Back to Appearance-Looks and Jobs

Hears a post going back to image and employment.

Blue Banana Staff Pic I found

How ones image is maintained will affect perceptions and appearance. It is after all, that time old argument between professionalism and personal individuality. 

It is a hard thing to pull of in some work environments. I have included two pictures hear, one of a Blue Banana store, an alternate outlet store for emo and alternate clothing (I am not passing comment). The other is a Lloyds TSB Bank branch. Each are very different to the other. While this is clear from nothing more than the pictures, there are of course similarities. Each sells things to customers. Again what they sell and how they sell it is very different, but on the bare bones, they are both sales roles.

Lloyds TSB Branch Staff

So why are the expectations different? There are a number of reasons. One is the product, the other the customer. Each is a reflection on the other. Blue Banana caters to a particular clientèle. Those inclined by the emo style and the alternate side. And still, not every goth or emo or alterna kid will shop there. With Lloyds, it is a question of money. They hold your money. YOUR money!! Wouldn't you want a professional body doing this, a body suited and tied, uniformed and trained? Of course you would. If you wouldn't, you wouldn't bank. People go into banks for many reasons. However in their selling capacities, they are selling loans. Mortgages, credit cards, interest rates and ISA's. 

So it goes back to the argument. What are your expectations. You, the customer. We are all customers and sometimes we need to consider what would we think or perceive if we walked into blue banana and saw suited salesmen. Or walked into Lloyds and saw piercings, every hair colour and tattoos? Our perceptions are influenced by our expectations. We expect to see professionalism in a large corporate organisation. We expect individuality in smaller businesses catered to a particular clientèle. 

So where does the middle ground lie. What about the smaller shops, the fashion outlets, those smaller shops that have no apparent uniform. Where does the border lie. When does individuality suffer to professionalism? 

I think if someone has a fantastic job, well paid, and can wear whatever they want are the luckiest people ever. It just isn't the norm. Many companies today recognize this and are changing. There are many a shop where staff members have tattoos, piercings and coloured hair. But this is at a low, retail level. Never will you see an openly pierced or tattooed manager or director in the retail world, not yet anyway. 

And so I guess it comes down to choice, your choice. If you want to remain individual etc and dress in your own way, go into the arty world, Media, design and graphics etc. If you want to follow the corporate road, you may have to conform to a uniform or a perceived image.