TrueValueMetrics ... Impact Accounting for the 21st Century

Date: 2025-07-03 Page is: DBtxt003.php txt00028781

Original article:
A Wall Street Dressing Down: Always. Be. Casual. As workers return to the financial district, longstanding dress codes have been relaxed. Right now, almost anything goes. Even jeans. Written by Lananh Nguyen and Melodie Jeng Photographs by Melodie Jeng Produced by Brent Murray Aug. 2, 2021 The suits are returning to the office. In chinos. And sneakers. And ballet flats. As Wall Street workers trickle back into their Manhattan offices this summer, they are noticeable for their casual attire. Men are reporting for duty in polo shirts. Women have stepped down from the high heels once considered de rigueur. Ties are nowhere to be found. Even the Lululemon logo has been spotted. The changes are superficial, but they hint at a bigger cultural shift in an industry where well-cut suits and wingtips once symbolized swagger, memorialized in popular culture by Gordon Gekko in the movie “Wall Street” and Patrick Bateman in the film adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis’s novel “American Psycho.” Even as many corporate workplaces around the country relaxed their dress codes in recent years, Wall Street remained mostly buttoned up. Image Credit... Image Image Credit... Advertisement SKIP ADVERTISEMENT Image Image Image Like so much else, that changed in the pandemic. Big banking firms, including Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup, have realized that their employees are loath to reach for their corporate attire, after more than a year of working from home dressed mainly in loungewear, or Zoom-appropriate shirts on top and sweatpants below. As banks get their workers back to their desks — even as some other companies have paused such plans — senior executives are easing up on dress codes as a concession to their weary staffs. Image “It’s a little bit more relaxed than what I anticipated,” said Melissa Cortes, a legal analyst who recently joined Goldman. “I’m wearing sneakers right now, and people are wearing jeans with blazers or shirts,” said Ms. Cortes, who sported a white jacket, black wide-leg trousers and white sneakers on Wednesday. Advertisement SKIP ADVERTISEMENT Image Image Image Image Credit... Although banks haven’t sent out formal memos, their informal message is that returning employees should feel free to dress appropriately for the occasion — and that during a summer with few in-person client meetings, more relaxed attire is permissible. Jeans have even shown up on trading floors, and bankers have a wealth of opportunities to spring a familiar workplace joke: What’s with the tie? Got a job interview? Will You Know if Your Co-workers Are Vaccinated? Tell Us About It. Aug. 2, 2021 This being Wall Street, casual doesn’t necessarily mean cheap, of course. Many of the sneakers, shirts, watches and other more laid-back accessories spotted in Lower Manhattan last week cost several hundred dollars or more. Advertisement SKIP ADVERTISEMENT Formal dress codes began to erode in the 1990s when Casual Fridays were introduced in workplaces, said Daniel Delis Hill, a fashion historian. “I was working at Merrill Lynch in 1999 when the big shock came from the C.E.O. that brokers could now wear business casual on Fridays,” Mr. Hill wrote in an email. “There was a long list of dos and don’ts, though,” he said — jeans were definitely not allowed. Image Despite periodic efforts to relax dress codes — including in 2019, when Goldman made suits and ties optional — banking had been one of the last bastions of formal work wear, alongside law firms. And in some quarters of Wall Street, such as hedge funds, the code has typically been more permissive. But in banking, the strict hierarchies were embedded in unwritten fashion rules. Colleagues would ridicule those wearing outfits considered too flashy or too shabby for the wearer’s place in the corporate food chain. Superiors were style guides, but wearing something swankier than one’s boss was considered a faux pas. An expensive watch could be seen as a mark of success, an obnoxious flex, or both. Advertisement SKIP ADVERTISEMENT Image Image Image These days, some bosses have ditched luxury timepieces in favor of Apple Watches and traded suits for short sleeves and khaki, making it tricky for subordinates to know what to wear in order to look the part. JPMorgan’s chief executive, Jamie Dimon, recently wore a black polo shirt for a TV interview; Goldman’s boss, David Solomon, D.J.s in T-shirts on weekends; and Rich Handler, the head of Jefferies, posted a photo of himself sporting a henley tee on Twitter. At an event welcoming employees back to the office in July, Citigroup’s Jane Fraser — the only female boss of a major Wall Street bank — kept her signature look: a jewel-toned dress. Image Advertisement SKIP ADVERTISEMENT Image Image Image Image Image “The days of people having to wear the uniform of a coat, tie and suit are over,” said John Florsheim, a fifth-generation scion of the namesake brand, known for its leather-soled dress shoes for men and boys. “It’s going to continue to get more comfortable and casual, but people are still going to want to look nice.” Now, 80 percent of the shoes his company designs are casual styles, Mr. Florsheim said, compared with 50 percent before the pandemic. Advertisement SKIP ADVERTISEMENT Image Image Image Another reason banks are doing away with traditional dress codes is talent retention. As Wall Street firms increasingly compete for recruits with technology companies — which are friendlier both to remote work and casual clothing — they are seeking to present a less stuffy image. Many banks are also trying to hire a more diverse cohort. John C. Williams, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and an avowed sneakerhead, said the Fed wanted people to bring their “authentic self” to work because personal style was an important part of valuing all forms of individuality and diversity. Advertisement SKIP ADVERTISEMENT He said he was looking forward to wearing new pairs from his sneaker collection in the office. “When people can be themselves, they do their best work,” he said. Image Image Image Image “There is this urge to break down this idea of what you need to look like to work in banks,” said Alison Taylor, who teaches courses on professional responsibility at New York University’s Stern School of Business. “It’s such a fraught, unspoken signifier of whether you do or don’t fit in.” Advertisement SKIP ADVERTISEMENT Big lenders vary in their plans to bring staff back to offices. Most of the industry was targeting Labor Day for a full-scale return, although that may be complicated by surging coronavirus cases. Some Wall Street employees have been working out of their offices for months, but many returned only recently for the first time since the outbreak began. Image Image Image Image It felt like the first day of school, some bankers said. They wanted to look good in front of colleagues, yet couldn’t bear the thought of wearing dress shoes or heels. Before going in, some checked with friends to see if their choices were in line with the crowd. Advertisement SKIP ADVERTISEMENT Image Image Image Image One item that has been popular among Wall Street men is Lululemon’s ABC pant, which the athleisure company markets as a wrinkle-resistant, stretchy polyester garment suitable for “all-day comfort.” (The company put its highly recognizable logo on a tab near the pocket to make the pants look less like workout gear.) Untuckit, the maker of short-hemmed button-downs, saw a jump in sales as vaccination rates across the United States rose in April and May, said Chris Riccobono, the company’s founder. Customers have flocked to its two stores in Manhattan, seeking still-sharp shirts made from breathable fabric. “What’s amazing is these guys were wearing suits in the middle of summer, walking the streets of New York, coming off the train” before the pandemic, Mr. Riccobono said. “It took corona for the guys who never wore anything but suits to realize, ‘Wait a second.’” A version of this article appears in print on Aug. 2, 2021, Section B, Page 1 of the New York edition with the headline: The End of Wingtips?. Order Reprints \| Today’s Paper \| Subscribe Read 148 Comments Share full article 148 Explore Our Business and Tech Coverage Dive deeper into the people, issues and trends shaping the worlds of business and technology. Coal’s Lasting Power: The use of coal has been declining for decades, but many companies still rely on it and other fossil fuels to achieve the high temperatures needed to make their products. Business in China: European companies are finding it increasingly difficult to do business in the country, another sign of how China’s weak domestic economy and opaque regulations are testing even longstanding multinational business ties. Japanese Toilets: Having conquered its home market, the Japanese toilet-maker Toto is selling more bidets in the United States. The company’s president says not even tariffs will halt its advance. Difficulties for Entrepreneurs: At the Small Business Administration, deep staffing cuts and stricter loan terms are making it harder for entrepreneurs to get access to capital, contracts and technical assistance. Related Content More in Business Investors on Edge About a Potential Shadow Fed Chair President Trump is reportedly reviving deliberations about a move that could undercut the influence of Jay Powell, the Fed chair. Why Factories Are Having Trouble Filling Nearly 400,000 Open Jobs A factory that makes copper products in Louisville, Ky. The pool of workers who are willing and able to perform manufacturing tasks in the United States is shrinking. SKIP ADVERTISEMENT Crypto Industry Moves Into the U.S. Housing Market ‘The Better Life Is Out of Reach’: The Chinese Dream Is Slipping Away Their Labubus Are Fake, and They Don’t Care Spotting the differences between a fake Labubu, left, and a real one, right, can sometimes be fairly easy. Editors’ Picks Men, Where Have You Gone? Please Come Back. Do I Need to Subscribe to My Friend’s Substack Newsletter? Why You Should Wait to Renovate Katie Elliott, the vice president of design at Schoolhouse, waited three years before renovating her kitchen. Trending in The Times France Opens Competition to Expand Overcrowded Louvre Authorities Rescue Girl Whose Mother Livestreamed Her Sexual Abuse A Recipe for Doubling Your Stock Returns, Again and Again Lawmakers Tell Rubio to Refrain From Mass Layoffs at State Department 3 Salad Dressings You Should Memorize Buying an Old House in London? Expect a Long List of Repairs. What’s the Future of This Car Feature That ‘Everyone Hates’? They Met at Summer Camp. Now Their Famous Dog Is Stealing Hearts. Did ‘The Bear’ Bounce Back? Sort of, Chef A Runestone That May Be North America’s Oldest Turns Up in a Canada Forest Advertisement SKIP ADVERTISEMENT Site Index Site Information Navigation © 2025 The New York Times Company NYTCoContact UsAccessibilityWork with usAdvertiseT Brand StudioYour Ad ChoicesPrivacy PolicyTerms of ServiceTerms of SaleSite MapHelpSubscriptions Peter Burgess COMMENTARY Peter Burgess

SITE COUNT