To many people, the phrase “dress for success” conjures up the image of a man wearing a suit and tie with combed hair and a clean-shaven face. Business attire has come to represent the epitome of what it means to be successful. To a certain extent, this makes sense. When you picture a meeting room full of C-level businessmen, you almost certainly picture them being meticulously dressed, all wearing similar outfits that conform to the social norm of “business attire.”
However, studies have shown that those who make it a point to always wear a suit and tie are seen by the general public as being less prestigious than those who buck the system, choosing to wear whatever they please.
When asked about the professor’s probable qualifications, the participants who read that he came to work unkempt and wearing “regular” clothes reported that he must have held more prestige than his colleagues. Their thought process was that, since he was able to dress that way and still keep his job, he must be incredibly good at what he does. The other side of this coin is obvious: the professor who feels the need to dress to impress every day has to give off an air of elitism in order to appear competent.
A similar study conducted in Italy asked shop assistants to read a story about a woman who came into a store wearing either a variety of different clothing: a dress and fur coat, gym clothes, high heels and an expensive watch, or flip flops and a cheap watch. They were then asked which woman would be most likely to purchase something from the store. Ironically, the shopkeepers reported that the women dressed in gym clothes and flip flops were more likely to buy items from the store. They believed these women to actually be more successful and well-off than those who came in dressed to the nines, as the ones wearing sweatpants didn’t feel the need to get dressed up just to buy something fancy.
However, studies have shown that those who make it a point to always wear a suit and tie are seen by the general public as being less prestigious than those who buck the system, choosing to wear whatever they please.
Experiments
One study, conducted at Harvard University, had 159 participants read a short story about a professor. The participants were given two descriptors of the professor: one group read that he was well-dressed in suit and tie, cleanly shaven, and neatly groomed. The other group was told he came to class wearing a regular T-shirt, had scraggly hair, and wore a shaggy beard. Other than the description of the professor, the story was the exact same.When asked about the professor’s probable qualifications, the participants who read that he came to work unkempt and wearing “regular” clothes reported that he must have held more prestige than his colleagues. Their thought process was that, since he was able to dress that way and still keep his job, he must be incredibly good at what he does. The other side of this coin is obvious: the professor who feels the need to dress to impress every day has to give off an air of elitism in order to appear competent.
A similar study conducted in Italy asked shop assistants to read a story about a woman who came into a store wearing either a variety of different clothing: a dress and fur coat, gym clothes, high heels and an expensive watch, or flip flops and a cheap watch. They were then asked which woman would be most likely to purchase something from the store. Ironically, the shopkeepers reported that the women dressed in gym clothes and flip flops were more likely to buy items from the store. They believed these women to actually be more successful and well-off than those who came in dressed to the nines, as the ones wearing sweatpants didn’t feel the need to get dressed up just to buy something fancy.