Dressing "smart" to be taken seriously

A dress, make-up and long hair are not necessarily appropriate for a working environment.

Professional sartorial standards and codes are very annoying, but, like school uniform, you will be required to adhere to them if you are to be a fully-fledged member of your company culture.

"There is no uniform standard for women."

I disagree with that one actually. In my work I spend quite a lot of time in the reception foyers of big retailers, waiting for meetings to start. By far and away the 'uniform' of younger women in business at the moment is the black trouser suit. They're everywhere. Being a terrible old rebel that looks crap in trousers I opt for a skirt. :)

@buggyrunner. That's a different problem. Less about being taken seriously and more about personal safety. The stock feminist 'slut-walk' answer is 'dress how you like, it's other people with the problem'... but a more pragmatic answer might be to listen to colleagues who have direct experience.

Man have a "uniform" at work, and this works enormously to their advantage. The status markers are still there (quality of fabric and cut, choice of shirt and tie, expense of accessories, shoes), but versions are available to all budgets, and wearing the uniform is one of the ways into the club; it is certainly a sign that you are taking work seriously.

There is no uniform standard for women. I think it is easy to confuse fashion and dressing in ways that please the self, with appropriate work attire. This may or may not matter to the individual, depending on attitude to what attributes will advance your career: note, I mean views on which do facilitate advancement, not which should

Fashion columns are there to promote the consumption of more clothes accessories and make up. Ideas there of appropriate attire for work are not based on what actually goes down well in the workplace.

Looking at the traditional/conservative end of women a tier or more up from you in your workplace is usually a good way of gauging what is appropriate in your individual workplace.

But a few generalised norms: hair - short or tied off the face, unfussy, neat; understated make up and scent; no underwear on show; moderate colours and non-strident patterns; and wear a jacket.

i think you should say you are uncomfortable with their comments and would they care to elaborate when you are told this kind of thing rather than just suck it up. it is insulting, it's implying all sorts of things i think.

i would say dress as yourself, that's how you'll be most confident and feel most authentic. others like a costume.

it's a shame that we have to play up or play down or strike the right note all the time with our 'sexuality' in our presentation when in fact it is the looker who is the problem not us. you can play into it all and make the most expedient options for you or you can decide not to play into it and just be yourself. whichever will feel best to you.

as a side note i've noticed that since i cut my hair and appear less girlishly pretty women seem much more accepting of me but men seem slightly more antagonistic with me.

I think you're reading too much into my adjective 'boring'. Fear of their dangerous male energy???? The lad with the quiff didn't look dangerous or even all that energetic. He looked like a bit of a kid. If anyone, male or female, wants to put across that they are taking a situation seriously and can be trusted there are some well-known and readily accepted norms that they can follow. Sober-coloured suits does it every time.... leave the trendy, garish stuff for your mates at the weekend.

I think what the OP is struggling with is 'youth'. As a society we don't take young people as seriously as older people. My gelled-up banker failed on that one. A woman who already looks young for her age will find that dressing even younger affects reactions. Still... it's something time tends to fix. So I wouldn't complain too much if I were her.

I wonder whether anyone, feminist or not, would say that they expect a banker to present a very boring appearance if the banker is a woman. Serious and competent yes, but not boring.

Maybe what we're used to is men using uniformity of appearance to convince us (and their bosses and their colleagues and maybe themselves) that they're keeping their dangerous male energy under control. If it's a woman in the same position, we don't have that instinctive fear, but there isn't the same easy reassurance available either, the way man's clothing and appearance say "I am taking this situation seriously and you can trust me."

Or something like that?

Everyone is judged on their appearance, male or female, and it all depends on context and audience. For example... as a surly middle-aged woman I did not appreciate that (as well as putting on a decent suit and shaving) the young asian lad talking to me about financial products the other day had opted to plaster his hair up Jedward-style with gel. I like my bankers to look very boring whereas maybe a younger customer would have been impressed by his stupid hair-do.

I have the opposite problem. I am young looking and people don't take me seriously unless I go to a lot of trouble with my appearance, makeup etc.

Men do have to take care of their appearance if they want to be taken seriously - but that generally just means shave and put on a decent suit, rather than the massive daily effort women have to go through to achieve the same effect. And the rules are a lot more complicated, as our respective issues prove.