There is horrible fashion (?) trend that
has splashed itself all over my office. I suspect it’s the case with most
offices in India. People have been repeatedly spotted wearing horrid, fat, ugly
flip-flops to work. I mean, it truly is
ugly and so wrong on so many levels. And it is not limited to a particular
gender. It makes me cringe when I see people walking into office in that nasty
footwear like they are walking into their bathrooms. I suspect that these set
of people also wear crocs when they go to fine-dining restaurants.
Also seen around are: socks with floaters,
t-shirt and jeans, shiny/blingy off-to-a-wedding attire, SHORTS (!), micro mini
skirt, spaghetti tops, see-I’m-wearing-a-bra-today top and the nasty kurta and jeans
look. It sometimes makes me feel like I’m working for an advertising agency
where individuality is not only accepted but also encouraged. The organisation
I work for is into serious academic publishing and though the company is not
inflexible, people are expected to dress professionally and it would seem that
the newer crop of employees all decided to ignore the dress code.
Time-to-time, an individual is gently “encouraged”
to dress more professionally by their Managers. It gets worse, I tell you. Now
I see some women wearing thin stoles around their shoulders when they report to
their Managers to make up for the fact that they are wearing a spaghetti/sleeveless
top underneath. How did so many people not learn what professional dressing
really is?
Some months back, a newbie complained that
she does not like to seem like a run-of-the-mill person dressed in blacks and
navy blues all the time. She and I had a lengthy talk about how to invest in
some basic pieces of clothing and how to work with colours and prints. She took
the advice and personalised her formal skirts and tops with mid-calf boots and
scarves, which went very well with her “edgy” professional look...and her short
Mohawk hairstyle. Nope, I did not make that up. She does sport a Mohawk. She is
a fantastic example of how not to lose your individuality or look boring in formals.
Unfortunately, not many people seem to take the clue. I still see people turning
up for work in their flip-flops.
The mid- and top-level managers are always
dressed in formals mostly because we need to be prepared for sudden meetings or
client visits and also since we represent our company. Then are there are some
people make the weirdest choices. I know one Manager who is always dressed in
formals but chooses to put together the fugliest clothes together. And on the
days she turns up in her detergent coloured blue floral top and latte coloured
pin-striped trousers, we know she is feeling at the top of the world. No
kidding! Add to that her poor social skills and it is not surprising that most
clients were under the false impression that I was attending all meetings with
my secretary. And I have had to explain
her role in the organisation after 3+ years of interactions with the clients. Most
of them were surprised. Yes, people judge you by what you wear. That’s life,
deal with it.
Since we are a few businesses functioning
together, there is a constant flow of interviewees to the conference room. It is
discouraging to see some very capable candidates being turned down because they
came in their pyjamas (true story!) or similar inappropriate attires. I mean
geez! How difficult is it? For each and every interview or test that I went
for, I made a conscious decision to dress in formals irrespective of what the
outcome was to be or whether I would be appearing only for the written test and
I expect the same from the candidates who appear. Is it too much to ask for?
Though I do hope that someday all this
changes and people start taking workplaces more seriously, I want to get rid of
all the ugly flip flops immediately. Let’s build a huge pile of nasty footwear
and set them on fire. Can we do that?
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