The Covid pandemic prompted a widespread transition to remote working, with many of our interactions with colleagues, customers, and other partners conducted via video conferencing platforms.  Research from Columbia University highlights how it has prompted a change in adherence to fashion norms in our newly hybrid workplaces.

Indeed, the research found that as many as 75% of us had adopted casual attire from the waist down, with 10% going as far as only wearing their underpants during video calls.  It’s a phenomenon the researchers refer to as the “Zoom mullet”, with business attire on top and relaxed on the bottom.

They wanted to explore how this change in attire affects how we work, and indeed how we think about work.  After all, long-time remote workers have often argued that it’s important to get dressed into work attire to mentally prepare for a day of work, even if no one will actually see what you’re wearing.

Feeling authentic

Contrary to this general heuristic, however, the researchers actually found that people were more engaged with their work during the pandemic when they shunned formal attire and opted for things like leggings and a fleece.

“Attire sits in an interesting space between our self-expression and signaling social status or belonging,” the researchers explain. “Our results suggest that clothing choices, even for remote workers, are psychologically and organizationally impactful.”

The researchers conducted a couple of multi-day experiments whereby volunteers were asked to wear a range of outfits during their workday, including traditional home attire, traditional work attire, and a combination of the two.  At the end of each day, the volunteers were asked to complete a survey that gauged their feelings of engagement, authenticity, and power.

The results suggest that people feel most authentic when they’re wearing their usual home attire, with these outfits scoring higher than both the standard work attire and the “mullet”.  This also seemed to boost engagement levels too.

The second study built on the initial results, with volunteers asked to wear one of the three options after an initial baseline day.  This time, instead of asking people to select an outfit based on whether it made them feel comfortable or professional, they were asked to wear clothes that were either “for the home” or “for the office”.

As before, the volunteers reported higher levels of power, engagement, and authenticity when they were dressed in their home attire.  The researchers believe this could be to do with our desire to be consistent with our environment.

Harmony and dissonance

They explain that our clothing not only affects how others perceive us but also how we perceive ourselves.  For instance, the volunteers who were asked to wear formal clothing described themselves as being more rational and determined, whereas those in more casual clothing thought that they were more easygoing.

This occurs because clothing tends to have symbolic meaning associated with it, as well as a physical experience linked with the wearing of each particular item.

“Enclothed harmony is an extension of enclothed cognition. It occurs when what you’re wearing is in harmony with the context of where you are,” the researchers explain. “During the pandemic, most of us are sitting in the comfort of our homes, maybe even in our beds. Even if we’re working, wearing a button-down shirt or skirt is not harmonious with being at home. The more harmony between how you are dressed and the context you are in affects positively your sense of authenticity and engagement.”

When we deploy the Zoom mullet, however, it essentially mixes up both strategies and ultimately compromises our inherent sense of authenticity.  The authors believe that the findings highlight how important our clothing choices are to our sense of authenticity, and that it’s important that our choices match our context.

With organizations striving for greater engagement at work, this could be a relatively simple and cost-effective way of achieving that.  Adopting a dress code that is more aligned with the worker’s particular context could provide an easy boost to their engagement and authenticity.