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Bank tells staff: Don't forget the lipstick, girls

Anger over seminar where women employees are given advice on what to wear and how to wear it

By Rachel Shields

While dress codes are standard in many professions, specifying the colour of heels that should be worn and insisting on make-up is interpreted by many as sexist

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While dress codes are standard in many professions, specifying the colour of heels that should be worn and insisting on make-up is interpreted by many as sexist

The Bank of England came under fire last night for "institutional sexism", after it held a seminar for female staff to advise them on what clothing, shoes and make-up to wear.

In a week when the IMF announced that the British economy will be the hardest hit of all the developed nations, when strikes erupted across the country and as world leaders gathered in Davos to discuss global recession, senior figures at the Bank turned their minds to lipstick and high heels.

On Wednesday, Bank of England employees gathered for a Dress for Success summit, at which female employees were lectured on the importance of wearing appropriate jewellery and make-up in the workplace.

A memo leaked from the meeting details the advice given to staff, including the warning that wearing certain accessories would make women workers look like prostitutes.

"Look professional, not fashionable; be careful with perfume; always wear a heel of some sort – maximum two inches; always wear some sort of makeup, even if it's just lipstick," read the memo. It was distributed by the professional image consultancy firm hired by the bank for the event.

"Shoes and skirt must be the same colour. No-nos include ankle chains – "professional, but not the one you want to be associated with" – white high heels; overstuffed handbags; an overload of rings, and double-pierced ears," it continued.

The Bank of England confirmed yesterday that the session had taken place, but refused to comment further.

Leading equal opportunities solicitors said last night that female employees would have a potential case for legal action against the Bank of England for sexual discrimination. "It is indicative of an institutionally sexist environment. If women are being judged by what they wear, then it suggests that they are being treated differently to male employees," said Lawrence Davies of solicitors Equal Justice .

"The fact that they are putting the responsibility on independent consultants doesn't absolve the bank of any sexist behaviour or attitudes that arise from this," said Mr Davies.

The bank's actions sparked widespread criticism, with leading City economists, MPs and women's rights groups all speaking out.

"What the Bank of England is doing is appalling," said Ruth Lea, economic advisor to the Arbuthnot Banking Group and former director of the Centre for Policy Studies. "They are spending our money on these things. It is farcical.

"Surely it is up to men and women, and their peers at work to decide for themselves what is suitable to wear. If you can get a well-paid job, surely you have the nous to choose the right clothes," said Ms Lea.

The Fawcett Society, the leading women's rights group, said that the Bank of England's actions were sexist, and run contrary to equal opportunity legislation. "Not only will eyebrows be raised that an event like this has been held just as we are entering recession, but it sends out damaging messages to women working at the Bank of England," said Katherine Rake, director of the society.

"Setting down codes in this way sends a message to women employees that they have to look a certain way to be successful in business, and this is absolutely contra equal opportunities practice."

Corporate image consultants can cost anything up to £5,000 for a 30- minute session. While dress codes are standard in many professions, specifying the colour of heels that should be worn and insisting on make-up is interpreted by many as sexist.

But Pippa Rees, director of Naked Ambition Personal Branding Consultants, and a member of the Federation of Image Consultants, said: "How you dress can make you have more authority and command more respect. Women struggle with what to wear for business and formal wear, and image consultants can make women aware of how clothes can add to their credibility, and how they can diminish it.

"If you are a banker, a lawyer or an accountant you are a professional, and your client will expect you to look like one. A pilot's uniform denotes his ability to do the job, and professional dress does the same," said Ms Rees.

Accountancy firm Ernst & Young also courted controversy last November when it sent 400 female employees on a course to learn how to dress.

The backlash

'What the Bank of England is doing is appalling. They are wasting our money'

Ruth Lea

'[This tells] women employees that they have to look a certain way to be successful'

Katherine Rake

'If this is not a hoax, then they should be ashamed. It is not what they should be focusing on'

Patricia Hewitt MP

'I hope that there is no assumption that how you look dictates how you can do your job'

Baroness Morris

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Generalissimo ?
[info]archibald_knox wrote:
Sunday, 1 February 2009 at 02:23 am (UTC)
What rank does Pippa Rees, director of Naked Ambition Personal Branding Consultants, hold in the Fashion Police ? Chief Inspector ? Or Generalissimo ?

Control-freak scum.

[info]tessmeyer wrote:
Sunday, 1 February 2009 at 06:48 am (UTC)
I doubt the bank will have spent money on such a course if they didn't feel they had a problem with the way some women dressed. Let's face it, it's easy for men to get it right because they HAVE a uniform - a suit. It's clear to men that turning up to work in a bank in a pair of chinos, a mauve shirt and tieless could be a problem but the same rigid convention is not established for women although they may be judged by the people with whom they come into contact in some part according to the way they present themselves. If men had more freedom of choice they too might find themselves on such a course. That said, I think the language quoted from the the handouts sounds unnecessarily proscriptive. A bit more carrot and less stick would have been more appropriate.
[info]sarahab wrote:
Sunday, 1 February 2009 at 08:35 am (UTC)
I think a lot depends on the precise status of the course - were women made to go on the course and were they urged by their employer to follow its advice? If not, I think this is an over reaction (and I usually intervene firmly on the feminist side of any question when I comment in an internet forum!) I bet many of the women complaining about the session obey all the fashion consultant's rules already. The lipstick one is the only one which seems even mildly contentious - though I certainly always wear it!

Personally it's men I feel sorry for - ok they don't have to fret about fashion choices in the same way women do but in most jobs they probably feel they have to shave daily which (judging from my husband's experiences) is a tiresome and rather painful process.
Good advice? I don't think so.
[info]rojaws wrote:
Sunday, 1 February 2009 at 08:48 am (UTC)
"How you dress can make you have more authority and command more respect."
So spake Pippa Rees. Mind you with a name like that what can you expect.
Ms Rees obviously hasn't a clue. Actions & attitude are the key factors to authority & respect.
If a person is a clueless, ill mannered numptie then no amount of fancy dressing is going to change that or how other people behave towards that person.
Oh Gods, to think companies pay good money to people like Ms Rees. No wonder Britain's in a mess.
Re: Good advice? I don't think so.
[info]barryego wrote:
Sunday, 1 February 2009 at 06:34 pm (UTC)
I'm only a bloke but I agree with this comment. What should be important today is what you know not how you look. What this shows again is that as a society we really haven't moved on much. Image consultants are the first people that should be made redundant in the present climate . What role do they play in society apart from conning money out of the gullible. I can imagine the person who was sold this course on behalf of the bank of England was a bloke. Perhaps he should go on a course on how to make better decisions that will help our country not dress it like a numptie.
Re: Good advice? I don't think so.
[info]caz963 wrote:
Sunday, 1 February 2009 at 10:08 pm (UTC)
You're right - actions and additude *are* the key to respect; but the first thing anyone sees is the outside and if that doesn't predispose them in your favour, then you might never get to show how good you are at your job.

I'm not saying it's right, but it's the way things are.
Interesting lack of Reality - BoE in Denial?
[info]robynne_hood wrote:
Sunday, 1 February 2009 at 09:10 am (UTC)
One would think that the Bank of England had more urgent and important things to take care of then the lipstick and height of the heels of their female employees.
Seems to be a typical sign of an organisation going into denial and panicking. They can't solve the real problems they are facing, so they go about doing some menial stuff.
The world is coming apart - and they advise on lipstick colour. Does say it all, doesn't it.
Get a life - this is done for a reason!
[info]neutraldude wrote:
Sunday, 1 February 2009 at 09:29 am (UTC)
I am a male who used to work for one of the world's leading hotel companies (still is), and BOTH male and female staff were given appearance and grooming tips to appear PROFESSIONAL, no one took offense and it was and still is good advice one can use today. This "equal opportubities" griping is all crap! some women (not all) look as though they are going for a drink to work wearing very short skirts and revealing blouses, not to mention revealing G string type underwear when they don't wear full length blouuses!
[info]sarahab wrote:
Sunday, 1 February 2009 at 09:34 am (UTC)
I don't fully agree with rojaws. Obviously if you are incompetent dressing well isn't going to make people think you are doing a good job. Similarly if you are brilliant (and particularly if your job is academic or creative) you can get away with wearing almost anything. But if you have a middle of the road sort of job and do it pretty well then the way you dress can affect how seriously you are taken and whether you come across as someone who, for example, should be given a promotion. Unfortunately things are just a bit trickier for women because women's dress is more varied and offers more opportunities to go wrong.

But I agree with the point that this course wasn't a very good use of money.
Male uniform
[info]petegilbert wrote:
Sunday, 1 February 2009 at 10:10 am (UTC)
In work I have been told several times in the past that I should wear a dark suit and a tie. Nobody shouted that this was sexist. Unfortunately for me there is no-one to turn to for help. I am a white middle class male, the most picked on demographic in the UK today, with no interest group to stand up for us. Luckily I don't care about promotion, so I just carried on wearing what I liked anyway. Both sexes, cast off your dark attire and stand up for individual freedom!
Maybe not the world's worst idea...?
[info]andie_12 wrote:
Sunday, 1 February 2009 at 10:16 am (UTC)
Whilst I normally pick up my misogyny-spotting stick and wield it with gay abandon over some stories such as this, I think there are a few issues worth addressing here. Firstly, the Bank of England and other high-finance firms are not comparable to the average office. Face-to-face contact is vital, and there is an expectation of a "high-end" dress code. Even male employees tend to raise their game and move into bespoke tailoring beyond a certain point. Secondly, in a predominantly male environment, men are much better at dealing with each other's slip-ups; there would be nothing particularly unusual about a male manager dropping a jocular-but-clear comment into the ear of a scruffy male worker - "Jones, did you sleep in that suit? Sort it out, mate, and get a new tie while you're at it" would probably be taken in the right spirit. However, many men find it much harder to approach female staff with the same combination of humour and directness.

Most importantly, there are women who dress themselves in a "business-fashion" mode which may be appropriate for an advertising agency or a media firm, and may be promoted by women's magazines, but which is inappropriate for the more conservative world of finance. Guidelines here are helpful and necessary. Many women will have few female role-models at higher levels and so may be flying blind, hoping to look their best but unaware that their appearance has caused comment.

Finally, the assumption that "if this is what the Bank is concentrating on, no wonder we're all doomed" is fatuous. I was rather hoping that the Bank of England might be able to do a variety of things at once, and was not unduly concerned that all recession-busting activity had been put on hold whilst the biggest brains had a three-week conference about thongs and kitten heels.
Re: Maybe not the world's worst idea...?
[info]joannen wrote:
Sunday, 1 February 2009 at 03:47 pm (UTC)
Andie_12 I have news for you: women are perfectly capable of making similar jocular but clear comments to their female colleagues. I don't quite see why a bank should be a ''predominantly male environment'- maybe that's the real problem.

I work in an international public organisation which lacks a dress code. In ten years, I have never seen lack of make-up or a heel above two inches make the slightest difference to whether a woman is taken seriously. Professionalism is in your job performance, not your attire. I agree with petegilbert, it's men who need to be liberated!
Banking and lipstick!
[info]workingmum09 wrote:
Sunday, 1 February 2009 at 12:26 pm (UTC)
I would mind a lot less if men in the banking industry were worth a look themselves. I swear the industry attracts the ugliest and unfittest men on the planet! So can the Bank of England please suggest plastic surgery to their male employees as part of this "people are only of value if they look good"programme? Thank you!
Re: Banking and lipstick!
[info]menace73 wrote:
Sunday, 1 February 2009 at 05:18 pm (UTC)
The industry doesn't attract ugly and unfit men. The problem is that working a 60-80 hour week is like getting hit by the ugly-stick, repeatedly. And the copious amounts of alcohol generally washed down to dull the pain don't help.
HELLO culture takes its foray into BOE
[info]badalandabad wrote:
Sunday, 1 February 2009 at 01:27 pm (UTC)
The likes of Pippa Rees should be just confined to the offices of HELLO and the studios of ITV and UKTV. Pippa, it is up to the individuals to choose how they want to be perceived among their colleagues. As the old adage goes, never judge the book by its cover. Who would judge a female colleague by the colour of her lipstick or her handbag? Any sensible professional would never do, unless they happen to be in the aforementioned establishments. Honestly who cares as long as she is good at what she does?

Has the bank forgotten that it is our obsession with consumerism that has led us to this path of economic disaster fueled with obsession for cheap credit? This chapter of "how should you look" is just an extension of the fashion junkie programmes that has got hold of our TV and lead a number of young girls astray with their obsession to look like the Celebs.

If the BOE was concerned about the appearance of its employees, why weren't the men "taught" about their attire. The whole episode stinks of sexism and patronizing attitude by the Bank.

One last request to The Independent - would appreciate (on behalf of all the readers) if you can stop giving any platform for the likes of Pippa Rees. They have got enough takers in the likes of HELLO and OK. By the way, can anyone make a living out of advising others as to how to dress. Sucks big time!

PS Pippa, I can dispense valuable advice as how to make your life worthwhile. Fancy taking it up?
Lipstick Bankers
[info]dianelangford wrote:
Sunday, 1 February 2009 at 01:47 pm (UTC)
Hello, Now we know why the term 'bankers' has attracted a double entrendre meaning to itself, besides rhyming slang.
Bankers and Lipstick
[info]frostfire13 wrote:
Sunday, 1 February 2009 at 02:10 pm (UTC)
So, to look like a professional banker one must wear lipstick and 2 inch heels.
I very much look forward to the Independent publishing photographs of Mervyn King, Charles Bean, Sir John Gieve, Graham Nicholson and Nigel Jenkinson suitably attired.

Re: Bankers and Lipstick
[info]vhawk1951 wrote:
Sunday, 1 February 2009 at 04:23 pm (UTC)
LOL
Bankers
[info]originalursus wrote:
Sunday, 1 February 2009 at 02:15 pm (UTC)
The last time I went to the bank I was greeted by a mature lady wearing a basque and black fishnet stockings, she addressed me as 'Stud'. No, hang on, that wasn't the bank, sorry...
A big fuss about nothing
[info]boewoman wrote:
Sunday, 1 February 2009 at 03:07 pm (UTC)
Oh for heaven's sake. This wasn't an 'official' Bank of England seminar. It was a entirely optional lunchtime seminar organised by some women for some other women who fancied getting their colours done. Someone on the outside who heard about it has got the wrong end of the stick, and sloppy journalism has then spread the story around.
get your lippy on lads
[info]vhawk1951 wrote:
Sunday, 1 February 2009 at 04:21 pm (UTC)
either the male employees should wear high heels and make up or you have a clear case of discrimination- sounds like a job for Eddie Izzard
[info]mr_scummy wrote:
Sunday, 1 February 2009 at 05:01 pm (UTC)
Are you serious? "Federation of Image Consultants"?! The fact such an organisation exists says it all about the state of too many corporate UK companies, in which style seems to be far more important than substance.
[info]vhawk1951 wrote:
Sunday, 1 February 2009 at 05:51 pm (UTC)
you're right, it's madness who gives a damn whow the women in the Bank look? no-one ever goes there it's hardly a high street bank
Dress Code
[info]kais_uddin wrote:
Sunday, 1 February 2009 at 05:46 pm (UTC)
It is outrageous that men lesbian, gay and transexuals are being discriminated against. I demand that the Governor apologizes and spends his way out of this, preferably by aranging a visit to Primark or T K Max for the aforementioned, including the Board members.


Re: Dress Code
[info]vhawk1951 wrote:
Sunday, 1 February 2009 at 09:30 pm (UTC)
to discriminate merely means to tell the difference between. if the difference is glaring then discrimination is automatic. I have discriminating tastes in wine and can tell Bordeaux from Burgundy and good from bad, thus I have a discriminating palate. it is not a sin
Pathetic little complainers...
[info]f_r_hopeful wrote:
Sunday, 1 February 2009 at 06:35 pm (UTC)
...and that includes the MP and the Baroness.

The reality is that how we dress plays a big part in others' perception of us - and that goes for men as well as women.

I think it is entirely reasonable for an employer to require staff to dress in a way that projects the image the employer wishes to present. I worked for a company where there was a strict dress code for everybody and going to work was not about being in a fashion show or attending a leisure break - i8t was about doing a professional job and being committed to high standards. Everybody wore dark suits, white shirts, dark ties, black shoes, and minimal jewellery - no exception, from the directors through sales people, technicians, engineers, admin staff - everyone. It happened to be one of the most successful companies on the planet. Then it relaxed its dress code and a few years later it suffered a major setback.

Was the dress code excessive - by today's lax standards, certainly. Was the correlation between success/failure and changes in dress co-incidental - possibly. I think the key thing is that working dress can often reflect attitude, and in my opinion contemporary attitudes to what we wear at work represents a

No, I'm not advocating that everyone adopts dark suits and so on. What I am asserting is that employers have the right to require the people they hire to adopt the dress code the employer believes is appropriate for their business. If they want to give other guidance about how people present themselves, then they have the right to do so. Employees have the right to stay in their jos and do what their employer requires of them - or seek their fortunes elsewhere.

I totally repudiate the pathetic 'everybody has the right to do what they want in every situation' brigade that finds the slightest excuse to get offended and wave the 'sexism', 'discrimination', 'inequality' or other flags the politically-correct keep readily to hand to beat the rest of us with. What we really need to do is to ensure that, where necessary these people, are not empowered by legislation to impose their damaging views on normal, sensible peole - among whom I do not count the likes of Ms Rees and the others quoted.

Re: Pathetic little complainers...
[info]vhawk1951 wrote:
Sunday, 1 February 2009 at 10:12 pm (UTC)
I broadly agree, but dress codes have, by law, to apply to men and women equally- I think it's a stupid law but the law it is.Women like to look attractive and men like to look smart; Most do
What's wrong with a pretty lady looking her best ?
[info]humble_sparrow wrote:
Sunday, 1 February 2009 at 06:49 pm (UTC)
There is nothing like a pretty self assertive, self assured well dressed lady to get a man to do as she wants.

Where's the sexism in that, it's part of the battle of the sexes since time immorrial. Well dressed, handsome men do the same. ?

A nice young lady at work proclaimed once that only people in suits are listened too, that is very true and a big problem.

As for bankers ? no comment is needed. :-)
appropriate dress for business
[info]reprops wrote:
Sunday, 1 February 2009 at 10:07 pm (UTC)
The business environment is different from the social environment.
Social dressing aims to get attention and sometimes impress.
Dressing should be impressive by being unobtrusive .
Unfortunately, the differing environments sometimes get blurred.
Lilias Morrison
Bank of England sexism
[info]alisonkm wrote:
Sunday, 1 February 2009 at 10:26 pm (UTC)
The "rules" are not only insulting, they are archaic. Every professional now finds flat shoes more practical, comfortable and healthy -- the two-inch heel requirement would rule me out
at the Bank. And what about pantsuits -- and pants or skirts with well-coordinated but unmatched jackets?
bank advising women to wear heels.
[info]rachel70schild wrote:
Sunday, 1 February 2009 at 10:30 pm (UTC)
I think the men should be made to spend a day wearing heels and lipstick,if they agree with the bank.I am a tall lady who likes to wear flats and I think with a pair of trousers can look very smart.I can't get over the outdated chauvanist attitudes of the bank. A person with comfortable feet and a smile on her face will do more for a positive image than someone with painful corns and a grimace of bright lipstick.
Another basis for no lipstick
[info]varney33 wrote:
Sunday, 1 February 2009 at 10:50 pm (UTC)
Canada Declares Chemicals Used in Cosmetics to Be Toxics
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jan2009/2009-01-30-01.asp
OTTAWA, Ontario, Canada, January 30, 2009 (ENS) - The Canadian government today declared two chemicals used in lipstick and other personal care products to be toxic to the environment, although officials said they are not used in large enough quantities to be of concern for human health. Two other chemicals used in cosmetics were found to be harmful to human health.
Canada's declaration is the first environmental or health-based determination concerning these chemicals issued by any country. ...
...While not believed to be harmful to health, because these chemicals enter the environment in large quantities, persist in the environment, bioaccumulate up the food chain and may harm fish and aquatic organisms, Canada is proposing to set concentration limits for them. ...
[info]dnmurphy wrote:
Monday, 2 February 2009 at 12:21 am (UTC)
Umm, is this 2009 we are in or have we somehow reverted to 1909? Its not April 1st is it?
Bank Of England "dress code"
[info]tweedisgood wrote:
Monday, 2 February 2009 at 07:48 pm (UTC)
Dress smartly, fine - as long as the men do it, too. But *mandatory makeup*? Yes, I'm sure I'd look totally professional with my sensitive skin a mass of angry, red, itchy blotches.
There is a point
[info]wohsb wrote:
Tuesday, 3 February 2009 at 08:08 pm (UTC)
Well, male colleagues often complain about the attire of dress amongt certain female colleagues. Ample cleavage on show and belly button piercings on view are not conducive to keeping their minds focussed they say.
Neither do I want someone's belly fluff on view when I am ordering in a trendy restaurant! Obviously there are some women out there who do need guidance. Then again, Boris Johnson could do with some help as can many of the male colleagues who complain about the females!
No doubt someone has got the wrong end of the stick here and blown the thing out of all proportion.
However, it's worth saying that out of two possible contenders with equally wonderful credentials vying for a position in any company, the most pleasingly put together candidate is likely to triumph.
waste of people's monies!
[info]dovalynh wrote:
Wednesday, 4 February 2009 at 10:02 pm (UTC)
How about men and their dress?? Should they be clean shaven ALL the time? Should their colon not SMELL obnoxious and many of them do smell obnoxious! Hand and nails are clean ALL the time? Unsightly hair coming from their ears and nose?? Grow up Bank of England and enter the 21st Century!
Lipstick etc
[info]lippyfree wrote:
Thursday, 5 February 2009 at 01:54 pm (UTC)
I do hope the people who wrote the memos had remembered to shower that morning, wash their hands after using the loo and that they had cleaned their teeth. IF they were men I hope their pinstripes were the right width - wide pinstripes are naff, I hope their shirts/blouses were well ironed and that anyone wearing a tie had made sure it matched their shirt. I also hope that they don't wear the same two suits to work month in and month out without any attempt to show they take pride in their appearance.

Oh, and as an afterthought, I hope these managers carry out their duties correctly and efficiently. I wonder if their job descriptions include telling employees how they should dress, behaving like the nannies who may have brought them up and maybe getting some perverse sense of power out of attempting to interfere in employees' private lives. What's next? Telling women to wear pink lipstick instead of red? A pit bull is a pit bull whether he wears lipstick or not!
Is this the 1950s?
[info]cary_granite wrote:
Friday, 6 February 2009 at 06:39 pm (UTC)
This sounds like something that would have happened 50 years ago. Are these people in a time warp? (Not that it would have been acceptable back then either but it wouldn't have been surprising, as this is!)
Has BOE struck a raw nerve?
[info]suzytee wrote:
Monday, 9 February 2009 at 04:01 pm (UTC)
The vitriol seen in these responses to BOE's seminar shows a worrying level of emotionality. What nerve have they struck? Is it possible that we women are our own worst enemies? Men know exactly how to dress to command respect. Women, on the other hand, continue to be swayed by the vicissitudes of fashion and as a result, they frequently founder in the workplace. In my many years in the corporate world, I have seen all sorts of appalling attempts at being "fashionable - visible thongs, flip flops and bare midriffs being the worst, but there were many others as well. All BOE was doing was trying to be responsible. Image means business, whether we like it or not. I doubt, dear readers, that you'd trust your bank deposit to a guy in torn jeans and an eyebrow piercing. Or feel confident about taking a loan from a woman with laddered tights or six-inch stilettos. Sometimes, we criticise most the things we do ourselves. I applaud the bank.

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