DITCHING THE DRESS CODE

If you want to dress for success, slap on some sweatpants, said Shirley S. Wang in The Wall Street Journal. New research from the Harvard Business School indicates that “sticking out in distinct ways can lend an air of influence.” The study’s results, which were published in theJournal of Consumer Research, found that “luxury-store sales staff assumed shoppers in sweats were more likely to buy” than their dressier counterparts. Subsequent studies in other settings, including classrooms and offices, revealed a similar effect. But “there are boundaries to the benefits of looking different,” the researchers cautioned. If the wearer wasn’t perceived to be “willingly engaging in nonconforming conduct,” the shabby dress was seen as a negative. In other words, if you’re going to dress like a slob, make sure everyone knows you’re doing it on purpose.