As I'm currently in professional school, I'm wondering if all those "professional standards" we're supposed to uphold really hold any water. I really want to dye my hair pink and green, but my mother says she wouldn't want to be treated by a pink'n'green haired doctor.

So my question to you is: Would you trust a doctor/lawyer/counselor/other public professional with your health/money/life if they had weird hair, or body piercings or any other kind of non-conventional adornment?

Do you think that professionals should have to adhere to certain standards in dress/appearance if they work with the public, especially in public institutions like hospitals?

-- Anonymous, April 19, 2000

Answers

Hey, I wouldn't even trust a third of my "conservative" appearing medical school classmates, but that's a different story. Things like hair color and body piercings shouldn't matter, but they do. Especially in a field like medicine. My advice is to wait until you're in private practice, then you won't have to deal with any unwanted comments/attention from your attending. Or (even worse) the dean! Well, I say that, but maybe you should wait until all your loans are paid off before going the pink & green route...

On the other hand, you only live once, right?

-- Anonymous, April 20, 2000

I don't know why, but I think I'd feel more comfortable around someone who had weird hair...

-- Anonymous, April 20, 2000

Having worked in a corporate environment for a while now, my take is this... it shouldn't matter, but it still does. If all your colleagues also have green hair, then you'll look odd without it. But if all your colleagues are wearing grey suits then the same rule applies.

Nobody is going to fire you for having green hair. But nobody is going to feel you're an important part of their team if you can't fit into their green hair/grey suit culture.

But you shouldn't change what you are for a company. You're far better off changing companies.

-- Anonymous, April 20, 2000

I suppose I'm uniquely suited to answer this question, given that I've been a professional with purple, orange, and radioactive ketchup hair.

I played it safe. I don't go to court (well, I didn't use to -- more on this in a future journal entry), and I figured that any of those colors could be covered over with dark brown at least temporarily if I unexpectedly had a court appearance scheduled. I don't see clients for the most part -- out of the 300+ people I've represented in the past five years, I've met exactly two of them.

It definitely affects the way your colleagues think of you, though, if you work with an older group. My hair is its natural color now and I dress in the most boring fashion imaginable, but everyone always thinks I'm five years younger than I actually am, I get a lot of slacker jokes, and I get clerical work. I do not think these things are completely unrelated to the way I used to look and dress. (Note that I also work in an extremely casual office, where other people wear jeans and Birkenstocks.)

There is a new lawyer on staff who is much younger than I am and has much less experience. She came in on her first day dressed in a suit; I came in on my first day in a suit, but with purple hair (it was brown in my interview). She still wears suits a lot of the time; I was in combat boots by week three.

She gets much more interesting, complex, and varied assignments than I ever got, despite the fact that our starting credentials were very similar. Again, I don't think these things are unrelated.

So don't assume that it won't make a difference, because it probably will. You just have to decide how much you care. Do you care enough about the political side of your job to stifle your creativity in this particular way? That's up to you. There will be a trade-off, though.

There is another consideration, as well: on the few occasions that I've gone into court, I have been indistinguishable from your average young Republican. I do the navy blue suit, Italian pumps, minimal jewelry and lipstick, professional hair thing. I think it would be irresponsible of me to risk antagonizing a judge or a jury and prejudicing them against my client, just because I want to look a little different.

-- Anonymous, April 20, 2000

Hell, I just shaved my BEARD off for a job interview; it's a foregone conclusion that, here in stuck-in-the-50's Happy Days Brady Bunch Middle America (Saint Paul), green hair would have probably caused me to not make the grade.

As far as trusting others, I think I'd have to say that it depends on the circumstances: If I'm talking to someone who's supposed to be dispassionate and impersonal, I want to see traditional business dress, but if I need to talk to somebody who actually gives a rat's ass about me or my problem, I would rather talk to somebody who cares enough about their own sense of style to break free from those standards.

So: Lawyers, surgeons, accountants, no green hair. Counselors, physical therapists, and other people I want to be friends with, green hair ok.

-- Anonymous, April 20, 2000

"So my question to you is: Would you trust a doctor/lawyer/counselor/other public professional with your health/money/life if they had weird hair, or body piercings or any other kind of non-conventional adornment?"

No.

-- Anonymous, April 20, 2000

I would definately trust a doctor or nurse with crazy hair, but I think if it were a modification that I would do myself, I would trust them more. Does that make sense? If I could see myself getting that pierced or dying my hair that color, I would be like "cool".

But the average joe america probably would be offended and think that you are some sort of weird punk kid. Don't let that discourage you, though!

-- Anonymous, April 20, 2000

I think you could probably get away with it in school (but then, I don't know if you'd want to risk jeaopordizing your standing in professional school) more than in the Real World. If you want to be a doctor who works with punk teens in a free downtown clinic or something, I bet they'd love you. But if you were a regular professional in all respects except your piercings or green hair, I think the ordinary people who would typically go to you would find it unprofessional. Personally, I have tragus piercings. A little visible piercing would make me biased *towards* someone. But 20 large-gauge facial piercings or koolaid-dyed hair would probably make me hesitate.

I'm wondering, actually, what to do about my tragus piercings. I'm out of school, working a job where nobody cares, but I'm thinking of becoming a librarian. Could a librarian get away with a couple of discreet trags rings? I guess they're obvious enough that kids ask me if they hurt, once in a while. I really don't want to get rid of them but I dont' think I want them badly enough to make a stand or lose an opportunity.

I guess 'dress code', unspoken or no, is the operative concept here. I dislike being told what to do or wear, but sometimes I can see the point.

-- Anonymous, April 20, 2000

If they didn't wear clothes that clashed with the hair I say go for it... sure, why not.

-- Anonymous, April 20, 2000

Another thought: if you're the kind of free spirited person who doesn't like to wear a suit or follow a dress code, you will probably be unhappy working in an environment where that's not acceptable, or with clients who feel the way Jim feels. Once you become more established in your profession, you'll be able to get away with more, choose your clientele, work on your own in a looser environment.

My theory has always been that you don't get to dress like the crazy lady until you've proven yourself, but when I was 24 I didn't think I was particularly interested in proving myself. Some days I wish I'd paid more attention to these things (and not chosen a job because of the dress code, which I confess I sort of did). Some days I just wish I worked in a coffee shop.

-- Anonymous, April 20, 2000

I'm trying to remember on what program within the last month I caught a bit about a woman physician who dressed sexy and wore mini skirts. It didn't seem to bother her patients as I remember. She did have her own practice though. Given the choice, and if they had equal credentials, etc., I would probably choose a less flamboyant doctor for myself. She swore she found mini skirts very comfortable. Humpf!

-- Anonymous, April 20, 2000

Well, I certainly would not " NOT TRUST" a professional because of their hair color; but I may become terribly distracted by unusual facial piercing. [And you know it's so rude to stare but sometimes I wonder about those eyebrow piercing]

One of my Dr.'s had spiky platinum and dark blond hair when I first met her, I though she was awesome at first glance - as it turns out she a fantastic Dr. and I have 100% faith in her. [And I dislike most doctors, sorry had one as father.]

My boss has some serious hang-ups about clothing and *brands*, but that stems from an insecurity complex that brews near clients that own casual wear not less than a $1000 an outfit. Yet, walk around with a certain air that they just *picked up this olde thang from Marshalls*. It's actually read sad to watch a grown women feel pressure to only buy from Saks because she thinks her client might notice her.

A personal favorite of mine is to walk into the Designer Decorator building in the city oozing with confidence in a leather baseball jacket, black jeans and combat boots while making the powder puff, mink coat wearing wannabe *Architectual Digest* snobs feel out of place. But hey, that's just me and it doesn't matter what I wear [politically correct ot not] or how funky my hair is, I'm the same either way and people treat me based on how I feel about myself.

It really has little to do with your clothes or your hair; it has everything to do with how you feel about how you look and how you carry it off. If you feel people should treat you as not respectable because your grooming choices they won't.

Confession: Yep, just like Beth I too wore a proper suit and heels on first my interview. [Oh my, does this make me a total hypocrite? Don't answer that.]

-- Anonymous, April 20, 2000

I think the real question is: Would you trust a professional with green hair, white pasty make-up, a big red nose, funny hat, and floppy shoes?

-- Anonymous, April 20, 2000

One thought comes to mind: lying on that table at the gyno's, with the sheet over your legs... and purple spiky hair moving around underneath it. Professional? Maybe not. Would it get my mind off of what was being poked into me? Oh, hell yes.

-- Anonymous, April 20, 2000

I am torn here, because what I want to be answer, and what my answer really is are two different things, and I hate that.

I admire people who have the courage to dress wildly and do outrageous things with their hair. When my husband and I go to clubs, I really enjoy putting on unusual make-up, and wearing unusual clothes, but on a day-to-day basis I'm total white bread and vanilla.

I worked at a restaurant years ago, and a very large group of people came in to eat that had every color of the rainbow of hair, every tattoo imagineable and a piercing in every possible place between the lot of them. They had a huge bill, and all tipped very generously. They all seemed to have tons of cash in their wallets, and I wondered aloud to a co-worker, "Where do these people work? There are only so many records stores in Atlanta."

I don't know why I think that story has relevence to your question, unless it's to say that even I assumed that they did not have professional careers, and I though they were cool as hell. More narrow minded people than I would have been appalled to see them in public at all. Although I admired their bravery, I would not want to have one of them represent me in court, or give me a physical exam, or fly a plane I was boarded on. It's not that I assume these people aren't smart enough to be up to the challenges, but that I imagine them as flaky, flighty, and a little irresponsible.

The closest I will come to looking unusual is getting a little bold with my hair color, and maybe dressing a tad bit younger than most 30 year old's dress. Oh, and the whole platform shoe thing, yeah, but mainly because I am so damn short. I think I maintain a bland appearance because I assume people will respect me more if I look that way. Maybe they will assume I am smarter than I am, or more responsible than I am. I believe that if I dressed and looked the way the people that came in the restaurant did, that my husband and I would probably be the laughing stock of our street, and my boss would probably not have promoted me, most likely never hired me to begin with. These things matter to me now, and appearance is unfortunately used by most people to make a snap judgement on their capabilities. I would never go to an obese nutritionist, or get my hair cut by someone who had a beehive hairdo with split ends. If my dentist's teeth are rotten, I'm outta there. Not to say those are direct comparisons, but really just that appearances do matter, and there's no way to stop people from getting the wrong first impression if your appearance conflicts with the job you are trying to do.

-- Anonymous, April 20, 2000

I'm torn too. I hope it wouldn't matter to me and I don't think it would. But on the other hand, I have to admit that I feel grumpy when the doctor is wearing street clothes rather than a white coat. It feels like they aren't showing me the courtesy of dressing appropriatly for me - though why that should feel like courtesy, I don't know.

Hair styles feel slightly different because they're sort of more part of the person themself rather than like clothes that one puts on every day and changes throughout the day.

It doesn't make sense but there it is.

-- Anonymous, April 20, 2000

i wouldn't mind going to a doctor or counselor who had green hair or piercings. as a matter of fact, i would probably find it reassuring.

i'm realistic about other people's expectations, though. i probably wouldn't want to be represented in court by a green-haired lawyer--not because i wouldn't trust their skills, but because i know it would influence the judge or jury. and personally, as someone who is fond of piercings and sloppy dressing and weird haircuts, it would be difficult for me to go into a field where i'd be expected to maintain a conservative appearance. like beth said, i don't know how happy i would be working in that kind of environment for long periods of time.

-- Anonymous, April 20, 2000

I'm not torn. If you're not sure whether you can carry off green hair, don't even try. Here's the rule on professional dress, the exception, and the catch. Let me tell you the catch first: If trying to be an individual makes you look immature, you lose.

The rule: Professional uniforms are a sort of trademark -- they tell the consumer what he or she is getting. This law firm just changed to business casual because our iClients were getting put off by the starched white shirts. When I worked at a construction litigation firm, we wore button-downs and conservative ties because those (older, more salt-of-the-earth type) clients expected to see starched white shirts. It doesn't matter what we wear, so long as it meets the client's expectations and "strengthens the brand."

The exception: I worked with a prominent litigation partner at one of the ten top litigation firms who dressed a little outrageously (e.g., shiny green dress with matching shiny green heels, enormous bangle earrings and necklace of egg-sized stones; aggressively tinted, frosted spiky hair). But she had great aesthetic sense and her outfits always came off as a statement of her power: "I dress this way because I'm extraordinary and I want you to know it." The look was part peacock plumage, part suit of armor. It worked

The catch again: If that partner hadn't carried off her statement, she would have lost a lot of credibility -- maybe all of it. Bluntly, green hair tends to say to me "I'm still working on my identity!" Which is fine and legitimate. But if you don't succeed in telling me more, I'll come back to you when you've worked out your issues with parental expectations and I'm sure you want to be a doctor.

-- Anonymous, April 20, 2000

I tend to think a person should dress to suit their clientele or employers - which means that I'd want a lawyer that is representing me in court to dress in a way that doesn't jeopardize the judge or jury's opinion of me or my case - what they wear on their own time is their own business.

Tatoos probably wouldn't faze me one bit - their existance that is. The content of it might. (I worked for a year with a young woman who had a HUGE blue Smurf covering her calf. It was pretty horrifying, and I can't help but wonder how that's going to play a few years down the road. I suspect she'll be wearing a lot of pants or getting it removed.)

Hair color is fixable - it might startle me see a doctor with blue spiky hair, but I try to choose doctors by how well they listen to me, and how knowledgeable they are. I think a blue-haired pediatrician would be great - make the kids laugh and they won't be frightened!

Body piercings in very visible places are tougher, I confess they would put me off in the case of doctors, and I most definitely wouldn't want them representing me to anyone else. That's a prejudice of mine, yes, but one I'm not inclined to work on changing. It doesn't put me off for folks I meet or know on a nonprofessional basis, but then, I'm not depending on them for anything either.

In general, I guess I prefer body modifications that aren't permanent or that can be hidden when they aren't appropriate. Doing so when dealing with me in a professional capacity says that this person takes their relationship with me seriously enough to accomodate themselves to my concerns.

If they are really, really big on self-expression, they probably aren't going to be thrilled working as my representative anyway.



-- Anonymous, April 20, 2000

I think it's far more subversive and entertaining to look normal on the outside - completely non-challenging to conventional modes of appearance - and express yourself in other ways.

I don't put a great deal of stock in individuality of people who go out of their way to look different - a huge neon sign that says "I'm not like you! Look, I'm an individual!" - because more often than not, they're trying too damn hard.

It's the quiet and unassuming ones that are the most intriguing.

I think I'd really question why you want to do this thing, Sofia. You're not a kid anymore and you're entering some form of the medical profession where trust is not only key, but essential. It almost seems as though you're trying to reject your impending move into the adult, non-green haired circles.

If so, you'd probably be better off finding another way to handle the change.

-- Anonymous, April 20, 2000

I'm in a field that doesn't have a dress code as such, but where I feel like I ought to (somehow) create a distinction of some kind between myself and my students.

Unfortunately, the "brand" for small-town academic is: Dockers and dress shirts or jeans and jackets with elbow patches if you're a guy, or anything from bland navy-blue blazers to cardigan+pants sets to loose-fitting flowery dresses if you're a woman. In other words, traditional middle-aged-person "casual" dress.

This dress code conflicts utterly with my not-very-outrageous desire to appear young, hip, and attractive for a while longer. In addition to being a professional "brand", dress is a personal "brand" as well. I want to be visually identified as a young person, and I don't want my individual identity to be entirely subsumed into my professional identity. I'm 31 and single. I don't want to look like a soccer mom. But neither do I want to have green hair to set myself apart from the soccer moms. I've resorted to dressing up--I often wear sharply tailored modern-looking jackets and I look for unique dresses that don't look like they come from Lands End. Lots of dark bright colors and black. No pastels or navy blue. A little more makeup rather than a little less.

I think there's a growing number of people who are somewhere in between finishing college and giving up entirely on making an individual impression; there has to be some way to visually identify ourselves other than green hair, because green hair isn't a correct cue either.

-- Anonymous, April 23, 2000

I agree that looking normal on the outside but being different on the inside is much more subversive than doing something to tell the world "hey, look at me! I'm different!"

-- Anonymous, April 24, 2000

To answer the original question: Yes, I would.

Speaking as a "professional" with bright copper-orange hair (hardly natural), multiple ear piercings (including a helix in each ear), and a wardrobe that's mostly t-shirts and cargo pants; I'd be much more concerned with performance and capability than with physical appearance.

I have say that after reading through this forum, I'm again happy happy happy to be in my field (web development). It seems to me that the "high tech" industry is much less concerned with employee appearance than with employee output. (Same goes for having a college degree vs. having experience.) It's not even an attitude limited to smaller/newer companies.

I used to work for a major *ahem* internet portal company, which was the first place I've worked that had a casual dress code. (The only restriction was on midriff-baring.) On almost a daily basis, I'd see this guy with a pastel pink, blue, and green mohawk.

The place I work now has thousands of employees worldwide, who wear various styles of dress. My manager shaves his head completely and is all of 24 yrs old. His appearance, to many, might seem radical. But here, he's totally accepted in his role because he's proven he can do the job.

I've seen pierced ears, pierced noses, pierced tongues around the building. But, there is a distinct lack of wild hair colors.

-- Anonymous, April 24, 2000