Do Wardrobe Costs Prevent People From Moving Up in Their Careers?

The tech industry is trending towards t-shirts and flip-flops. Your work-from-home looks are making their way into the office. “Power casual” is replacing business casual. All evidence might seem like it points to the contrary, but your work wardrobe can still impact everything from your productivity to how swiftly you climb the corporate ladder.

The adage used to be “dress for the job you want.” And researchers suggest that this still holds true. Studies have found that what you wear to work affects how others perceive you and even how well you work. And yet, of 1,303 employed Americans recently surveyed by BestColleges, 16% identified wardrobe expenses as a financial barrier to securing a job or changing careers.

Of the working Americans recently surveyed by BestColleges, about 1 in 4 (23%) said that financial barriers kept them from changing jobs in the last five years.

Wardrobe expenses, too, were identified as a financial barrier. And female workers were nearly twice as likely as their male counterparts to suggest that the need for clothing to interview or start a job was a primary barrier they faced in changing jobs.

There’s a perception that the modern office has abandoned workwear in the wake of work from home or as more casual hybrid work environments become the norm. But research still supports that what we wear in the office can affect everything from critical thinking skills to the likelihood of that promotion or raise coming your way.

Throughout five different experiments, researchers from California State University at Northridge and Columbia University found that the formal dress that used to be standard for the office can enhance abstract thinking and decision-making. Formal clothing, they argue, creates “social distance” between the wearer and their work. This distance elevates a worker’s ability to think on more abstract, complex levels.

A pre-pandemic survey of employees by Hive suggested that 61% are more productive with a casual dress code. But as the pandemic set in, another survey conducted by workwear brand Qua found that 85% of women felt that getting dressed up to work from home increased their productivity.

How to dress for work doesn’t have to be one of many financial barriers to career advancement. Building a wardrobe that fits both your budget and your vision of dressing for the job you want is possible if you strategize. Here are our tips for investing in new work clothes on a budget.

As companies reevaluate the role of the office, you should also take some time to think about how you fit into this changing landscape. Will you be in the office all five days of the week? Or are you looking for fully remote work?

Assessing how work (and, by extension workwear) will fit into your life can help you figure out what you really need to purchase. If you aren’t going to be working in a formal workspace full-time, you may not need a formal business outfit for every day of the week.

You don’t need to go out and buy your entire work wardrobe in one go. So many factors — from figuring out your style to your company’s dress code — take time to think through. Building your work wardrobe will be a process, and taking it slow is ok.

Some workwear staples will never entirely vanish. Style experts say that classic pieces like the black dress, blazer, and neutral shoes are always worth investing in or splurging on.

Once you’ve landed your new job, you might be tempted to celebrate by buying a big-ticket item that won’t be a part of your working wardrobe. A better strategy, according to experts, is to use those splurge moments to invest in the essentials.

Furthermore, author Jill Swanson recently told Today that shoppers should focus their spending on pieces worn on the top two-thirds of the body. This is the area that most people focus on in real life, but it’s also always in the frame on your Zoom calls.

Just like the modern office itself, workwear is changing. Dressing for the job you want should still be a consideration when building your work wardrobe. But the process of finding your style at work and building a wardrobe that fits your needs doesn’t have to be a financial barrier to your career success.