The lower cut your blouse, the lower your competance, or so says conventional “wisdom”

The New York Times has yet another article on gender disparities in the workplace in the Thursday Styles section, and as a fashion site we’re of course zeroing in on the paragraph about how women’s wardrobes are perceived at the office. Should we keep buttoned up, like Ivanka Trump, at left, or is it okay to express some personal style? Well, score eight billion for the high-necked blouse. Participants were shown two videos where a woman repeated the exact same lines, in one video she was dressed in a low-cut top and tight skirt, and in the other video her outfit was more “conservatively cut.” Participants were told one of two things – either that the woman was a secretary or that she was an executive. The women who were described as secretaries were perceived no differently for being provocatively or conservatively dressed, but the sexy executive was perceived as significantly less competent.

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