Comments on: Dressing for the Job

By: WillM

WillM — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 12:45:04 +0000

As Rimbaud said: "Je est un autre".

By: Walker

Walker — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 12:34:21 +0000

I have mixed feelings about the clothes.. I spent one long day in my blue fluffy robe w/ leopard slippers until my son walked by and asked if the coffee cup in my hand needed to be traded for a White Russian.. Now I try to put on clothes.
Maybe I'll try a little dressing up for the job and see if it makes a difference?

By: allena

allena — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 11:21:22 +0000

no way. Since I've been working out at 530 in the morning, I generally sit around all gross in my workout clothes until someone sniffs me and makes me change.

In all fairness, my workout clothes are super cute though.

Now, during the school year, I chill in my sweats til it's time to pick up the kids. Unless I have AM car pool duty, in which case I am presentable.

Now, if I meet with a client, well, I'm a girly-girl, so I love dressing up. But me and the mailman have a tacit agreement not to care about what I look like while I'm rocking out word count.

By: Angie

Angie — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 21:30:34 +0000

I absolutely have to be showered and dressed before I can set foot in my office. It's not only that I feel more productive – it's that it just won't happen until I realize my husband's on his way home from work if I don't knock it out first thing. I'll keep telling myself, "In a minute… in a minute…" until it's almost too late. 🙂

By: Lillie Ammann

Lillie Ammann — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 21:20:18 +0000

Comfy clothes and no shoes for me.

By: Cathy

Cathy — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 20:54:29 +0000

Been a busy day so I'm jumping on the bandwagon late. I also just took Anne's poll so you'll all recognize my comments when Anne publishes them.

I never wear shoes-mostly just socks. I think it's 30+ years of shoes (heels for about 20+ of them). My feet are bad-this from someone who is going to walk her 7th 3-Day, 60 mile walk for breast cancer. Hey, maybe that's why they're so bad! :-)

So, no shoes, but as I told Anne, I cannot take a customer call in jammies. It's like I think they can see me. :-) My best writing time is in the morning so I often bang out the 1st blog/article/whatever and then go jump in the shower. My usual "work" outfit is a t-shirt-or polo shirt, my exercise (what a misnomer that is!) pants and my fuzzy socks--or barefoot if it's warm.

By: Wendy

Wendy — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 20:15:51 +0000

I usually dress in jeans and t-shirt or sweatshirt, depending on weather. The biggest thing for me is that I have to have my tennis shoes on. No, they're not red, sparkly or have the power to send me to Kansas, but they do seem to keep me focused on my work.

By: Lori

Lori — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 18:45:16 +0000

Love it, Anne! :)

Paula, I can understand completely. I have to feel comfortable but not a mess or I'll be conscious of it should the doorbell ring.

Kim, maybe that's your level of neatness? I'm pretty much the same. Like Paula said, when the laundry is piling up and the choices are few, I don't feel "ready" for work, even if it's just my favorite shorts and a clean t-shirt.

Love the poll, Anne!

By: Anne Wayman

Anne Wayman — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 17:47:33 +0000

One to quickly jump on a trend… I created a poll – http://www.aboutfreelancewriting.com/2010/06/to-dress-or-not-a-poll/

By: Carson Brackney

Carson Brackney — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 16:04:54 +0000

I guess I should have said that the correlation between dressing in a what would generally be considered a more "professional" manner and one's attitude isn't universal. That was really my point.

However, I really don't think that the link between what's on your back and what's on the page is that pronounced.

I worked out in the world of monkey suits and nice watches for a few years. Did well. Thought the costuming was silly. Empirically, the nature of my clothing hasn't had an impact on my productivity or performance.

I don't feel good, bad or indifferent about myself based on what I'm wearing. Yeah, I appreciate the comfort and convenience of dressing like a warm climate homeless fella, but it doesn't matter all that much in terms of output. If I had to work the keyboard in a suit, I'd turn up the A/C a few degrees and would keep on plugging right along.

This is the most I've thought about clothing choices in the last six years combined, lol.