The Picture of Hard Work

WHEN IT COMES to office attire, individual style is something to be celebrated. Depending on the employer, stiletto pumps, ruffled blouses and form-fitting pencil skirts are acceptable corporate wear. However, there is something special—dare to say, desirable—about those businesses that maintain a traditional, uniformed dress code in a modern corporate culture that encourages individuality. Employees in these kinds of businesses tend to carry a certain decorum and professionalism about them—if not innate, perhaps deriving from their uniforms and what they represent. Think travel, hospitality, fine dining and automobile sales. It’s as if a uniform has the power to transform the most unlikely employees into diplomatic, friendly and convincing ones.

Long gone are the days when a uniform only meant an embroidered polo or piqué shirt paired with a stiff, flat-front pant. “Companies are becoming more innovative in the ways they utilize company uniforms,” noted Missy Garza, marketing coordinator at FeatherLite, Houston, Texas. She said, “jackets, shirts, hats, scarves and many other articles of clothing are being given to employees much more frequently to wear at company events.”

Garza further noted uniforms serve promotional purposes well because they “offer the customer something unique they can actually wear.”

Furthermore, there is something personal about uniforms. “When a customer wears a shirt with a company logo on it, that person clearly feels a special bond or connection with the company,” said Garza. “This person proudly displays the company logo on his/her person and the logo is more likely to be noticed than a smaller item, such as a pen or cup.”

With the rash of businesses being built or expanded all across the country, it goes without saying that many of these businesses are in need of uniforms. Thus, the category is an ever-growing one. Said Garza, “The sales of uniforms [have] increased. If you notice, the number of companies—such as car dealerships, fast food chains, restaurants and retail stores—have grown substantially in recent years, and the majority of them require uniforms.”