Survey: People in Power Prefer Khakis

Business casual continues to be the wardrobe of choice among high-end executives, according to the second annual Fashion in the Workplace survey from TheLadders.com, the worldís leading jobs website for $100k professionals.

The Suit is Dead
TheLadders.com found that 79.1 percent of execs prefer to wear either business casual or outright casual attire for work, and the majority ñ 62 percent ñ said that business casual is now their standard office dress code. These numbers are consistent with the trends seen in TheLadders.comís 2006 Fashion in the Workplace survey. According to the executives surveyed this year, the trend is here to stay: 42.2 percent said more and more companies are moving towards business casual, and 22.3 percent said the definition of ìbusiness casualî is now stretching to include even more casual attire, such as jeans.

TheLadders.com survey also found that employees who are dressed casually are perceived to be creative (39.3 percent) and more fun to be around (33.3 percent). However, they run the risk of being taken less seriously (48.2 percent).

Long Live the Suit
So what does this mean for their suited-up counterparts? Although 64.3 percent of execs said they did not think that co-workers in more traditional business attire were more productive, they did say they perceived them to be more senior level (71.8 percent) and that they are taken more seriously (62.3% percent).

The downside of being buttoned-up is that employees wearing suits are perceived by some as being rigid (26.5 percent) and less creative (16.8 percent).

When it comes to wardrobe, the most important thing for senior executives to do is dress appropriately for their role and their setting, said Marc Cenedella, president and CEO of TheLadders.com. That can change from job to job and company to company. The CFO at a video game company would stick out like a sore thumb in a three-piece suit, and a VP at a bulge bracket bank would look ridiculous in jeans and a T-shirt. It is important for executives to acknowledge the fashion microcosm of their workplaces and dress respectably within that culture.î

Wardrobe Malfunctions and Other Fashion Faux Pas:
Business casual attire does open up the risk of a serious office fashion faux-pas. Sixty two percent of executives surveyed said that revealing clothing in the office is the fashion crime committed most frequently. Flip-flops and sandals came in second this year with 57.5 percent of the vote. Jeans rounded out the top three most common fashion offenses with 49.9 percent of those surveyed suggesting that they had been inappropriately worn in their workplaces.

TheLadders.com 2007 Fashion in the Workplace survey was conducted in August 2007 and included 1,181 executives. The results of this survey are statistically accurate to within /- 2.82 percentage points.