Defining nonbinary workwear
Professionals have to thread the needle to get dressed for the office
What should you wear to work if you’re nonbinary?
It may not be the most pressing question that gender-nonconforming people face on the job, but with approximately 1.2 million LGBTQ Americans identifying as nonbinary, employers and employees alike are exploring what professional attire can look like.
“I think people treat me with more dignity when I dress more masculinely, but people are way nicer to me when I dress more femininely,” said El Layla Johnson, 33, a former restaurant server who is now a therapist.
For Johnson, getting dressed for work has been a struggle since adolescence.
“I just feel like there’s a manual or rule book that people receive and that my copy got lost in the mail,” said Johnson, who, like many nonbinary people, uses the pronouns they and them.
Johnson recalled regularly crying while getting dressed for work at a restaurant in Seattle.
“I’m 6 feet tall, I’ve always had really big feet and wide shoulders but a small waist and a really big butt,” they said. “And so it is not easy for me to find clothing in the men’s section or the women’s section that fits me well.”
Now, as a therapist who works with LGBTQ patients, Johnson finds that their own agender identity can be an asset. “The fact that I have a rat tail and piercings and tattoos, I actually believe that people might feel more comfortable with me or relate to me more easily,” Johnson said.
Deciding what’s appropriate for work can be fraught for employees of any gender, especially in this post-lockdown-butstill-Zooming “power casual” moment. But many nonbinary people report unique pressures that accompany choosing a work outfit.
Other nonbinary people consider their work outfits an opportunity for self-expression. Ginger Copes, 32, works as a digital producer for CBS in Philadelphia. During an onboarding meeting, employees were encouraged to bring their whole selves to work.
Copes took the guidance to heart, ditching traditionally masculine looks in favor of maxi skirts paired with button-down shirts. To Copes’ surprise and delight, the response was positive. Several co-workers remarked that Copes seemed particularly confident and happy at work, Copes recalled.
“Feeling liberated in the way that you present is just so important because it will also reflect how your mood is, whether you’re dragging yourself to work or you’re showing up as 100% yourself and you love it,” Copes said.
Samy Nemir Olivares is a public relations representative for the LGBTQ advocacy organization Lambda Legal.
Appropriateness is ‘a moving target’
Richard Thompson Ford, a Stanford Law School professor and the author of “Dress Codes: How the Laws of Fashion Made History,” has studied rules and laws related to dress since the Middle Ages.
“Historically, there’s been a really strong norm, both in terms of law and custom, of enforcing a strict division between masculine and feminine attire,” Ford said.
“One of the tricky things is that the norms of gendered dress keep shifting,” he said. “Determining what’s appropriate is always kind of a moving target.” As an example,
he cited rules prohibiting women from wearing flapper-style short dresses to work during the 1920s.
“At the time, people said, ‘It’s not feminine, it’s masculine, but also it’s way too sexy,’ ” Ford added. “But today we’d see that as recognizably feminine.”
In the United States, it is legal for employers to enforce rules related to attire, hygiene and grooming. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 has consistently been interpreted to permit different dress codes for men and women, and in 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that transgender employees were subject to the dress codes of their gender
identity, regardless of their sex assigned at birth. While federal law prohibits employment discrimination against nonbinary people, separate dress codes for men and women can leave nonbinary workers in a puzzling place.
Samy Nemir Olivares,
31, ran for New York state Assembly in 2022 knowing that if he were elected, he would face a Capitol dress code in Albany that didn’t account for his genderqueer identity. During the campaign, he knocked on doors and attended fundraising events wearing caftans and dresses as a statement about gender inclusivity in politics.
“Government, including the Democratic Party, needs to embrace and welcome that it is normal that people wear whatever makes them feel powerful and confident and secure,” said Olivares, who lost his district’s Democratic primary to the incumbent, Erik Dilan, in June.
At his job in public relations for the LGBTQ advocacy group Lambda Legal, Olivares has encountered much praise for his style. “People are embracing it and I don’t think it has been much of an issue,” he said.
‘You’re literally just wasting your breath’
For Wendy Berry, 44, the human relations director at Rainbow Health in Minnesota, there’s an obvious solution to some of the problems nonbinary people face when getting dressed for work.
“Dress codes can just go away,” Berry said. “Grownups know how to dress, and anytime when you tell someone what they can and can’t wear, you’re literally just wasting your breath.”
Lauren Rothman, the author of “The Style Bible: What to Wear to Work,” disagrees. Rothman is the founder of Styleauteur, a company that advises individuals and companies on work-appropriate attire.
“I am thrilled when clients want to implement or update a dress code,” Rothman said. “But I think that dress code and hygiene standards need to be reset across the board.”
Rothman advises clients to create dress codes that rely on an overall impression rather than specific garments. For nonbinary clients, she maintains a list of retailers like Nordstrom, PacSun and Shein that offer gender-fluid options.
Rothman, for one, is excited by the “massive shift” she sees happening in professional dress.
“As we all reawaken to what it means to walk into an office, you’ve got to own that office runway,” she said. “You want that sense of confidence and you want to empower ... your employees.”