Rugby player Rene Ranger has been sporting a wild mop of curls and a scraggy beard in the backline of the Blues Super rugby side for as long as most people can remember.
It was therefore a surprise to many, probably including the jury in the Whangarei District Court this week, when a clean-shaven man with closely cropped hair answered to his name. Who was that man? And what did his new appearance say?
Jurors who heard Ranger plead not guilty to two charges of injuring with intent, arising from an incident outside a Northland tavern three years ago, probably spent some of their precious time pondering that very question. Was the new look for real? Or did his lawyer dress him? If so, why?
Nobody, of course, dresses entirely to suit themselves, however much they might dress to suggest they do. If words are the most powerful form of communication, dress comes a close second. For many, appearances speak more clearly than their vocabulary can. Based on how smart many defendants look, the man or woman who comes to court unkempt had better have emerged straight from the cells or have a cast-iron defence.
The way we dress expresses levels of respect. Those who defy an unspoken office standard are making a plain statement about their attitude to the work they do, the position they hold, the people they work with and their collective pride. If they believe they are simply expressing themselves they are deceiving themselves.
