What you wear. How you work.

In my office the suit is dead! I tell those who walk through the door that we are all professionals but our professionalism does not always manifest itself in high-powered suits. Perhaps it is because our field is creative that allows me to get away with pink circle skirts and a black tucked in T-shirt.

But research just published confirms my thoughts about dressing down at work. Globally, 23% of firms have a dress down policy for at least one day of the week compared with 5% in 1997. This seems to be far cry from the uniformed conformity of 1980's power dressing or the “let’s totter on our high-heels look” in the early 1990s.

Some call the new Friday style the 'Third Wardrobe'. In London, Arthur Andersen told its 7,000 UK employees that they no longer had to wear a suit. Like many other big firms in that city, they had been operating "dress down Fridays" for some time and decided this year to give their staff the option to dress down permanently. No to be outdone, other big global firms such as Credit Suisse First Boston, Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley have since followed this lead. Notice that they are all in the traditionally conservative financial world.

But why dress down, especially when the right label on a suit can indicate one’s status in a firm? My guess is that in many firms, when employees come dressed in the way that matches their sense of who they are, they feel more expressive. For instance, I get the best work from my graphic designer when he wears relaxed clothing; my assistant is also happier. And I’ve found that employees work longer hours when they feel relaxed, “When I am allowed to wear smart designer jeans and ballet shoes. I'm more comfortable," said one associate. But I like this comment best from Colin McLatchie Chief Operating Officer of an equitable asset management firm who said, "if you cannot trust your employees to dress themselves what can you trust them to do?"

Of course, it is unlikely that the business suit will become entirely extinct any time soon. It has its own special place in civilization. It is a signifier that business is taking place and that life is essentially compartmentalised into commercial and private spaces.

But what a surprise it was for me when from the minute I announced a dress down policy and saw one of my assistants, who is extremely conservative and very much I thought like a drone, show up to work in smart orange skirt and red blouse with a orange mid-heeled shoe. Thereafter, I thought that there is value in this thing called self expression, this is after I cursed myself for ever having called her a drone.

Top five things learnt from attending a Canada East IABC regional meeting

Observations form the Canada East regional conference

1. Sometime listening is the best form of communication
2. Strategise. Decide outcomes. Engage members. Measure = a successful chapter
3. Not all communicators communicate well
4. Reserve judgement until you have the full picture ; you just might end up with egg in your face
5. The Caribbean needs its own region

Does the suit make the woman

Sitting in the lobby of Angostura after long after IABC T&T's Wine and Cheese had finished, my colleagues Wynelle Gregorio of Clico, Carlon Kirton of CIB and I were shooting the breeze. We were talking about everything and nothing, all at the same time. It was the kind of conversation I like best though, there's no agenda, dialogue about the personal as well as the professional and what seems like all the time in the world.

During what seemed like an endless chat we stumbled across the topic of conforming and the perception that you are a professional if you dressed a certain way and looked a particular way. Think suits, high-heeled pumps and dark stockings. Somehow that irked me. I was none of the above and it got me thinking was I unprofessional because I wear my hair afro-styled? Is the label applicable, because although I have numerous suits in my closet I tend to shun them as I would the plague.

I must end all this by declaring that I run a very successful PR firm, have pioneered several large scale national projects and have a slew of clients that are not only the best in the region but the best in the world. And I got here sans the trappings of ‘the right look’.

What do you think? How much do you have to conform in order to do well in the professions you hold? I'd love to hear from you.