It appears that workplace dress codes are starting to become casual, with ‘dress down Fridays’ becoming the new norm – all week.
According to a survey undertaken among 2,000 UK adults by researcher Canadean Consumer, it is no longer just workers in the creative and media industries who are wearing more informal attire for work these days.
Although about 48% of full-time employees always wear a suit, a huge 33% of 18 to 29 year olds said that they didn’t own one at all – although the figure dropped to an average of just under one in 10 among men across all age groups.
On the other hand, about 27% of women indicated that they never put on a dress in the office, while just over a quarter of male staff members regularly wear jeans. A further 15% routinely clothe themselves in a mix of smart and casual styles, but about 4% of men claimed that they didn’t own any kind of shirt at all.
Fashion commentator Amber Jane Butchart pointed out that, since the turn of the Millenium, workers in the creative and media industries had used dress codes that could be worn in or out of work, for example, a suit jacket with T-shirt and jeans.
But she added: “We have seen this spread as we’ve moved into the ‘Tweenties’, and more and more industries are rejecting the formality of suits in favour of a combination of office and casual wear.”
The research was commissioned by budget fashion retailer, TK Maxx, along with cancer charity, Cancer Research UK, to help promote its ‘Give Up Clothes for Good’ campaign.
The campaign, which calls on members of the public to give unwanted clothing to raise money for charity, was first launched in 2004. It has collected £10 million to date, but hopes to raise a further £2.5 million this year.
