CULTURE TRAPPINGS
TAPPING INTO TRENDS
generation of workers retire, and younger people with less formal styles of dressing appear, the workplace has to evolve into something everyone feels comfortable with. Indeed, in 2019, Goldman Sachs issued a company-wide memo relaxing dress codes in their offices, a move that was made
with the blessing of CEO David Solomon, a long-time banker who also DJ’s under the name D-SOL. Now, the argument can still be had that dressing formally somewhat encourages people to behave in a certain manner, and even think in a certain way. In an article published by
Decoding the new workplace dress code b y G A R Y S W E E N E Y
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The evolution probably began with casual Fridays in the West, and found itself adopted to dress-down-Thursdays here in the UAE. Smart casual khakis and a polo shirt would have replaced the traditional suit and tie for the office, allowing the employee to feel more comfortable and relaxed as they headed into the weekend. Shortly after, we saw dress codes shifted toward even more relaxed standards with
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the influx of millennials whose style and demeanor were far less formal. The surge in popularity in the ath-leisure trend, coupled with the big designers (Gucci et al.) releasing collections inspired by 90s streetwear, alongside the evolution of social media and other such channels have allowed the younger generation to further dictate what is appropriate and what is not in the workplace. As the older
IMAGES COURTESY ASCOT AND CHAPELS
ver the last two years, we’ve been seeing a very big shift in dress codes in the workplace across the world, and even locally here in the Middle East. This trend began in 2010, and it has been slowly evolving, with fashion choices that were once typically unheard of in industries now being deemed appropriate for where we work.