We shouldn't be tempted to let our dress standards slip when appearing on video calls from home. Photo / 123rf
We shouldn't be tempted to let our dress standards slip when appearing on video calls from home. Photo / 123rf
As millions work from home and embrace video calls, divergent dress codes have emerged - to the horror of some bosses.
Earlier this month, a judge in Florida sent an angry letter to his local bar association complaining that lawyers were dressed too casually during virtual court hearings."One male lawyer appeared shirtless and one female attorney appeared still in bed, still under the covers," he wrote.
If coronavirus lockdown continues for months, could video conferencing services herald the death of the work dress code? The UK's technology industry has always encompassed a range of fashion choices. Many venture capitalists and start-up executives proudly dress as casually as possible to show the cultural differences between them and suit-wearing bankers.
Now, most of the business world seems to be gradually adopting a similar dress code. Bertie Millis, the co-founder of virtual reality start-up Virtual Umbrella, says, "Everyone I've had meetings with, from directors of charities to managing directors, has been in T-shirts or jumpers." Sharon O'Dea, a digital strategist who has worked from home for years, says: "I just keep a 'dignity jumper' nearby, which I can slip over my PJs, gym kit or food-stained T-shirt for video calls."
But what about when businesses are holding board meetings or pitching to investors through Zoom? Rob Kniaz, an investor at Hoxton Ventures who has backed start-ups including Deliveroo and Darktrace, says it can pay to dress smartly.
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"Having a nice shirt is useful for seriousness," he says. "It definitely sends a [negative] message if I show up in a baseball hat as I'd normally do from home."
He also stresses the importance of an appropriate background for calls and has constructed a shed in his garden, which he uses as a dedicated video call environment.
Eileen Burbidge, a partner at Passion Capital who was an early investor in Monzo, says she has seen people wearing "actual work clothes and proper business attire", on video calls in recent weeks. Many are sticking to a casual dress code, however. "I'm definitely in sweatpants all day," Burbidge says.
Investors are unlikely to be judged too harshly on what they wear to video calls, but virtual job interviews are a different story. Stevie Buckley, the director of talent at Permutive, says employers doing video interviews are "placing more emphasis on communication and presentation".
"The clothes you wear may have zero bearing on your capability of doing a job well, but they do impact a less experienced interviewer's perception of you as an individual," he says. "It's wise to put effort into your appearance and physical environment when interviewing for a job as you want to give employers as few reasons as possible to turn you down."
Stylists are dispensing advice to clients looking for fashion tips on how to appear on work video calls. Glyn Lewis, a tailor at Tom James, says he has been offering remote style advice over WhatsApp and video calls to clients including technology executives and employees of magic circle law firms. The key to dressing for video calls is looking like you've made an effort.
"Everyone knows we're going through difficult times, and as a result, no one is really expecting anything in particular so as long as it looks like there's been a concerted effort," he says. But that doesn't mean it's appropriate to dress either far too formally or informally.
"We don't expect to get on a call with the chief executive of an international bank and have him wearing pyjamas, but at the same time you don't expect someone at the start of their career to be coming in in a three-piece suit," Lewis says.
Rich Simmons, a styling team supervisor at online fashion site Stitch Fix, says the low resolution of video calls means people can try out clothes that they wouldn't normally wear to the office. "They're not usually the greatest in terms of resolution, so you can play with the fabrics that you're using. It's making people experiment a little bit more," he says.
"A lot of our male clients, we're sending items with a bit more stretch in them than we used to or even trousers with elasticated waists."
But it is unlikely to be appropriate to just throw on the nearest T-shirt that comes to hand if you're about to join a key meeting.
"There's good casual and there's bad casual," Lewis says, "if you're wearing a crisp white T-shirt, that can look great. If it's your ratty sports T-shirt from the company picnic 10 years ago, perhaps give that one a miss."
