What You Wear to Work Just Might Destroy Your Career
If you just can’t seem to get ahead a work you might want to take a look at yourself in the mirror.
A new survey suggests that the way you dress at work may be distracting your employer and ruining your chances for advancement.
According to a survey of more than 600 white-collar workers by digital media company Captivate Network, women may want to reconsider showing off cleavage, wearing short skirts and parading around the office in see-through clothing.
Men, meanwhile, are not impressing the ranks of upper management or co-workers by showing up to work wearing shorts and flip-flops. In fact, 55 percent of women said they find them distracting on men and 46 percent of senior management say they are distracting on women.
The survey also found that 87 percent of senior managers claim exposed cleavage is a big distraction, while 76 percent say that wearing short skirts should never occur in the workplace.
Other unacceptable fashion choices include bare legs, spaghetti straps, tight clothing and the ever-so-popular trend of tattoos, which 61 percent of those over the age of 50 said are a distraction in the workplace.
However, if you happen to be all inked up, don’t let the man get you down -- nearly 67 percent of senior management ages 35 to 49 said tattoos were acceptable.
"Our survey results show that office attire can be a major distraction for some employees," said Mike DiFranza, president of Captivate Network. "Companies must navigate the shifting definition of what’s acceptable to wear in the workplace to minimize distractions without turning employees off with overly stringent policies."