Megan Riksen:

Hello and welcome to the work like Laker podcast. I'm Megan Riksen and I am joined today by my co-host grace Pushman and grace to get started today. I've got a question for you related to our topic. Have you ever worn the wrong thing to work?

Grace Pushman:

That is such a good question. And, you know, I feel like there probably are a lot of instances of me doing this, but my brain is protecting me and has like, yeah, I don't remember them because my brain is kind. So I do remember one specifically though it was my second job as a teenager that I ever had. It was at a place called call of the wild up north in Gaylord. And so you've probably seen billboards for it up north, or if you're from there. Yeah. And my job was to stand behind the fudge counter and sell fudge. And so you're standing all day. It's like a, you know, maybe a six hour shift, let's say, and you're kind of, your job is just to really stand there, interact with customers, get them their fudge. And because it's a pretty casual environment and it was a summer job.

Grace Pushman:

I wore flip flops to my first day of work. And, you know, I, I don't know. I think things have changed because now what I wear then is called shower shoes. Like they're just like those rubber ones that are like $2 at target. Yes. they're not those, you know, fancy athletic ones. And after six hours, my feet and my legs were so sore because there's no support. Oh, terrible. It was such a bad choice. And so that was a really good lesson for me to always think about what shoes I'm going to need for the day because that really does make a big difference. Especially if you're in a job like waitressing teaching, where you're on your feet.

Megan Riksen:

So many where you're on your feet.

Grace Pushman:

Yes. Yeah. Yes. So Megan, when you get ready for work in the morning yeah. What do, what goes through your mind to prepare for what to wear?

Megan Riksen:

Yeah, I feel like kind of the first thing I always check is the weather. What's it? What's it gonna be like, because same with the shoes really it's, you know, comfort that ultimately is gonna make you have a better day at work. I think if you're, if you're feeling comfortable in the clothes you put on, so yeah. I'll kind of see what I need to wear weather wise and then yeah, from there, I, you know, my job doesn't change too much from day to day. But there have been instances where I either know we have a retreat, for example, and I can be much more casual or if I look at my calendar and see, oh, I have a meeting with someone who's not in the career center, then I probably will make a decision to dress up a little bit more. So yeah. Probably just like, what's it gonna be like outside? And what does my day look like?

Grace Pushman:

Yeah. Checking your schedule and also seeing maybe how, like how much you have to be on your feet that day too. Yeah. Because again, tied into the shoes. I know we do some days where we're at career fairs and on our feet all day.

Megan Riksen:

Kind of just need tennis shoes.

Grace Pushman:

Yeah, exactly.

Megan Riksen:

Even though I have like totally ditched heels for the most part, since the pandemic.

Grace Pushman:

Oh, a hundred percent... Well, I, I should say I've never really words.

Megan Riksen:

<Laugh> but you know, I feel like when I started, I wore heels all the time. And then over those past two years, it's like, whoa, sometimes move on again, make

Grace Pushman:

Hard priorities in your life where you're like, that's not going to be a priority for me. <Laugh>

Megan Riksen:

Absolutely. Absolutely. So, you know, the question of what to wear to work is not just affecting us. It's not just affecting new grads. An article in the Financial Post talked about seasoned corporate professionals who are pondering new dress code rules after we're working remotely for so long during the pandemic. And in this article they had interviewed some folks who had attended a conference where typically that conference pre pandemic, they would've all been wearing suits and high heels and more uncomfortable shoes. But this time around as much more casual looks even so casual as people were wearing jeans where they might have been wearing suits before. Right. So times have changed. And I think it's good to be aware of that, but we have lots of tips today for kind of thinking that through.

Grace Pushman:

Yeah. And these changing rules can make getting dressed for quite complicated. So that's why, you know, we put this together, we thought this would be a great time to talk about what to wear to work, because I do agree that I think since COVID has happened, it is things have changed and things are a little bit more casual maybe than it used to be overall.

Megan Riksen:

Yep. Absolutely. So we're gonna start with some dos and don'ts. So my first do of the day is to know your dress code. So this one seems pretty obvious, but you know, there are plenty of workplaces where there is a dress code that is actually written down. So you certainly wanna kind of start with that and pay attention with that. You know, even just looking at your employee handbook, they can give you some language that will help you kind of start to imagine like, you know, how professional, how dressed up am I going to need to be in this environment? So just know the dress code.

Grace Pushman:

Yeah. And there are some specific words you might see that will indicate what the dress code is. And I think sometimes we get confused about what those mean or what that could look like. And so the first one would be uniforms, which that's, I think pretty obvious a lot of us probably having jobs where we've had to wear a uniform before. Yeah. Business formal is one where, you know, you might be wearing a suit, you might have to wear ties. You might be wearing, you know, blazers every day. More, I would say you don't have to wear heels, but like more dressed shoes. Yeah.

Megan Riksen:

Closed toe shoes. You're not gonna be wearing sandals.

Grace Pushman:

Yes. Yeah. It's kind of what you would wear maybe to an interview. Yep. But some, some offices, that's what you wear every day. And then the next one is business casual, which is maybe one of the more common ones and that's what we do in our office. Yeah. We're probably even slightly more on the casual side of business casual. But we get to wear, you know, we don't have to wear suits. We can wear maybe just like a blouse and a skirt or a blouse in some slacks and

Megan Riksen:

Sweater and

Grace Pushman:

Sweaters. Yeah, yeah. Button ups with no tie. Right, right. So it's kind of like the next level down from business formal or business professional. And then begin, do you wanna chat about some of the more, even more casual ones?

Megan Riksen:

Yes. So then there's a fancy one, which isn't that fancy, but it's called smart casual, which I don't know why that always makes me chuckle. But that basically is, you're kind of mixing things up a little bit. So it's a little bit of a high and low situation mix and match. So maybe you are wearing a blazer, but you pair that with jeans and shoes that are a little bit nicer. Right. Or you wear a skirt, but you have a graphic tee and a Jean jacket on with that. So it's kind of like, yeah, it's smart, casual. Like you're a little, you can be a little stylish, right?

Grace Pushman:

Megan, I thought of you because I was thinking about like what attire I would want at my own wedding cuz I'm, I'm not a very formal person. Yeah. And I was like, you know what, on the invitations I've gonna put smart casual, <laugh> make people Google it. But I just thought that would be perfect.

Megan Riksen:

We can all be like, oh, I love it. <Laugh> that's great. And then finally casual would be kind of the lowest on the formality scale here. But you know, even with casual, most things are appropriate, but I would, I would still stay away from anything in the sweatpant genre wind pants, if those are thing I don't know. So you definitely have a ton of flexibility with casual. So, you know, whereas with business formal, you might stick to a black suit, a Navy suit, a white shirt, a cream shirt, you know, maybe you throw in some colors, but certainly not a ton of patterns. But here, you know, really there's a lot more flexibility that you can, you know, feel free to wear a lot more color.

Grace Pushman:

And I should loop back to my example of flip flops because the shoes I described are probably not appropriate for most workplaces. Even if they're casual, because those are like very casual, but again, I was 15, it was a summer job and you know, but

Megan Riksen:

I think you're probably okay. But the comfort thing was the main issue there.

Grace Pushman:

Exactly.

Megan Riksen:

Yeah. And you know, I didn't mention before, but certainly you can look at kind of the employee handbook, but really I find that the best way to figure out what's appropriate in the environment that you are in is just to be observing the people around you, you know, what are they wearing that can help you to gauge the dress code? Because I mean, really something might be written in the dress code, but people totally don't follow that. So it's, it's still appropriate if everybody else, you know, if everybody else is doing one thing,

Grace Pushman:

100%. Yeah. Yeah. I, I did a job shadow here before I ever got hired in. And I remember that was one thing I really focused on as what was everyone wearing? Yes. Because then I would know if I ended up, you know, coming here to work ever. What to expect.

Megan Riksen:

Yes, exactly. That's and you know, err, on the side of more formal as you get started mm-hmm <affirmative> and then you can always kind of scale back as needed depending on what you see as most appropriate and that your colleagues are wearing.

Grace Pushman:

Yeah. Great tip. And then our next tip is a piece of advice from Jamie Dorman, who was a Program Supervisor at Michigan College Access Network. And now is a new employee at Grand Valley as an academic advisor, which we're really excited about. And Jamie says don't wear lounge clothing when working from home, as we just mentioned, dress codes depend on the culture of the company or organization you are working for. So some organizations may not mind if you are not dressed in the typical dress code when working from home. However, Jamie found that dressing, the part had an effect on her motivation to work. Additionally, you may have to stand or adjust your camera when attending an online meeting. So dressing appropriately is important and may spare you some embarrassment as well. And I know that in the career center, we also sometimes work remotely. And that is something that I found about myself too. Like, you know, I'm not gonna always wear the same level of professional clothes I would wear to work, but I'm not gonna wear pajamas because that does give me a different mindset. So I like to at least wear like jeans, like clothes I would wear outside of the house while working from home.

Megan Riksen:

I like that. Would I feel comfortable going out in public? Yeah. In this. Yeah. So just rolled out of bed. Yeah. <Laugh> that's good. Okay. So if you're not wearing lounge clothing, when you're working from home the due side of that is you do wanna consider the context. So of course, when you're working remotely, as grace said, you can, you probably are on the casual side. But there's a lot of companies where they have instituted kind of a policy of dress for your day. And that's kind of what I had mentioned at the beginning, when I'm looking at my calendar and getting ready in the morning, I'm going to choose something that's appropriate for what I have coming up in my day. So you know, be aware of or aware, I guess, of, you know, what's happening and if you have a meeting with a client or if you're just gonna kind of be in your office that day, and Jamie had another piece of advice relevant to considering the context which was wearing branded clothing, which I thought was really smart.

Megan Riksen:

If you're representing your employer at recruitment events or you know, a conference or something like that, it might be appropriate or even preferred for you to actually be wearing something that has the company's brand, the company's logo on it. And we certainly do that in the career center. We have work like a Laker t-shirts that are just about as casual as you can get, but we can wear those almost any time. Yeah. It's great. And it's great. So keep in mind that you know, sometimes those branded that branded attire can be a great way to be representing your company, even if it is, you know, maybe a little bit more casual than what you might typically wear.

Grace Pushman:

Yeah. Good point. And that, I mean that, those are my favorite days when I get to wear some of my branded clothing.

Megan Riksen:

Yeah. It's the best.

Grace Pushman:

Our next piece of advice is from Brittany Garza, who is a Human Resources Business Partner at Steelcase, she said do wear clothes that you are comfortable in all day, regardless of dress code, you should focus on feasibility over style. It's not fun or effective to constantly be adjusting your clothing for work. And I know that, you know, when I got my first internship, I bought like a really cute pencil skirt that was white and it was super cute and professional looking. But in reality I always felt super self-conscious cuz it was so tight and I had to constantly adjust it. Yes. And I ended up never wearing it. Yeah. And so just be aware of that when you're shopping too, like what are you actually going to want to wear all day as well.

Megan Riksen:

Totally.

Grace Pushman:

And then she said, don't buy a whole new wardrobe before your first job, until you fully understand the norms of the organization. Brittany shared with us that prior to her first job, she bought new dress clothes and dresses that she never ended up wearing because she realized the organization's employees wore jeans two to three days a week. She recommends having a week's worth of staple outfits. That can be a good start. And then to add to your wardrobe, once you are more aware of how other employees dress, which I think is perfect advice, because I also have had friends who have done the same thing, like bought a whole new wardrobe and then realize they didn't really need it once they started the job

Megan Riksen:

Shoot. Now I've spent hundreds on things that are gonna hang in my closet. Yeah.

Grace Pushman:

Exactly not good. Okay. Our next do is to be creative. So following a dress code doesn't mean that you have to abandon any and all personality. So accessories can go a long way. Jewelry, for example, can be easily adapted and personalized and be removed even as necessary, sometimes even socks. Right. It can be a good way to kind of showcase your sense of style mm-hmm <affirmative> uso, you know, keeping in mind that bringing in some of your personality also can I think affect your comfort level in the office. Yeah. If you're feeling good and what you're wearing, at least for me that affects my confidence. For sure. And maybe in your white skirt, you didn't feel as confident. Yeah. Because you were so concerned with that mm-hmm <affirmative> as opposed to what you were doing. Uand luckily social media is good for some things and I would say,it definitely is a resource to look at, especially Instagram, Pinterest, and TAC as well to really get some inspiration,for any level of dress code. So typing in some of those terms like business casual,can give you, you know, some nice ideas, follow some accounts of people who you think just are really nailing it and kind of doing exactly what you hope to do. And that can give you a little inspiration as well.

Grace Pushman:

Yeah. Good point.

Megan Riksen:

And then our final don't is don't be afraid to ask for help. Cuz it can be expensive yeah. To buy new stuff. It can be expensive to keep refreshing the things you have. So, you know, I think going back to Britney's thought of having those staple pieces is so important. Start with those in the career center, we actually each semester partner with JC Penney to offer a suit up event. Which is great, cuz it is very discounted professional attire. So definitely keep an eye out for that. And you know, don't, don't underestimate the power of networking. So if you are entering a company, reach out to a current employee on LinkedIn, get their insight on what you might want to wear. You can also always stop by the career center. We will always give you advice. Yes. On what you're wearing, if you wanna even, you know, put on your interview suit or whatever it is you plan to wear, we can definitely give you some feedback on that.

Megan Riksen:

And yeah, definitely if you're questioning whether or not something is formal enough and can't obtain the answers, it's always best to air on the side of caution up for something maybe a little more conservative cuz ultimately you wanna be remembered for what you're saying as opposed to what you're wearing. So yeah. I think those are good. Good tips to follow. Yeah.

Grace Pushman:

Thanks Megan.

Megan Riksen:

Yeah, absolutely. Well, hopefully this has given you a little bit of good perspective on all of the factors that go into choosing what you're going to wear to work. It certainly can be nuanced. And you know, as we've kind of said over and over pay attention to what others are wearing adapt to your day, things like that can all help you go a really long way. So thank you so much to everyone for listening and we hope you tune in to a future episode soon.