Dressing like a doctor*

I started this blog at the perfect time since my butt has been sitting in a plane-seat a lot, and there's only so much work and sleep one can do. At my most recent trip to a hospital for a study, I wore casual attire since I normally dress in scrubs. It turns out the study had been cancelled, but this allowed me to talk with the doc about future projects and direction. A very useful talk; except for the end. He mentioned, "You should be mindful of your attire when talking with customers and colleagues."

I'm no style guru, but I dress quite nicely in and out of work. My parents always said, "Don't ever be the least dressed person in a room."  They're referring to formality, not nakedness, although I guess it could apply to nakedness, as well. In academia I dressed like I do in the outside world. Hair done, clean, wrinkle-free casual but formal-enough. On a scale of 1-10 where 10 is what the Obama's wear to the ball, and 1 is a tank and underwear (both with holes), I hover around a 6. At work, I'm slightly higher than business casual (8). Everyone's at a 7 at work, and outside they're usually at a 5 (jeans and a T). But I wonder, if everyone was their own boss (ala academia) would they constantly be rocking the 5 or less?  

That's one thing I dislike about industry. I feel like I'm judged a lot on the way I look, whereas I've regularly seen asst profs wearing shorts. And they still maintain success. What's funny about the industrial attire, too, is my 8 is always covered by a lab coat! I could be naked and no one would notice. Maybe that's what I'll do on my last day here. My friend always calls this the "monkey suit". He/she typically rocks the 3, so they're ultra upset about the industry attire.  They made an interesting point, too, non-PhDs have less freedoms in attire. After this was mentioned I noticed this, as well. Does this mean, as PhDs, we're punished? The salary is higher, but the managerial responsibility is relatively low. Why should we have to dress like business-men/women?

In my introductory posting I should have also wrote that I want to enter the ivory tower because I can dress a little more casual when I feel like it instead of the company "allowing" me to do it on Fridays.  Unless we have a visitor, then 8, here I come.