dress codes and the slide into overly casual

I am sure it will come as a surprise to no one that I am a fan of dress codes and that I encourage following them. Those who are acquainted with me in real life will most likely tell you that I am far more prone to being overdressed than to show up underdressed in any given situation — social or business.

I try to approach daily life and work environments from the belief that people generally do their best with what they have when it comes to dressing for work or for social events. That may mean that they have challenges related to fewer financial resources to put toward a full wardrobe of business attire, or that they lack the understanding of the dress code for their industry and are relying on what they see in malls, stores, or online to suss out what is the right thing to wear. Dress codes, like other aspects of etiquette, are no longer taught in schools, so many out there just don’t know what they don’t know.

Plenty of recent events have made work attire even more of a head-scratcher. The backlash against “hard pants” during and after the Covid-19 pandemic did not help things. Of late, I confess being bothered by the recent shift to having no dress code for the United States Senate. Yes, I know that there are arguments to be made that their clothing is not important, but rather what they are doing to represent their constituents. But please indulge me while I explain why I have an issue with this.

By showing up in attire that reflects the importance and seriousness of the Senate Chamber and the work done there, Senators are representing their constituents well. They are demonstrating that they understand the gravity of the work that they do and how much it affects the lives of people throughout this country. I fear that when we decide that they can show up in “whatever they rolled out of bed in” (quoting my dear mother over many years!), we are giving up on expecting decorum, respect, and basic civility among the Senators. And I shudder to think where this slippery slope leads. Will cilvil language be next? What about respect for personal space and avoiding altercations?

Additionally, this decision quite confusingly does not apply to the interns, assistants, aides, and support staff members for the Senate. Those who are at the entry level (and arguably have less to spend on their clothes for work) are being held to a standard of behavior and professional presence that the Senators are not. A class distinction has inadvertently been created that puts a larger burden for appropriate behavior on those who are away from the public eye and who are there doing the hard foundational work that supports the Senators. This kind of “pay attention to what we say and not what we do” attitude really leaves a bad feeling.

Students frequently ask me about dress code more than dining etiquette, communications, or other areas of business etiquette. Our current environment creates more confusion than ever. How long should a skirt be if one chooses to wear it? What kind of “bottoms” qualify as pants for the workplace? If you seek out this information by simply Googling the topic, you aren’t guaranteed to get good advice. And now the example of the United States Senate will only make the confusion and murkiness worse.

I am grateful for the work that our elected representatives do, whether I agree with their positions or not. I hope that they will reconsider this policy and the example they are setting for respect and professional behavior in the highest levels of our government.