By Merrie Spaeth, KERA 90.1 commentator
Dallas, TX – When troops are still being shot in Iraq and thousands of teenages can't find jobs, it may sound trivial to raise the topic of "business casual." But "business casual" has been anything but.
It's a minefield for workers, a disaster for the retail industry and a challenge for women and minorities.
There's been an unending discussion over what "casual" really means. Even at our small company, we grapple with this. We want people to look professional and neat. Our younger people want to look snappy, too. The result is no jeans, flip-flops or T-shirts except with our own logo. Now we're debating whether a pants suit can have Capri pants.
Many companies have found they had to issue guidelines for what's OK - collared knit shirts with logos, and what's not - visible piercings.
The affect on the retail industry has been well documented, but there's really a gender gap. Sales of women's clothes are chugging along. It's men's clothing which has cratered. The Gap is cutting back its men's clothes, while Gadzooks eliminated men's clothes altogether. Men's wear at Tommy Hilfiger went down almost 12% last year, and several men's stores went out of business.
The truth is, for ambitious women at the top, casual dressing has just meant more pants and less constricting jackets - or as Francine Katz at Anheuser-Busch once put it, she now has a much wider variety of footwear.
Women have interpreted "business casual" as "business flexible." For those occasions, where a client insists on "business casual," I have a blue blazer and blue pleated skirt - about the look I had in high school.
Blazers rescue a lot of men, too, but African American and Hispanic executives still frequently identify themselves as successful, powerful executives by how they look. Expensive suits, crisp shirts, beautiful tie. Our former housing administrator and now Deputy Assistant Secretary of HUD, Alphonso Jackson, once told me he always wears a suit, starched shirt and designer tie after wearing casual clothes at a convention and being mistaken for a hotel employee.
I noticed that Potters House sponsors classes for men and women in what might roughly be described as how to live effectively. Bishop and Mrs. T.D. Jakes preside and they require eveningwear for ladies and tuxedos for men. Why? Because we feel special when we're dressed up, and we act like adults and treat other people as special. Bishop Jakes is a genius.
The best advice came from a marketing professor at California State University in Sacramento after doing a poll for Mervyn's, which found that people were terribly confused about what was expected of them. Professor Dennis Tootelian said his conclusion was that we should dress appropriately, try to make a good impression, focus on advancing our careers and display good manners and a sense of etiquette. Now, if only we can get him to advise our elected officials.
I'm Merrie Spaeth.
Merrie Spaeth is a communications specialist in Dallas. If you have opinions about this commentary, call (214) 740-9338 or contact us through our website at kera.org.