The effect of ancillary clothing and gender on occupational attributes.

Many workplaces, as part of their dress code, utilise ancillary clothing to denoting something about the wearer’s standing within the organisation (e.g. expertise or seniority). However, after the COVID-19 pandemic, many workplace interactions moved online, where the wearing of ancillary clothing was less commonplace. Here, using 208 employees at an Aerospace and Technology organisation based in the United Kingdom, we show that on average wearing ancillary clothing increased perceptions of occupationally positive attributes. However, we also found stark gender differences, with males rated, on average, as being higher in authority and confidence, and females higher in trustworthiness, regardless of ancillary clothing. Females wearing ancillary clothing denoting expertise were found to be perceived as having less authority and less confidence as males without ancillary clothing. These findings indicate that although ancillary clothing boost perceptions of organisational attributes, gender biases persist around authority, confidence and trustworthiness.