by Margie Kelly
31 March 2008

It’s 1972. My husband and I exit the elevator at the top of the Hyatt Regency and there’s a woman taking off her dress. The woman and her husband, visitors to Atlanta, had been denied their dinner reservations because the man was wearing a turtleneck sweater with his tweed jacket instead of the required coat and tie. The woman protested that she could be served half naked but not her tie-less mate. The manager insisted their dress code was carved in stone. Security was called and the “etiquette police” showed the couple to the closest exit. They had not dress appropriately for the occasion.

Last week an incident involving blue jeans being worn by a senator in the well of the Georgia Senate frayed one lawmaker’s ability to tend to business. When is it appropriate or inappropriate to wear blue jeans? In my opinion and that of fellow business etiquette experts, proper dress depends upon the situation. You must make yourself aware of any dress code and then dress for the occasion.

Dorothea Johnson, founder of The Protocol School of Washington® states, “Across America in social settings we’re seeing more and more men in the uniform of coat, tie and blue jeans. Times have certainly changed with regard to our dress code but in my opinion wearing blue jeans on the Georgia Senate floor is not appropriate business attire.” Pamela Eyring, PSOW Director concurs, “Before you wear blue jeans to work, I recommend knowing your corporate culture or you could cause career sabotage!”

I do find some wiggle room here because within the Georgia Senate Rules, according to a Senate spokesperson, the rules require “appropriate dress” and this is not further defined in a more specific dress code. They think the individual person should know what’s appropriate. Business attire has changed so much that people simply don’t know what is appropriate and there are few well defined dress codes.

So when may I wear my blue jeans?

Our friend, a very successful Atlanta financial advisor, bought his favorite blue jeans at The Dollar Store. This man cuts a fine figure as he travels the world, entertains clients at his beach home and even slips into his Buckhead office on the weekend wearing those jeans. But come Monday morning the jeans stay in the closet and the Brooks Brothers suit marches to the front line.

Any person dealing with the public who doesn’t know how to dress appropriately for countless situations will jeopardize his or her career. Is this shallow? Yes. It’s not fair that something so artificial should be scrutinized so closely but that is life in today’s business arena.

The financial advisor is a customer servant. Wearing those jeans while conducting business with his client in the office or over lunch would be disrespectful to his client. His casual dress could imply a far too casual attitude about looking after his client’s investments.

Some churches offer contemporary services and the pews are full of denim clad worshippers. Down home at my mother’s Adgateville Baptist Church the blue jeans crowd mixes most amiably with the Sunday dresses and the coats and ties of the older, more conservative members.

Were we offended by the blue jeans wearing physician who showed up on Thanksgiving morning to set our son’s broken arm? In a word…no. Was I shocked by the web site developer’s jeans? I was not but I was amused that he commented on his attire as being part of his techno-world at flyte new media. His manners were excellent. The man began our visit with a good, firm handshake and a proper thank you e-mail arrived post-meeting.

Governor Purdue should not have packed his blue jeans for Beijing and the governor’s entourage should have been advised in great detail about proper behavior as they represent our state in another country.

We live in a blue jeans world most of the time but manners still matter. Business etiquette is not just a list of rules. It’s about being considerate, respectful and honest with others no matter how they are dressed or how they behave towards you.

I quizzed our 33 year old son, who spends most of his working hours in jeans, about his opinion of the Georgia State Senate brouhaha. He agreed with me that the senator who was so offended handled the situation poorly. Perhaps the Senate Rules do need to be much more specific regarding their dress code. Having the rules carved in stone will keep blue jeans and even turtlenecks out of the Senate’s well. We want our legislators to deal with far more pressing issues within our state.