Marin McGrath

Creativity has become mainstream. It is typical to walk on a college campus and see someone with colored hair, tattoos, bright colored clothes and embracing their unique scarlet letter. People have grown to accept themselves and figure out what makes them different when it comes to style.  

Whether it is sourcing a wardrobe from the thrift store or embracing comfort by wearing sweats, the topic of personal style is ever present. 

While it is expected for this conversation to happen in the streets of New York or the halls of Vogue, it has become a discussion within local businesses and many other professional settings. 

According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Organization Management, 93% of someone’s opinion is based on the three channels of communication, which are visual, verbal vocal. This essentially debunks this idea that words mean everything. Instead, it is how you say it, how you look while saying it and what you sound like saying it.  

Lindsey Steiger-Muck, senior director for career services of the Walton College of Business, said professional dress has been a conversation the department has had internally. 

“A lot of the recruiters will show up to career fairs in jeans and a t-shirt or something like that,” she said. “But then, we ask students to come in professional dress, whatever that looks like to them.”

While the dueling dress code can prove to be confusing to students, Steiger-Muck said a good rule of thumb she abides by is making sure she is “one step above” who she is meeting with. 

“It doesn’t necessarily have to be a suit or a jacket and tie,” Steiger-Muck said. “Just [make] sure you look presentable.” 

Professional dress or lack-there-of is not a new issue and the cost of looking the part has caused stress when it comes to finding affordable interview-worthy clothing. The average price for a blazer is $140 and a suit set with a skirt or pants has an average price of $220, according to Williams College. 

In 2010, the Walton career closet began as a means of aiding students in dressing the part for no cost. Each of the items is donated, cleaned, and up to date with current style trends, the Walton college website said. Students enrolled in the business college are able to rent up to four items each semester for any career-based scenario. 

“We know a lot of students don’t have the discretionary income to be able to say, ‘I’m gonna buy a new outfit for the career fair or the interview,’” Steiger-Muck said. “We are providing that for students free of charge so that they can feel like that level of confidence going into whatever situation it is that they want to dress up for.”

Megan DeFalco, sophomore finance and supply chain major, said that the career fairs and interviews are only the beginning of the stressor that is professional dress.

“I feel like every work place takes things differently and sometimes jeans are allowed but sometimes they’re not,” DeFalco said. “It’s just kind of knowing the limits of what you can and can’t wear can be stressful because you don’t want to show up overdressed but you also never want to be underdressed.”

Being a woman in the world of business is another challenge DeFalco has faced when it comes to professional dress. 

“As a younger woman in the professional field, I get stressed out about making sure that I look professional and grown up and as mature as the peers who are hiring me,” she said. “I feel like being a woman, being a little bit smaller and working with a bunch of men, that can be stressful enough and just finding clothes that actually make you look professional and like you’re meant to be in the workplace.”

For a woman in the business field a typical outfit consists of a pant suit or a skirt and blazer. Young women today breathe life into their personal style through accessories, hairstyles and makeup but where is the line when it comes to professionalism? Many females in the workplace have to consider what they are wearing as appropriate which can in turn suppress personality.

The idea of personal style mixed with professionalism is often an afterthought to employers and leaves it up to the employee to use their clothes as a form of expression. People are quickly catching on and in the realm of social media the ideas are ever flowing and spreading.

Our generation has learned to embrace who they are and find individualism as an asset. The future of the work force seems to be heading in a direction that celebrates style while cultivating professionalism.