The 'Covid Casual' Dress Code - women's clothing choices when working from home
In today’s post, Sulagna Basu (@sulagna_basu) and Briony Lipton (@briony_lipton) discuss the findings of their recent research into work attire and conceptions of professionalism, highlighting the minefield women negotiate on a daily basis.
Continued high uptake of flexible and remote working arrangements since the beginning of the pandemic have had a profound impact on professional dress codes. Our recent survey on work attire asked Australians about their experiences of dressing for work before and during the pandemic, as well as their perspectives on work attire and perceptions of professionalism in their industry. The study confirmed that workers are dressing much more casually now, with active and leisure wear and even pyjamas being worn during work hours. But what does this mean for long held beliefs of professionalism conveyed through appearance and how do workers navigate carefully constructed professional identities when the world of work collapses into their personal and home life?
Image credit: Philippe Jausions Unsplash
Dressing professionally is typically taken to demonstrate one’s level of commitment to one’s work and is often recognised as an important marker of professionalism. As a concept, professionalism is generally presented as an aspirational vision of a standard of behaviour and appearance based on the values and actions of an ideal worker. However, as scholars point out, this is more often based on gendered and racialised portrayals of the professional ideal. Assumptions of professionalism rest largely on a particular vision of masculinity and a gendered perception of behaviours and actions that count as professional.
This can translate to different expectations for women as well as gender non-conforming individuals and people of colour, as they navigate their professional identities through a careful construction of their appearance parsed through the disciplinary controls of dress, speech and comportment. This is also evident in our survey, with women more likely to link their appearance to concerns about being taken more seriously as a worker.
“I am female, and in general I think women need to look younger, more "put together," more professional, to be taken seriously. I try to do that within my capacities, which are limited, to conform.” (Woman, Education and Training sector)
“I tend to wear the closest female equivalent to male business attire to fit in. I never wear heels because I can’t walk fast enough in them to keep step with male colleagues.” (Woman, Public Administration and Safety)
The COVID19 crisis has disproportionately affected women’s participation in the labour market and in some ways, this may only exacerbate the need to project professionalism particularly in scenarios where a professional appearance is decoded as productivity. The continued salience of these expectations is further validated in the survey where most respondents reported changing their outfits for external video conference meetings with clients, customers and stakeholders.
“If I am going to be on Zoom, I'll put on eyeliner, mascara, eyeshadow, and lipstick, and straighten my hair. I will not tie my hair up for a Zoom call, because I wear large headphones and I don't like the way I appear on screen with my hair back and my headphones on - I feel unattractive and unprofessional.” (Woman, Education and Training)
Another trend that emerged in relation to changing outfits for video conferences, was the increasing relevance of ‘waist- up’ clothing, often consisting of a blended ensemble with a formal or business-like top (visible on camera) and more casual and relaxed on the bottom. This trend points to the continued bearing that dress and appearance has in preserving the link between our professional identities and work. It also indicates the spatially mediated aspects of dress and the ways in which the change in the location of the workplace from the office to the home, impose different ways of presenting oneself. For some respondents, ‘dressing up’ while working from home was recounted as one way to separate work from home life, a strategy to navigate the blurred spatial boundaries between the office and the home.
“Getting dressed in the morning is much more boring now, but I still like to do it as a way of providing some sort of distinction between the work part of my day and the leisure part of my day.” (Man, Education & Training)
The appropriation of the home space by work has had differential effects for women faced with an increase in competing responsibilities for children, family, and household duties alongside paid work. Several women respondents in the survey reported ‘wearing more comfortable clothing’, with a prevalence of active or athleisure wear, to navigate these demands on their time more easily. As such, choosing to dress more casually for work may be understood as a strategy that reflects both the gendered dynamics of the home as workplace as well as a means of adapting to this space.
I’m mostly wearing pyjamas and active wear— I’m trying to home school and single parent and work full time. It’s a nightmare. (Woman, Information Media & Telecommunications)
With hybrid and flexible work models a key component of the ‘new normal’, understanding the significance and implications of dress and appearance continues to remain relevant to professional life. Survey respondents’ reflections on remote work highlight the tensions and contradictions of the pervasive link between work attire and professionalism. Continued scrutiny of these appearance norms at work may help us better understand the gendered and racialised logics underpinning them and highlight new possibilities to challenge the status quo.
Moderator: Laura Davy