Has the management 'look' changed?

[WineIsFineAtNine]

At the risk of sounding my age old gimmer, has the 'look' of management/those in senior roles changed?

My wee niece has been promoted to Director of Operations at the age of 25 (stealth boast and proud aunt alert! The girl has serious chutzpah!) and I couldn't help but notice how differently she dresses to those in senior roles did when I was at work.

Are seriously low necklines 'in'?
Slightly sheer fabrics?
Mid thigh dresses?
Ballet pumps rather than sensible shoes or heels?

Back in my day it was all about power dressing and knee length dresses with heels but DNiece seems to favour floaty mid thigh dresses with ballet flats!

Is this acceptable now and I need to crawl back in to my cave or do I need to march her to Next and M&S?

Yes, I am an overbearing aunt my DDs have it faaaaaaar worse

Seriously Low necklines - no
Slightly sheer- yes, but with a camisole, no bras on show
Mid thigh dresses - above the knee, yes but mid thigh when standing, no
Ballet flats - good quality and not scuffed/falling apart = fine (probably better than stilletoes with low necklines and shirt skirts!)

She's done brilliantly to achieve that position at her age, but she needs to look more professional.

As I once said to someone - do you want to be known for what you do or how you look your tits?

I think the days of 'power dressing' are thankfully long gone and anything relatively smart goes now. I have a senior post and I wear jeans most days.

Our chief executive (male) doesn't ever wear a tie, for example - work clothes are much less stuffy nowadays.

Most women where I work will wear either trousers and a top or a dress with opaques and, often, flats. Unless it's a particularly formal occasion (e.g. presentation or interview) no-one wears suits and the men don't wear ties.

If she's been promoted to director already I reckon what she's wearing is just fine.

It depends on the workplace. In my fairly conservative (law firm) office, short dresses and ballet pumps would be fine. Sheer would be ok with something under it. Very low cut would be a no no.

Workplace dressing is changing. Hardly any women wear suits in my experience. Men are frequently leaving ties and jackets off.

Depends on sector - I work in digital media company and most wear jeans/converse (even the CEO), unless there's an external meeting. Sounds like she's doing great!

I think it depends on the industry, which industry is she in?

Law, no. Call centre, yes.

Dh works in a tech multinational. Anything goes clothes wise.

Ah ok, so things have changed! She's in property/real estate (uk and overseas). Difficult to go into too much detail without completely outing her (although I probably have done so if anybody on here already works with her!).

It shows how much things change, in my day we only had 1 female senior and she was significantly older.

Pleased to hear the ballet flats are acceptable, far more comfortable than heels and I suspected her generation won't be quite so riddled with bunions as my generation! Hmm I think DNiece's dresses are mid thigh when she stands up!

Maybe I'm just bitter that I always looked a frump but never reached a high position

Depends very much on wear she works. Those clothes are all worn by women in my workplace but not the ones in senior roles.

However given that she managed to get to a senior role all by herself at 25 I politely suggest you back off and leave her to her own sartorial choices.

^^ oh dear me 'where'. Obviously!

In my culture we don't do backing off- I'm overbearing with my DDs and Dnieces as is my sister to my DDs! It's a stereotype but we are.

I'm sure she loves it really!

My law firm. Men - suits and ties. Always. Women - suits or dresses. But you could probably get away with ballet flats.

I hate it but no sign of dress codes relaxing imo.

In my place - FE college - managers dress to suit the school/subject they represent. So head of business/IT would be in a suit, head of creative arts in dresses or smart jeans/nice top. I lecture in a fairly creative subject, and my work uniform is either dress/opaques/flats or skinny jeans (black) with a smart top or blouse and brogues or ankle boots - my counterpart who teaches law would be much more formal.

What's the ballet flat walk?!

What is the ballet flat walk?

My staple workwear is black trousers, ballet pumps, blouse and blazer. I love a sheer sleeveless blouse under my jacket but always wear a camp underneath.

Low cut tops are a no no and I do lose respect when I met someone with their boobs hanging out of their top the same way I lose respect for a man that has his shirt all untucked with scruffy shoes.

Ballet pumps usually look really unprofessional IMO. There's definitely a "ballet flats walk" - it's kind of a shuffle! - and they're just so flimsy that they look silly with "proper", smart clothes.

What sector does she work in? - If it techy/media/ creative all the above might be acceptable. I worked with a lovely girl who wore hotpants with tights to work, she was gorgeous and totally pulled it off and it never seemed inappropriate. She was on holiday once and I had to check her emails and saw she addressed senior men in the industry with greeting "Hello handsome".

I think it depends on the sector you work in. I come across a lot of senior NHS, local government and charity sector people and all the women tend to wear the type of clothes MN seems to deem frumpy (!) - Boden (and other similar brands) dresses and skirts with knitwear or smart tops, some wear a more "alternative" look too. Very few people wear heels but I don't see ballet flats either, it's mostly brogues or more sensible flats from Clarks, or boots in colder weather.

But when I look at other commuters on the tube, a lot of younger women do wear the type of thing you describe. Personally I find many dresses these days far too short, I'm just not sure it's ever a good look to wear something that's so short you can't bend down in it. And cheap ballet flats are as bad as heels for a future of foot problems...

Have to agree with previous posters that if she's already been promoted to Director at 25 she probably knows what to wear.

I work in a law firm and it's definitely less formal than when I started out many years ago. Her style would be fine here although possibly not the low cut tops or too short dresses.

Ballet flats are fine but need to be good quality. Hobbs have nice ones.