More and more firms are adjusting their dress code to mirror contemporary standards. The nagging question that concerns firm leaders is whether or to what extent dress matters. Are people more or less productive, depending on what they wear?
Unfortunately, the research is mixed. There doesn’t seem to be anything definitive that verifies a conclusion.

That doesn’t mean that your dress is neutral. It does matter and here’s what we do know. First, your alertness is influenced by what you wear. In one study, a test group was asked to wear a doctor’s lab coat and then were given certain tasks to perform to measure their attentiveness. When they were told it wasn’t a lab coat, but a painter’s coat, they demonstrated reduced attention. Hmmm #1.

In another study, subjects who dressed up engaged in more abstract thinking and were quicker to see the big picture, over those who were dressed down. Hmmm #2.

These studies focused on the impact of your dress on your self-perception. It also impacts your external perception. How others see you is influenced by how you present yourself. Do you appear as a professional who takes your work seriously? If you want to demonstrate, success, confidence and capability, dress up. Otherwise, you will risk being perceived by others as having less of those attributes.

I hear many firms dealing with this issue by instituting a policy of dressing for your day. It is meant to cause you to execute acceptable choices, especially when meeting with clients, referral sources or other professionals. But I would add a caveat. Dressing for your day may also include the work that is before you. One researcher mentioned that if your work resembles routine activities, like writing code, then dressing like a Google staffer in a t-shirt and flop flops may be appropriate. If your work requires more than routine, detailed activity, you will benefit by dressing up a notch, especially if requires asserting a professional image. Hmmm #3.

So, while there is little consistency about resolving the dress up/dress down dilemma, be smart and opt for influencing favorably your self-perception and the perception others have of you.