Dressing Up

I do not enjoy dressing up.

One of my career goals now is never to need to wear a tie again. It is not the only reason I moved to Southern California, but it certainly helped.

My challenges with dressing up stem from childhood. When I was a boy “dressing up” meant being physically uncomfortable. It also meant a long series of fashion tragedies which I had no ability to avoid. There was the multi-colored sport coat which was a “great deal.” There was a series of bow ties that clipped onto the collar of my shirts. There was polyester in a variety of dramatic colors and textures.

Slowly but surely I gained some control over my wardrobe, and my choices became calmer. Some people said I looked a little bland or boring; I prefer “classical.” I lived in the Midwest and on the East Coast before I moved to California.

There have been times when I wore a suit and tie every day, in the heat and humidity of southern summers and the subzero winters of the Midwest. My suits improved from the “dress clothes” in which I grew up, but I never saw that what I was wearing affected how well I could do my work.

I have never really understood the purpose of neckties.

I chaired an association’s annual national conference for several years, and one year we met in Southern California. After the usual welcome and introductions, I asked everyone who was wearing a tie to stand up, and take them off. Some people laughed, and a few were pretty nervous, but everyone who was wearing a tie removed it. Ties were banned from the conference that year.

Does what you wear affect how well you work?

What are you wearing today?

[Image by gcoldironjr2003]