Wall Street’s Changing Dress Code A Trend Unlikely to End Anytime Soon
For decades, the image conjured up by many when trying to think of the quintessential Wall Street banker is someone in a buttoned-up shirt with a dark suit over it and an understated tie rounding out the ensemble. It’s the unofficial uniform of the Wall Street banker, and it’s a look that has stuck with good reason.
It seemed as though that classic look was beyond tweaking or altering, but the events of recent times have shown that such is not the case.
Earlier this month, multi-national investment bank Goldman Sachs made a significant change to its long-standing dress code.
Per a report from Reuters, an internal memo written by chief executive officer David Solomon informed employees of the implementation of a “firm wide flexible dress code.”
According to Solomon, the tweaking of the long-standing company dress code is a response to the “changing nature of workplaces generally in favor of a more casual environment.”
A Wide Array of Reactions
The revelation that Goldman Sachs, one of the hallowed institutions of Wall Street, would suddenly upend tradition caused quite a commotion in the financial world. Reactions to the change varied quite significantly.
According to The Cut, one of the prevailing reactions to the memo among bankers is confusion. To be more specific, they are looking for more clarification regarding what can now be considered as good workplace attire at Goldman Sachs.
The issue stems in part from the vagueness of Solomon’s message.
Despite announcing that the investment firm would adopt a more “flexible” dress code, Solomon failed to detail exactly what that change would entail and how it would specifically affect the workers at Goldman Sachs. Instead of offering solid sartorial guidelines moving forward, the memo stated that Goldman Sachs employees “know what is and is not appropriate for the workplace.”
The memo did also encourage employees to dress up “in a manner that is consistent” with the long-standing expectations of their clients.
Poking fun at the news of the new dress code garnering headlines, the firm’s official Twitter account recently conducted a survey asking respondents to pick from one of four clothing options for employees.
Apparently also in a joking mood, respondents to the survey overwhelmingly chose the hoodie & sneakers option over the suit, the Midtown Uniform, and the Athleisure ensembles. Arguably the most casual of the options included in the survey, Goldman Sachs is not expected to sign off on employees strolling into company headquarters wearing hoodies and corresponding sneakers.
Some people were also unsurprised by the investment bank’s decision to move off of their more formal dress code.
A report from the Associated Press features comments from Robert Burke, CEO of retail and fashion consulting firm Robert Burke Associates. While many people may think that Wall Street entities such as Goldman Sachs have long held firm to their clothing principles, Burke astutely points out that the aforementioned company was actually lagging behind its contemporaries in that regard.
Burke said, “Goldman was one of the last holdouts of a more formal dress code.”
An Unprecedented Change to the Dress Code? Not Exactly
Along with highlighting the fact that Goldman Sachs was one of the last major companies to still expect their bankers to walk into the office in buttoned-up shirts and formal suits, he also explained that the shift towards employees wearing more relaxed forms of clothing in the workplace began nearly three decades ago.
According to Burke, the move to more relaxed clothing in the workplace really started back in the 1990s when companies started having “Casual Fridays.”
Obviously though, dressing down once a week was not enough to convince major players on Wall Street to abandon the suit and tie requirements that have been entrenched into their culture. For a truly significant shift to take place, more influential figures needed to champion the cause of wearing comfortable, casual attire to the office, even if they were doing so unwittingly.
Those unwitting champions turned out to be power players hailing from a different industry.
When tech mavens such as Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and Apple’s Steve Jobs took the stage to talk about their latest ideas and planned innovations, it suddenly seemed not to matter at all that they were wearing shirts, and turtlenecks, and jeans because the people in attendance were simply focused on what they were saying.
In the cases of Zuckerberg and Jobs, clothes were not making the men. It was working the other way around as they were turning their favorite articles of clothing into acceptable workplace attire.
Notably, the movers and shakers of Silicon Valley were not the only ones adopting a more relaxed approach to the dress code.
A report from NPR notes that companies such as Virgin Atlantic and Target have also made recent changes to their own company dress codes. Both companies have implemented tweaks to their clothing guidelines that are designed to make their employees feel more comfortable.
Even in the financial sector, dress code changes were taking place long before Solomon authored that now famous memo. Back in 2016, JPMorgan Chase eased up on its dress code by allowing employees to forego the suits and ties and go with slacks and polos instead, per an earlier report from The New York Post.
This is also not the first time that Goldman Sachs itself has changed up its dress code. In 2017, the investment firm allowed employees in its technology and digital division to wear less formal attire to work.
Last year, the Society for Human Resource Management surveyed employers across the United States regarding the benefits they provided to their workers. As it turns out, dress code benefits were already trending up then as well.
According to the results of the survey, 62 percent of employers allowed their workers to come to work in more casual attire at least once per week. That figure is up by six percentage points from where it was back in 2014.
The survey also revealed that 50 percent of companies sign off on their employees dressing down for work. That mark is also up significantly from where it was back in 2014. To be more specific, the mark is up by 18 percentage points from where it was in 2014 — a substantial increase.
Employers are also more open to letting their employees wear casual clothing to work depending on the season. 34 percent of employers are okay with that practice and that figure increased by 15 percentage points from where it was in 2014.
Goldman Sachs truly is not pushing forth anything new with regards to their dress code change. They are merely catching up to a trend that nearly passed them by.
The Reasons for Change
Influence has most certainly played a role in the alteration of corporate dress codes. As noted earlier, heads of tech giants showed that casual wear could be acceptable and even become iconic attire for people in power and many chose to follow in their footsteps.
Solomon himself has taken a liking to dressing down whenever he takes up his DJ work and he’s also been spotted not wearing a tie even at formal functions.
A more interesting take on why dressing down is becoming more acceptable on Wall Street was put forth by The Telegraph. The site notes that the cyclical nature of the financial world could be influencing this recent trend of more casual attire being pushed to the forefront.
The site adds that the trends in dress codes could be foreshadowing significant rises and falls in the stock market. The article goes on to point out that changes in dressing guidelines have already predicted economic downturns in the past. Whether that is the case again here remains to be seen.
New dress codes may also be effectively leveling the playing field for men and women who are now tasked with figuring out what defines acceptable workplace attire in a world where suits and ties are no longer expected to be elements of the norm.
As that earlier AP report notes, women in the financial sector have had a tougher time trying to figure out what constitutes appropriate workplace attire because they cannot simply default to wearing a suit and tie whenever they are struggling to come up with an answer.
The emergence of new companies focused on providing women with suitable workplace attire has helped alleviate that problem to a certain extent and now, they will likely be contacted by men who are also trying to work out what business casual means after leaning on suits and ties for so long.
One more likely reason for the dress code change is simply the need to adjust to the new reality of the workforce. Solomon hinted at this himself in the memo sent out to Goldman Sachs employees when he mentioned the “changing nature of workplaces.”
That part of the memo is believed to be a reference to Goldman Sachs skewing younger with their employee base. Over 75 percent of Goldman Sachs’ employees were born after 1981, putting those workers squarely into the Gen-Z and Millennial generations.
The dress code change is seen as a way for Goldman Sachs to continue to lure in younger workers who can set the company up for more success in the future. It may also be a necessary step for companies like Goldman Sachs and other financial giants to take as failing to appeal to the younger workforce could mean losing plenty of top talent to different industries.
What They Will Be Wearing
The dawning of an age with a new dress code has arrived for Goldman Sachs, but there are still important questions that need to be answered. For instance, employees are still wondering what they are expected to wear to work now.
The Twitter poll the company put up may be pointing to a possible alternative. Though it didn’t gain the most support on Twitter, the outfit known as the Midtown Uniform has still turned into a kind of go-to look for many professionals.
The Midtown Uniform is made up of a button-down shirt, a vest, and a pair of slacks. The comfort provided by the Midtown Uniform is believed to have broad appeal especially among younger male bankers.
Chris Bossola, the CEO of clothing and lifestyle store The Need Supply Co., speculated that the men of Goldman Sachs could simply reach for chinos and plaid shirts to take the place of their formal attire.
For what it’s worth, Solomon believes that his employees will exercise their better judgment when it comes to putting together their new outfits. It is only a matter of time before the employees at Goldman Sachs show whether the changes to the dress code are going to work long-term.
