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What’s a formal dress?

Towards the end of the invitation letter to this columnist for deliver the guest faculty lecture to the Chartered Accountants in Coimbatore, Mr M Ramji, the Director of High Value Consultancy Service, the organisers of the programme, wrote: “Incidentally, as I am requesting the participants to come in a formal dress with tie and shoes, I request the faculty members to also maintain the same decorum.” In another communication, the same director wrote: “As this is a formal programme, I request you to be suitably attired (tie enough).” So, what makes a dress formal? Could a tie alone be regarded as a formal dress? Or, should there be a jacket - a blazer, coat or a full suit? If it is a suit, should it be a two-piece or a three-piece one with a waist coat? And, what is the formal dress for the women? In fact, apparel companies come out with formal trousers and shirts. The texture, style, colour and the fabric — all make a difference. With such an ingredient, the stitched material gives a person a formal look in sharp contrast to the casual look provided by some other dresses like the T-shirts. Even without a tie, these dresses give a definite formal look to the persons. So much so, one could easily make out an executive - junior or senior - from the dress he wears even without the tie. Similar is the case with the formal dress worn by women executives.

An apparel manufacturer told this columnist that nearly 60 per cent of the dress market is accounted for by the formal wears. For regular office work, the formal wear does not necessarily include a tie. But, many executives are seen to be wearing a tie to give a formal look but they shirk a jacket or a coat to avoid the inconvenience while working. Another segment just removes the jacket while working, but their formal dress code includes the jacket. These two factors — dress code and the convenience — make all the difference in a formal wear. If there is a dress code in an organisation, that dress code virtually defines what makes one a formal wear. In short, any dress worn as per the code and for the work is the formal wear for the organisation concerned. Any other dressing pattern is neither acceptable nor formal as far as the employees are concerned. The convenience of dressing is another factor that defines a formal wear. Although a suit and a tie could always be regarded as a formal wear, in a hot country that India is, this is certainly an inconvenient form of dress for work. To that extent, the productivity also goes down. Unless the working atmosphere creates a temperature that neutralises the inconvenience caused by the suit and the connected dress pattern, the very dress would be counter productive. In Australia, this columnist had seen bank managers work in shorts to beat hot weather. By and large, Australians are an informal lot, but allowing their executives to wear a dress that suits the weather rather than a compulsory suit irrespective of weather seems to be the acceptable formal dress code there.

In the Defence forces, the dress code is very specific. Even on those occasions, where a military uniform is not required, the dress code insists the pattern of the dressing for the occasion. Invitations always come with a dress code at the bottom. To that extent, even the non-defence invitees are told clearly what makes a formal wear for the occasion concerned. For instance, a lounge suit is acceptable as a formal wear for almost all the occasions for the non-defence invitees. Likewise, the clubs have their own dress code. Only those which fall within this code is treated as formal and acceptable. Until recently, only a suit or a jacket or blazer with closed neck shirts (with or without tie) was regarded as an acceptable dress for the club. But, of late, they have started accepting the national dress as well. But, in many a case, slippers in any form is not treated formal. Footwears, which close the feet alone, are accepted. This automatically makes the wearer go for the shoes. But, making the professionals getting used to formal wears is part of the training programme. Given the new challenges emerging because of the globalisation, the CAs are forced to work with foreign CA professionals on the one hand and the foreign company executives on the other. In both the cases, if they are not suitably attired as to attract the attention of the parties concerned, they turn out to be odd men out. So, although there are several formal dress in the market, unless the professionals are tuned to wearing them in due regard to the changed circumstances in which they function, they tend to lose their professional order. There are companies which have their own shirts and suits, sarees and salwars which make the dress formal, let alone uniform. Thus, a formal dress is a subjective matter.

- P S Sundar