Does What You Wear Really Affect How Seriously People Take You?

A few weeks ago I was speaking at a networking event. While I was looking around the room I noticed that not everyone was dressed in the usual business uniform. Some women were really relaxed in what they were wearing. Casual even. A few had real personality in their outfits. Colour, interesting pieces, just their own thing going on. That got me thinking about dress code, specifically business casual for women.

Not once did I look at those women and question their ability to run their business. I didn’t trust them less for it. I didn’t question whether they knew what they were talking about or how credible they were. If anything the room felt more real, more human, and more like a group of actual people rather than a collection of corporate suits.

It got me thinking about what business casual for women means now because there is a rule about how we dress that a lot of women in business are still following without question.

It’s that we have to dress professionally, look the part, and if you don’t people won’t take you seriously.

Where did the rules on business attire for women come from?

I know a stylist who truly believes that if you are in a professional environment you should dress professionally.

In some contexts it is absolutely right.

A solicitor in court. A banker in a high stakes client meeting. That sort of profession comes with some expectations around how the person will present themselves.

In those environments the way you dress reflects the seriousness of the role, the expectations of the client, the gravity of what is at stake. That makes sense to me.

But those environments are not every environment and the mistake so many women make (or rather that so many women are told to make) is taking the rules from those spaces and applying them everywhere.

Women’s business attire rules have come from a different era. They came from very male dominated workplaces and women were told to follow it if they wanted to be taken seriously. Most of us have just done that without question for years.

Where is the line on business casual for women?

Smart casual has been perfectly acceptable for men in business for a long time. Nobody questions whether a man in a well fitted jumper or polo shirt and trousers is credible. They have figured out how to dress smartly without needing to wear a tie.

Women are still navigating this because it’s so much harder for us. Dress too casually and you are not professional. Dress too boldly and you are unprofessional. Dress too formally and you are trying too hard. There is no winning.

This is just another version of the same pressure women carry in business. Conform…. Shrink…. Earn your place by looking the part…..

It is exhausting.

Here is the distinction that I use – a dress code is imposed on you but personal style at work is yours. One is about compliance and the other is about identity.

Personal style vs dress code for women is not a trivial conversation. It reflects how we show up, our confidence for the day, where our focus is, and who we are showing up for.

And did you realise that often we are implying dress codes when the space we’re in never actually asked for one? I’ve had plenty of jobs where I’ve dressed a certain way because I thought it was expected of me, when all the staff handbook has said is “smart” or “smart casual”. That’s open to interpretation, yet I took it to be the age old way of dressing smartly, rather than choosing to bring my own personality into it.

What personal style at work is really saying

There is a difference between putting on a costume to be taken seriously and wearing something that genuinely feels like you.

When you dress like yourself you show up differently. You have a different energy, a different presence.

Does what you wear affect your confidence at work? Absolutely it does.

The key is whether you are dressing for yourself or for someone else’s approval. Those are two completely different things and they feel completely different when you are getting dressed in the morning.

Dressing with personality at work is not about being loud or edgy, it’s about being intentional with what you choose to wear. The details that make it yours – the colour, the jewellery, the nails, the little touches that people would recognise you for. They are the signals to others (and yourself) that say “I know who I am”.

Your appearance is part of your authentic personal brand and as much as I dislike the word “authentic” to describe women in business on this occasion I’ll use it. Your personal brand as a business owner is absolutely about authenticity.

The trust piece

Back to that networking room…. Those women in their relaxed, individual outfits did not lose credibility with me. Not one bit.

For me, trust is built on authenticity, how they come across, consistency in what they say, and competence in what they offer. It is not based on whether or not someone is wearing a blazer.

The most stylish, distinctive women in business are often the most memorable and the most trusted. They are recognisable, and real, and you know who they are before they open their mouth.

Can women dress casually and still be taken seriously? Yes. Absolutely.

Your clients do not hire you because of your outfit. They hire you because of how you make them feel and what you can do for them.

We have spent far too long confusing looking the part with being the part.

Dressing for confidence at work

Learning how to dress authentically as a woman in business is not a style question. It is more a confidence question. When women start dressing for themselves, even in small ways, something changes for them. They walk differently, talk more positively about themselves, charge what they’re worth, and simply approach the day more like they mean it, and then this positivity ripples out further and further.

This is where it connects directly to leadership. You cannot show up fully and you cannot lead with real presence if you are not being yourself.

You cannot build an authentic personal brand in someone else’s costume.

You do not have to dress the part. You just have to dress like you.

Two lines there for you to copy, pin up on your wardrobe door, and read before you next get dressed for the day. Know your context and respect the rooms where formal dress code genuinely matters, but outside of that know that personality is not unprofessional.

If this resonated come and join me in my new membership – The Rise Community. Register for one of the founding member spaces at https://terripugh.com/the-rise-waitlist-may-2026/