What to wear

Ever wonder about the point of having a uniform in the work place? With more fluid ways of mobile working, working from home etc, there is scope to remove some of the formality traditionally associated with the work place.

Be careful however if you are thinking about ditching the uniform or if you spend the day in your dressing gown when working from home. A study in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, suggests that the clothes we wear affect how we think about ourselves when working and also how others perceive us.

For example,  wearing a white coat if you are a doctor can make you more focused, if you work in law enforcement, a uniform can make you more feel more in control. Women who wear more masculine dress suits to interviews are more likely to be hired. We think differently about people who are dressed conservatively (reliable, predictable) to those that dress a little more daring (individualistic, radical).

This is not news, even as children we assumed roles when we put on uniforms or dressed up, but it is worth bearing in mind the next time you decide what to wear going to work or if you are thinking about cutting back on the corporate uniforms or dress codes, just to save on costs or employee allowances.