Formal Friday is the tradition, practice even religion of wearing a suit every friday regardless of what the dress code. It started about 7 years ago after being told that they could not wear black jeans to work on Friday where they had business casual dress code. So now they wear a suit every Friday and have a few of their friends and co workers do the same.
Apparently Facebook’s design team has been dressing up on “Corporate Friday” since 2005 — before you thought it was cool.
At some tech startups, Formal Fridays stem from employees’ desire to free themselves from the hoodies and jeans that are standard weekday dress.
Management is quoted as stating that they are excited to see more companies putting the A-game back in their dress and believe employees are more productive when they dress in formal attire.
Ravi Mikkelsen, chief executive of San Francisco startup jobFig, a software company that predicts job candidates’ compatibility with a particular team, tends to agree. When employees of his company dress up on some Fridays, “I feel like a banker…and I want to produce.”
Formal Fridays aren’t just for Silicon Valley tech startups, or The Barbarian Group, the New York digital marketing and creative agency where, in 2004, people stopped being polite and starting dressing up on Fridays. They’re cropping up in other places, too. When something hip and trendy begins at a tech startup, it is sure to soon be co-opted by others!
It’s an age-old message, slighted updated: Dress for success, people!
To view a video from The Wall Steet Journal, go to http://www.wsj.com/video/germany-sued-over-medieval-artwork-worth-millions/B64123C7-DB07-4B27-9E6F-49230B73638D.html
Sidney Chelsky
Executive Director
Ontario Fabricare Association
120 Promenade Circle #910
Thornhill, Ontario L4J 7W9
Leave a Reply