Workplace Dress Codes Don’t Matter Much—Until There’s a Problem

Finally, our nation’s great political minds were able to come together to forge a compromise that will enable us to move forward as a nation, united, behind a common front.

I’m referring, of course, to the recent adoption of a dress code for the US Senate.

Over the last several years, our dignity as a world leader has been threatened by the fact that certain senators were flouting convention and wearing inappropriate attire on the Senate floor. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.), for example, once wore a denim vest while presiding over the Senate, and Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) made it clear that he preferred his trademark shorts and hoodie to the more conventional suit and tie.

Faced with the prospect that other senators might come straight to the floor from swimming laps in the Senate pool, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) swung into action. Working with senators across the aisle, he shepherded through a bipartisan resolution requiring that business attire be worn on the floor of the Senate, “which for men shall include a coat, tie, and slacks or other long pants.” No specific guidance was provided for women. Crisis averted.

Inspired by the Senate’s fast action, a number of companies may be reconsidering their own dress code, if they have one at all. I’ve seen this issue from some different perspectives over the years. As a young child, I watched my father go to work in the Marine Corps wearing his military khakis, and later, as he transitioned to the business world as an accountant, he wore a coat and tie to work.

In the military, the dress code was written—designed to build teamwork and discipline, discourage individuality, show rank and authority. In the business world, it showed status, respect for the profession.

As a young Justice Department lawyer and prosecutor, I went to work each day in a suit. Courtroom appearances without a suit would have been unthinkable. Clothing was a way of getting respect—and showing it.

All of that changed when I moved to Silicon Valley in 1999. My suits went to the back of my closet, replaced by an array of shirts and even (gasp) an occasional t-shirt. Individuality, creativity, nonconformity.

In this new world, leaders might even intentionally dress down beneath social norms to demonstrate authority. Dubbed “the red sneakers effect” in a series of Harvard studies, the idea is that dressing in a conspicuous, nonconforming manner actually created an inference of greater status and higher competence.

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg were famous for wearing casual attire at formal gatherings such as the World Economic Forum. The Fetterman effect. If it looks intentional rather than lazy, it conveys confidence, individuality, and power. I was thrilled just to be out of a suit. I should have broken out the hoodies and shorts—I’d be running a unicorn by now.

Does your company have a dress code? (I’ll wait for you while you open another window on your browser, log into your intranet, peruse the 164-page HR manual, and rejoin us). Do you need one? The answer to that question probably depends on your workplace, your company’s mission, and how you interact with customers or potential clients.

If you’re working in a hospital, or in a courtroom, or a battlefield, you’ve got considerations that are very different than those of an attorney at a startup.

Do you care if someone shows up to work in a ragged t-shirt and shorts? Do you care what they’re wearing, if anything, from their remote office just beneath the view of the camera? Do you want to try to define “business casual” in a way that’s not sexist, or racist, or insensitive to someone’s culture or religion? Worse, do you want to enforce a dress code against a top performer?

But ignoring the dress code issue completely only works well until it doesn’t, when someone wants to make what they wear a statement for what they believe (or try to deflect workplace performance issues and muddy a potential firing).

How will your office react to a co-worker wearing a “White Lives Matter” t-shirt? An “I Don’t Run, I Reload” hoodie? A “My Body, My Choice” hat? Overnight, your cohesive workplace can turn upside down.

Tread carefully on this one. Legally, companies are generally free to have dress codes and appearance standards that are reasonably related to legitimate business interests, but trying to create a new rule in an environment where you’ve had no issues could light a powder keg. If your business puts a premium on creativity and risk taking, a strict dress code can send the wrong message.

A number of workplaces may be well-served to have something in their written policies that covers their important interests here, such as how employees present themselves to customers. If you do, make sure your rules leave plenty of room to respect differences in gender, race, religion, and culture. Think about creating a diverse task force to advise on the policy—giving employees a voice in rules often helps with its acceptance.

Don’t create any rule that your CEO won’t follow, nor one that you wouldn’t enforce against your top salesperson or coder—there’s nothing worse than a rule that HR conveniently and selectively ignores. There’s a lot of room for subjectivity here, so it’s tempting—and probably wise in many office circumstances—to let people dress how they like, as long as they get their work done, without driving away customers or offending co-workers.

I’m just relieved that the dignity of our hallowed Senate is now protected—our august body may be riddled with partisan bickering and archaic Byzantine rules (don’t get me started on the filibuster) that enable obstructionist tactics for no purpose other than pure political showmanship. But they look good doing it.

Rob Chesnut consults on legal and ethical issues and was formerly general counsel and chief ethics officer at Airbnb. He spent more than a decade as a Justice Department prosecutor.