Clothing makes the man, but for people in the banking and finance sectors, it often fits the profession. In today's business world, suits are still the most preferred outfit for senior executives and managers in banks and financial institutions, as what they wear not only makes a statement of their personal taste, but also projects a professional image of confidence and ability.
'To dress well and appropriate is particularly important for practitioners in the financial services industry because how they dress is a message conveying who they are or an image they desire to be perceived,' said Rosemarie Yau, founder of MyOwnBrand.com.hk, a communication consultancy specialising in personal branding and professional image management.
'Dress for success is an effective tool to communicate your desired professional image. People form their own judgment of us and the company we work for. Business attire is not just about an individual employee, it represents the image of a corporation.'
Andy Ng, retail operations manager of Dickson Concepts (Retail), said people in banking and finance wore suits to build a professional image.
'Professionals always prefer to wear a dark colour such as grey, charcoal, navy blue and black. They are bound to those colours,' said Ms Ng, who advised that men could choose fabrics with patterns such as stripes and checks to add variety and highlights to their suits, so that they wouldn't feel bored wearing suits to work every day.
While not all companies in the financial services industry had a dress code or guidelines which stipulated how their employees should dress at work, alluring is a style any executive should avoid, according to Ms Yau. 'Anything that will show too much skin, cleavage or skin tight is inappropriate,' she said.
The launch of the government's dress-down campaign last year to encourage civil servants to dress casually has led the business community to relax their dress code, allowing their staff to come to work in more causal attire. With more banks and insurance companies being receptive to the idea of more relaxed dress code, senior executive and middle management level employees are allowed some flexibility in choosing their work clothes, especially on Fridays.