Smart, or a tart?

It seems that dressing for success is a more stressful task than it appears. It might involve a lot of dissection, if you���re a woman, about whether you���re looking smart ��� or sexy.
And if it���s the latter, you might just get the Erin Brockovich reaction that Julia Roberts got in the eponymous movie ��� that you���re a bit of a tart. At least, that���s what a UK bank told its employees in a ���dress for success��� seminar recently, in a note that read, ���Look professional, not fashionable; be careful with perfume; always wear a heel of some sort ��� maximum two inches; always wear some sort of make-up, even if it���s just lipstick...No-nos include ankle chains ��� professional, but not the one you want to be associated with; white high heels; overstuffed handbags; an overload of rings, and double-pierced ears.���
���She looks like she���s dressed for a party���
When young professionals were asked if the ���smartness��� index of a dress was a topic of conversation at their workplace, many said it was. ���There���s always a group in each office that is identified as that of the attention seekers. And this is the group that dresses up really loud,��� says Nandita, who works with an embassy in the city. ���In my office, there are women who prefer red and purple lip colours to nude and natural shades. Trust me, some of them even pout.���
Rachita Kapoor, a call centre employee, says they even have a name for the loud dressers in their office. ���In our profession, we don���t need to look like a million bucks all the time. But there are women who get looks for their wild style of dressing. They walk into office wearing high heeled boots and leather skirts. In our office, we call this group, ���funny girls���, a la Aishwarya���s ���funny guy��� in Dhoom 2,��� she laughs.
Men stay away from a particular kind of woman at the workplace too. Says Abhishek Shukla, who works in a law firm in the UK, ���For men, a girl���s way of dressing up, her make-up and shoes, speak volumes about what is gong on in her head. I stay away from women who wear really high heels because when they go clacking about in office, it is evident that all they are hungry for is attention. Netted tops with a good view of their lingerie teamed up with short skirts and killer heels don���t really make them the most sought after women on the floor.���
���That���s just ���cos they can���t look good!���
The women who do like to dress up nice and sexy for office, however, say that it���s just a case of sour grapes. A BPO employee, who prefers to remain anonymous, says, ���I like wearing low waist trousers and nice tees and shirts to office. It���s my feel good factor. The problem starts when people stare at you. I���m comfortable with what I wear, then why make a fuss about it? But because of people staring, I have to sometimes carry a scarf along so that I can put it on. Once, this very strange woman from another company told me that my company trains women to dress in a way that lures their people to get our work done!���
Aparna Bhalla, a call centre executive, narrates, ���Two years ago, I was doing a part-time job and attending college, so I had a chilled out dressing sense. In my office, there were no strict dress codes, so I wore sleeveless tees too. Once, my team leader asked me to dress up more ���civilly���. I had an argument with her about what she meant by this, to which she said, ���I want to see you in salwar-kameez or shirts���. I think her problem was that she was hugely unattractive and had an issue with most of the other women around her. I mean, she had blasted another girl in my team for having worn heavy earrings, saying, ���Have you came here to attending a wedding?��� She charged me with trying to attract my male colleagues��� attention and I retorted with, ���I���ve never asked for it. And if I do get it, then I think your problem is that you don���t.��� I was reported to the super-boss, but nothing much came of it. It was just an embarrassment for both of us in public.���
(Some names have been changed on request)
(With inputs from Mandvi Sharma and Aparajita Mukherjee)