May 16, 2003

Dress down Friday

The IP boutique where I work is fairly laid back in terms of dress. Business casual to casual. Less casual than the dot-com code-monkey uniform, but you'd definitely stick out if you wore a suit and tie. So, it's friday, and I'm in jeans and a nice solid T-shirt.

Ever since I started working here, I have to look at my clothes and think before I get dressed for work. Do I have any meetings with clients, partners, anyone? Is anyone coming into the office that might see me? If I wear jeans, is this shirt nice enough to dress them up to an acceptable level of dressiness?

There's nothing like walking into a meeting and realizing that you are over- or under-dressed to the point that someone important (client, partner) may notice.

So, I'm happy that dress here isn't business attire since I'd have to go shopping and blow a big old wad of cash instead of getting by with adding a few nicer items to my existing wardrobe. But, the constant thinking about just how casual I can be on any given day--It's almost enough to make me think that business attire wouldn't be so bad after all. There's no danger of being over- or under-dressed. And there's no thinking in the morning when I'm not very capable of it.

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