To wonder if you question someones ability based on....

[TailorMouse]

....their appearance?
As in - if you were speaking to an (office based) professional and they had piercings / tattoos / funky hair would you doubt their ability to do the job in hand and if so why? Surely it does not affect how they do the job, and just creates a more individual identity for the company?
Why does neutral make up / no jewellery / nothing unique ensure a better service?

wheresthelight What do you mean a distraction?

Let's take a lawyer...

Like Andro, I wouldn't doubt their ability to know the law as well as the next person, to have degrees coming out of their ears, to put a case together. I would, however, doubt their ability to execute their job as well as an equally-qualified/talented yet conventional person, because they will be judged on how they look.

On the flip side, if a lawyer with facial tattoos and blue hair can succeed as well as the next person, my argument would probably mean they are actually a better lawyer? muses

Any job that is a personal interaction, I would have no qualms. If a blue-haired bank manager wants to help me understand my finances better, I wouldn't give a toss about their appearance. Any job that requires validation in some way by external (and conventional) agencies, such as a lawyer, I'd be a little hesitant.

I would not judge on tattoos / piercings etc (unless the tats were particularly rude ) but I will always judge on how clean and tidy you are, and if you are dressed appropriately. Then I will continue to judge on how you actually do your job.

if people are lazy with their appearance then it is likely that they are just plain lazy

Is this based on evidence, experience or just assumption?

Sorry - realise that sounded potentially snarky! Was a genuine question I promise!

OP, you seem to be trying to get people to say that that they would doubt the less conventionally dressed person so that you can disagree with them.

Clothes are part of how we present our image to the world - it is a language.

I would be more nervous flying if the pilot were wearing a bikini than a uniform. I would not take fashion advice from someone who regularly wore a dated, badly fitting skirt-suit. I would not expect my GP to be wearing a ball gown.

Tattoos are fine, as is blue hair I had both when I was young and being free and creative and expressing my desire to be different. Now I am old and serious I want to identify with my clients - who are looking for someone more staid - so I wear a suit.

Would you expect your bank manager to greet you with the words, "Hi sweetiepie, how's it hanging?" Or " Good afternoon Ms TailorMouse, nice to see you". Appearance is about communication.

Cannot speak for other people but I would assume if a person regularly turns up dirty / untidy that they are not really approaching the job with the right attitude (DH has a company and has had a member of staff who is a bit grubby...it made the other staff uncomfortable). A once off I would assume a busy morning and for some jobs not necessary (I never have a shower before I clean the house...somehow seems a waste )
I don't have any tattoos and very normal ear piercings but I would not judge on these.

And regarding the post above about the pilot...recent holiday pilot told my DCs he had no A levels....completely threw me after watching too many episodes of Air Crash Investigation when something went wrong and pilots had to quickly do complicated maths to solve. I definitely judged on that (would have judged on the bikini too though...but not if he had a tattoo).

Caboodle - I would certainly worry about no A-levels!! Didn't think you could train to be a pilot without them.

still - you got back safely!!

it seems to me OP that YOU have this apperance and you have been called on it by your employer.

i would expect office dress in an office situation and i would expect tattoos to be minimilised whilst at work.

The way i see it is ... there is a 'uniform' look (just like a school uniform) and if you dont blend in .....you stick out. but with tattoos and facial peircings you are sticking out for the wrong reasons.

Id rather stand out becuase of my outstanding performance rather than my outstanding tattoos

icanhave - that's what I think. It reminds me of two AIBU's about a counsellor/psychotherapist who was called on this and did a straight one and reverse on exactly this subject.

OP - why do you want to know what we think?

cricketpitch Sorry if thats how it is coming across - it's more that I am trying to understand if there is something fundamental that causes the doubts and then it seemed people were confusing it with messiness so just tried to clarify what I meant-obviously not in a clear sense!
I have no problem with informality and language as it makes me feel more comfortable and am like that myself when dealing with clients (not pet names, but chatty and first names) which i've always been praised for.
I see your point about the whole image and communication but then with regards to pilots - we expect them to wear a uniform to make them identifiable and obvious, I did think more regarding roles where there was just a dress code instead of a uniform....

i'm just curious - it's not a reverse, and yes I do have a more unique look but always wondered what it was that made people judge?
Incidentally - why does there seem to be this overall idea that anyone with tattoos etc has poor hygiene or is not well groomed?

oops! sorry - just realised i'm in my wrong log in! I have two usernames and my phone is obviously set to the different one!!

Sorry! Confusing posts - I have two log ins (forgot details for one and thought that was the one logged in on my phone too but clearly not!)
BoomCakesNation is me too

OP - you make the point that you use informality in language in order to put people at their ease. Exactly! So do I - when appropriate. Other times a bit more formality is important. I also dress more informally in certain situations - to communicate a relaxed confident manner. And I dress formally when I want to communicate seriousness, conformity, professionalism.

I don't equate tattoos with poor hygiene by the way.

(Got to go out now - not trying to stir it up and then leave...) It is an interesting debate though. (Sorry if I thought you were goady)

I'm heavily tattooed (hands, arms etc) I have a job and am at university. I've only had good comments from customers (though I did get attacked in the street because of them a few months ago but that's a whole other story) and my boss has no problem with them. I have no worries about my future career, mainly because it's arts based so less into appearances.
Oh and I don't have poor hygiene either haha.
I'd never judge someone's ability to do a job on things like that.

Not sure anyone has said tattoos equal poor hygiene....
Cricketpitch...there was a delay because of fault with plane....I was a bit 'uh-oh' ...but he did get us back

It would depend on the job. If their professional office job involves dealing facve to face with people who are likely to be extremely conservative and put off by their clothing, then yes I would question their ability to think logically about the consequences of their actions - they have already shown that they don't.

I wouldn't turn a hair at, for instance, a professional programmer who doesn't interact directly with customers dressing extremely informally. My boss's attitude when I was doing telephone technical support was always that I only had to sound as if I was wearing a suit.

I did my legal training forty years ago in a City firm where there was just one female partner. My intake of articled clerks (trainees) was about half and half, and in the first week one of the female half was summoned to the presence of the only female partner and given a shellacking because since her interview she had had her ears pierced; standard earlobe job, one each side, quiet stud, the sort of thing more women now have than don't. The partner told her that There is only one profession where that is appropriate and it's not the one you are hoping to join, my dear and told her to grow her hair to cover it up.

Times change, don't they? What the woman in question would make of my recent trainee with a stud in her nose and a ring in her tragus I don't want to think!

Maybe I misread but did seem that there was a connection between alternative and messy or poor hygiene-was speed reading so apologies if I misunderstood.
Really not trying to be goady, honestly, just a curious fish!
Intriguing replies though!

If I see a professional with a very unconvential appearance I tend to assume that they are so good at their job that they don't need to worry about fitting in because they are such an obvious assets to their workplace.

I think visible piercings and tattoos are getting more mainstream and accepted, thankfully. I've noticed a few teachers on Educating the East End with stretched ears, facial piercings, full sleeves, etc. It's great. Maybe other sectors will change in time, because people with piercings and tattoos should not be discriminated against in the workplace.