telephone (020) 7562-9562
The following extract is a mere smidgen of the detailed analysis contained in the study. Section 43 sets out modes of dress for various sectors based on lounge/informal styles and strict/liberal enforcement:
Sector | Lounge / Informal | Strict / Liberal | Comments |
---|---|---|---|
Accountants | Lounge | Strict | Tend to choose to wear jacket and tie out of habit, even when working from home. |
Software – Computer Games | Informal | Strict | Local fashions (e.g., goth, grunge) strictly enforced through peer pressure. |
Software – Business Systems | Lounge | Liberal | Dress down Friday often perceived as greatest liberating factor since the US Declaration of Independence. |
Lawyers | Lounge | Strict | Dress codes often documented in legal agreements countersigned by all parties. |
Dot.com founders at startup time | Depends | Strict | mode of dress depends on age and predisposition of founders (see "computer games" and or "accountants" above). |
Dot.com founders searching for financial backers | Lounge | Strict | Suits often bought by parents for university interviews. Mode of dress often attracts ridicule when visiting city financial institutions on dress-down days. |
Dot.com founders building web-site | Informal | Liberal | Pyjamas. |
Dot.com founders during earn out period after IPO | Lounge | Liberal | Often known as "the suit phase". Dress down Friday really helps maintain that start up culture, don’t you think? |
Dot.com founders after earn out period | Informal | Liberal | Mostly beachwear, golfwear and nolongercarewear. |
Z/Yen staff before 6:00pm | Lounge | Strict | strictly Ally McBeal. |
Z/Yen staff after 6:00pm | Black Tie | Liberal | Black Classic Tuxedo, Jean-Paul Gaultier kilts and Ladies Fashion Eveningwear (e.g. Vivienne Westwood bustles). |
....Continues for 25 pages |