ALL TIED UP OR TOTALLY TI(R)ED OUT?

Is the wearing of ties by accountants still expected and/or necessary?

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A staff member recently asked whether, in this day and age, ties were a necessary part of the work "uniform".  Part of me wants to agree that they are probably a bit formal in today's world - but isn't that what is expected of "professionals".

I would be interested in members thoughts - and whether they are tied or untied offices/firms.

Thanks.

Replies (29)

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By SteveHa
16th Jun 2017 16:00

I hate wearing a tie, especially in summer. However, for work, I always wear a clean, fresh pressed shirt and tie with a suit, and polished brogues.

Why? For the exact reason alluded to, client's expect it. It seems to give them confidence.

It doesn't matter that I am the same person with the same abilities when I'm wearing jeans and T-Shirt with a cowboy hat and boots.

Now, if they wanted me to roundup cows, perhaps my casual wear would give them more confidence.

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By ireallyshouldknowthisbut
16th Jun 2017 16:07

Weddings and funerals only for me.

But you have to have the right shirts, nothing looks worse than not wearing a tie with a shirt and jacket made for ties.

I went for a (rare) meeting this week and I was still the best dressed in the room with a oxford weave shirt, black trousers which are nearly jeans and formal black shoes. I think the shoes are important. Trainers look naff.

Only people i see in ties are estate agents and people in their 20's who put "Bsc" in their email signature trying to look older than they are.

Thanks (1)
Replying to ireallyshouldknowthisbut:
Man of Kent
By Kent accountant
16th Jun 2017 18:36

Add christenings and court appearances.

Normal wear - shirt/polo shirt smart jeans and formal shoes for meetings.

Current 'non-meeting' office wear is T-shirt, shorts and flip flops.

I've got less than 5 clients who wear suits, and then only for meetings. I'd look a bit of a [***] if I dressed in suit and tie for client meetings.

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Replying to Kent accountant:
Red Leader
By Red Leader
23rd Jun 2017 11:16

Kent accountant wrote:

... and court appearances.


Did you get off?
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Replying to Red Leader:
Man of Kent
By Kent accountant
23rd Jun 2017 13:38

...always...

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By leicsred
16th Jun 2017 16:29

I only wear a tie or a jacket these days if I am going out to see an audit client for a meeting. It's a shirt and smart trousers in the summer and I add a plain jumper in the winter.

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Caroline
By accountantccole
16th Jun 2017 16:37

I think people are starting to be more accepting of accountants who don't wear ties these days. It probably depends what sort of practice you are. If you've been established for 100 years and that history is part of your brand then a tie might be appropriate, whereas a younger firm with a more online, modern feel would probably look odd suited and booted. Smart and professional doesn't require a tie.
I text the team when it is hot to say dress cooly on hot days. If clients come in that day, I'll explain why. Dress down Fridays are quite common too, why would it be OK one day a week and not others?
PS I wear trainers with my suit everyday - foot problems but my website profile does highlight this!

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RLI
By lionofludesch
16th Jun 2017 16:39

I have a black tie for funerals and another black tie, just in case I can't find the first one.

I used to wear a jacket and tie for rugby matches but all that seems to have gone now, even for the directors. Polo shirts, tracksuits and fleeces all round these days.

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By rhino83
16th Jun 2017 16:49

I hate wearing a tie but I wear one in the office most days, although when it get warmer in the summer I won't have it on. I will however keep it handy for when clients call.

It does just seem to be the management in the office that wear ties and jackets though, most of the junior clerks don't wear one and our boss has never said anything about it.

My problem is that guys are expected to wear the same stuff all day and year whereas the females in the office wear what they like. One of the girls yesterday was wearing a T-[***] which she describes as a blouse and one today is wear what I can only describe as PJ bottoms.

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Replying to rhino83:
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By chatman
23rd Jun 2017 11:16

rhino83 wrote:
One of the girls yesterday was wearing a T-[***] which she describes as a blouse

I'd love to know what word AWeb censored here.

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Replying to chatman:
Stepurhan
By stepurhan
23rd Jun 2017 11:24

My guess is that rhino83 missed a letter out of T-shirt.

Which is a boring answer. It would be much more fun if AWeb just censored words at random.

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Replying to chatman:
By Charlie Carne
23rd Jun 2017 11:39

I am clearly very dense. Whenever I saw [***] in posts on AWeb, I had assumed that the poster was self-censoring. It hadn't occurred to me that a bot was doing this automatically.

Reminds me of a web site report of a football match at Scunthorpe that had the word partly bowdlerised.

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Replying to charliecarne:
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By JDBENJAMIN
23rd Jun 2017 12:08

The town of Lightwater has a similar problem with stupid IT systems. Half-witted programmers did not factor in the significance of there not being a space before or after their blocked word.

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Replying to charliecarne:
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By Dib
23rd Jun 2017 13:47

I seem to recall a newspaper report some years ago when S****horpe's council employees had their incoming and outgoing emails blocked by an over zealous naughty word blocker!

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Replying to charliecarne:
Stepurhan
By stepurhan
23rd Jun 2017 16:41

I once frequented a site where a bot auto-censored. It didn't put in **** though, it put in Shakespearean swear words instead. Mammering. Maggot-filled. Pustule. That sort of thing.

The site owner was an Arsenal fan, so words relating to a certain rival team were also classified as swears. This made the directions I gave to someone to "turn left at MAMMERING Court Road" confusing.

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By mrme89
16th Jun 2017 21:23

If your client base is small businesses such as mechanics, cafes etc, I think wearing a suit, shirt and tie creates an 'us and then' situation.
I think a full suit and tie would be too formal for this client base. I'd prefer a smart pair of trousers and a shirt without a tie.
Though a polo shirt is also fine in my books.

If your client base is mostly professionals, then I think you need to dress accordingly with a tie etc.

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Logo
By marks
16th Jun 2017 22:10

I have always wore shirt and tie, formal trousers and shoes since set up in business about 5 years ago.

It's what I have always wore to work and sometime feel it gets you in the right frame of mind for working.

Have never wore a suit for years.

We agreed recently with staff that we would get them logo'd polo shirts which they can wear with dark jeans or trousers/skirt. They were all for it as it saves them having to think what to wear.

I will probably however carry on wearing the shirt and tie.

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By gazza5
23rd Jun 2017 11:11

Not worn a tie for years - other than funerals, christening etc.

Black shoes, smart trousers and shirts we wear, although with recent hot weather wore some chinos and a shirt.

Times have changed although I do know of boys in the city wearing ties and full on suits. Even on hot days.

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By chatman
23rd Jun 2017 11:19

The tie tradition is ridiculous. I can't remember the last time I wore one.

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By graeme kempson
23rd Jun 2017 11:22

Went into a 'posh' Estate Agent early this week, at midday, when it was 33C in my shorts, flip flops etc. Not a 'meeting', or business for me, but didn't half feel sorry for their representative in full regalia!

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By tomblandford1
23rd Jun 2017 11:53

I used to work for an organisation who defined their dress policy as:

"Dress for your diary, but remember that (as a minimum) your diary involves walking through reception every morning"

I've stuck to it all these years later - suit and tie for "those clients", tailored shirt/trousers for others, polo shirt and jeans if I know that I will not be seeing clients that day. So always smart, but not always formal...

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Routemaster image
By tom123
23rd Jun 2017 12:09

Haven't worn a suit in the workplace for 10 years, and neither have my (director) managers.

Mind you, I have tended to be in 'proper' factories, where you wipe your shoes on the way out.

Our sales team tend to be more formally dressed.

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By JDBENJAMIN
23rd Jun 2017 12:12

One of the pleasures of being a home-based sole practitioner is not having to dress up. I wear smart casual clothes for everything other than weddings and funerals.

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By SMEnovice
23rd Jun 2017 13:33

I qualified 20 years ago and have never worked in an office where ties have been compulsory. The only people in suits and ties are candidates coming in for job interviews.

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By David Beaumont
23rd Jun 2017 13:37

I have worn a shirt and tie for forty years as I was brought up in the time when it was expected. It's funny really, but this week is the first time I have abandoned the tie even though our offices are air conditioned. It felt really strange at first as if I should attend a meeting of tie wearers anonymous ' I'm Dave and I'm a recovering tie wearer' Getting used to it but I think it may be back for the Winter.

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By Dib
23rd Jun 2017 13:56

I've worked in Big 4/Top 10 offices for much of the time since the late 1990s and the dress code went from suits and ties to smart casual and then to business casual (suit but no tie). The general rule was to dress to or to the level above the client so when seeing some IT company where everyone wore jeans smart or business casual was OK, going to see a professional firm required suit and tie.

Now I am in a smaler firm, dress is thoretically suit and tie but I generally don't bother with a tie and I've not been fired yet!

It irritates me that women get away with open neck attire and also get away with loose garments and bare legs while men in the office are supposed to swelter uncomfortubly for some outdated idea that we need to have a piece of coloured silk around my neck in order to be taken seriously. Really?

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Replying to Dib:
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By ms998
23rd Jun 2017 14:16

Dib wrote:
The general rule was to dress to or to the level above the client so when seeing some IT company where everyone wore jeans smart or business casual was OK, going to see a professional firm required suit and tie.

Exactly this. Although saying that our Big 4 team rocked up the other day without ties, and that included the partner...

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By tom123
23rd Jun 2017 19:10

Worth pointing out that as a 'client' I really don't care what my visitors are wearing when coming to see me.

Our visitors (male and female) cover the full range from 'off duty' to fully 'suited and booted' - what they have to say interests us more, to be honest.

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Replying to tom123:
paddle steamer
By DJKL
23rd Jun 2017 20:06

However dress does impart something sometimes, we at one point were using a firm of architects for a fairly big development- the boss of said firm turned up with his team in our offices for a meeting with him wearing a red boilersuit and sporting a pair of DM boots, I think it was intended to impart they were trendy and cutting edge; a 40-50 year old so attired does say something but not sure if it is the intended message.

We tend to be fairly laid back re dress, I wear a suit circa 4-5 times a year re work, but we are slightly better dressed than boiler suit and boots. (though I have been known to wear boots at work if roped in as labourer number 3 or 4 if something big needs shifted)

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