“Business Casual.”
What does that ubiquitous phrase mean to you? Or to put it another way, what do you—the 401k financial advisor—wear to work on a typical non-Friday workday?
A: Suit & tie?
B: Hoodie & sneakers?
C: Jeans & T-shirt?
D: Slacks & dress or golf shirt?
E: The dreaded Midtown Uniform?
F: Whatever I slept in last night?
Judging by social media, I hope you didn’t pick “E”—the “Midtown Uniform” (dress shirt, gray or black fleece vest, slacks or khakis) has its own Instagram account with 111,000 followers, and it ain’t flattering.
Sure, your own personal dress code often depends on your company’s culture, your age, what part of the country you are in, if you work remotely, or any number of other factors. But there’s no question “business casual” means different things to different people.
Dress codes in the financial world in particular have received a lot of attention lately after Wall Street icon Goldman Sachs—one of the last holdouts of a formal dress code—announced via internal memo to its 36,000 employees earlier this March that the time was right to move to a “firmwide flexible dress code” while advising them to “exercise good judgment in this regard.”
While many no doubt cheered this step toward pretty much the rest of corporate America, the announcement sent shockwaves followed by groans through the men’s fashion world, as it lamented the further demise of the suit and tie.
Jonathan Evans, Senior Style Editor of Esquire.com, penned the following on March 6:
“I already know what the banker bros of GS are going to do now that the suit-and-tie rules are out the window. We all do, down in the deepest, darkest corners of our hearts. Because we’ve seen it. These dudes are going to wear vests like their very lives depend on it.”
Evans says the Midtown Uniform is already ingrained in the financial industry at large, and predicts these last Goldman Sachs holdouts that have relied on the suit-and-tie look for their entire careers will quickly gravitate toward the “already accepted” next iteration of the Wall Street uniform.
“… Maybe I’m calling this one all wrong. Maybe we’re on the cusp of something great in the world of banker style. But I doubt it. Screw pork bellies: It’s time to go big on vest, chino, and gingham futures,” Evans concludes.
For what it’s worth, a March 8 AP story about Goldman Sachs’ dress code change noted that a poll on the Goldman Sachs Twitter account asked what its employees should wear to work now that the dress code has been “formally” relaxed. The top response? “Hoodie & sneakers” at 38%, followed by “suit” at 28% while the Midtown Uniform was the least popular response.
I doubt they’ll go the Silicon Valley “denim & tee” route, but suit sales in NYC don’t figure to grow anytime soon.
Liz Ann Sonders, Chief Investment Strategist at Charles Schwab, even tweeted about it, wondering if it’s a secular trend or a market top sign. Once the market goes down, will there be a trend back to more formal attire?
This all got me to wondering, though, what is it that the typical 401k advisor wears to work on typical day? For me as a journalist who covers the market from Denver, it’s a mix of slacks and dress shirts some days, jeans and dress shirts, sweaters or golf shirts (depending on the temp) other days. I plead guilty to wearing the occasional pair of khakis, and not always knowing whether to tuck my shirt in or not.
Please feel free to chime in via the Disqus comment tool below – would love to get your perspective on what works for you.
– Brian Anderson, Managing Editor
Veteran financial services industry journalist Brian Anderson joined 401(k) Specialist as Managing Editor in January 2019. He has led editorial content for a variety of well-known properties including Insurance Forums, Life Insurance Selling, National Underwriter Life & Health, and Senior Market Advisor. He has always maintained a focus on providing readers with timely, useful information intended to help them build their business.
