Dressing Sense

It was a dull Thursday afternoon on Commercial Street when there wasn’t much crowd and more than half the shops closed for lunch. A young man and a lady in their mid twenties walked into one of the shops and asked to show gift articles. The staff in the shop were reluctant to do so and kept showing something very trivial and uninteresting. The two walked out of this shop and entered another to try their luck. The treatment meted out to them was exactly the same. After similar experiences at a few more shops, they stopped to figure out the reason for such an apathy being shown by the shop owners. They then happened to get a glimpse of themselves in the mirror in front of one such store. It struck them immediately that they both looked like rag pickers and such people are obviously not welcome in such places.
The people in the story happen to be me and my colleague in the year 1987. We were both carrying out research at IISC, Bangalore. One of the staff members in the department was getting married that day and we were given the responsibility of bringing the gift for the RS. 1500/- that was collected. We had set out to Commercial Street on my colleague’s bike and sped fast. As a result our hair was all messed up and we weren’t in great clothes suited for the people who tend to shop at that location.
Some of you might be aware that the dressing sense in most academic / research institutions is one that receives the least attention. You could see people walking around with old faded, sometimes torn, clothes with slippers and most notably – a sling bag to their side. They are a class onto themselves who give higher priority to intellectual capability and do not mind the appearance.
Will such an argument hold good for the corporate sector? Am sure all are aware of the answer.
Circumstances apart, one is required to be dressed for the occasion. That is to say, one is not welcome with a gorgeous outfit, with all the finery and associated accessories, at workplace nor is the reverse acceptable. Every situation and every event has an unwritten dress code and it is imperative that one abides by it so as to avoid being the odd person out. It is to be remembered that this dress sense and the implicit dress code is different across different cultures. However, if suffices to say that, one needs to keep the situation and the others in mind while choosing an apparel, the ground rule being – simple and graceful.
While I have given the ground rules, it is necessary that the same is perceived by all. One is even expected to dress as per one’s social status. Would like to share a story to that effect.
After my successful completion of PhD form IISc, I was awarded the JSPS Fellowship at the University of Tokyo by the Department of Science and Education, Government of Japan. This was the year 1993. While on my way to avail of this, I presented myself at the Business Class counter of the Singapore Airlines at Chennai airport. The airlines guy at the counter very politely showed me to the economy class counter. I was the only one in the queue and so it was obvious that he was indicating to me. However, I stood my place and waited for him to issue me a boarding pass. He gestured about thrice to me and finally took notice of the color of the pouch that held the tickets in place. He was totally embarrassed when he realized his mistake. The fellowship entitled me to travel business class. He quickly covered up his wrong estimate and did the needful. He even accepted 40 kgs of my luggage, though the official limit was only 30. He then walked me down to the recreation space for the raffles’ class members and ensured that someone attended to me immediately. He went out of his way to cover up the embarrassment that he had caused. In this case, I was very neatly dressed and very presentable, unlike the earlier episode. However, one travelling business class is expected to be very modern and exhibit their economic status very explicitly, which I learnt after seeing the other business class passengers. In this case too, I failed to meet the expectations. Probably, I would never!!!