“There shouldn't be a required dress code in office environments, even when people have client interactions,” says Ritu Bhasin, author of "The Authenticity Principal" and founder and CEO of Bhasin Consulting, a DEI consulting firm. “If we do away with dress codes, whether it's hybrid, in person or virtual, we give people the autonomy to decide how to dress.”
While employers should prioritize autonomy, traditional business attire mostly derives from what able-bodied white men deem is appropriate for themselves and white women, Bhasin says. Women of color will not meet those “standards,” she adds.
“Dress codes reflect the behavioral expectations set by dominant cultural identities,” she says. “Because the normative we are being judged against is a white male normative, we are reminded we don't belong, that we lack choice and our identities are vilified.”