Maybe it's because I grew up with strict parents, but I believe in the rule "there's a time and place for everything." With the example of a room full of suits and someone comes in wearing tye dye and sandles, that to me is obviously not the time nor place for that type of garb. I do, however, believe that expressing one's self is important and that we DO need for people to recognize us as a person and not just another suit, number, sorority girl/fraternity guy, etc etc. Obviously I have two contradicting statements right? Well, not really. We CAN conform to the TYPE of dress in this situation because it's appropriate (suit), yet we can add our personality to the appropriate dress by adding accessories, color of suit, scarf, tie, hair style, shoes, nail color, and the list goes on. Remember--we want to stand out in a GOOD way, not scare people! As a woman in the work place, I realize now that it's important that my boss remembers my face. The next time he looks through reports, he will associate my face with my name by remembering something about me. "oh yeah, I remember her, she's the one that wore that stunning red scarf with her suit in last weeks meeting. She really did a good job on this report, I'll have to call her and congratulate her." I conformed to the dress code, but I added my own sense of style. THIS is good. In an everyday setting, at home, at the store, in my car or where ever, I could care less what people think about me. I'll wear boxers and a shirt with holes in it to the store if I feel like it, or I'll wear my senior prom dress. I love to be myself completely, but there are times where we have to make some sacrifices and conform, even if it's just a little bit. It's just part of life
|