Weird image dynamics on work calls

[Anonymous]

I’m the most junior person at my remote job where we are on zoom/ teams calls all day. We’re also recorded back by an AI bot on every call. Many of my more senior coworkers dress how I think is really sloppy, like with their hair in a messy bun and no makeup, bad lighting, and men in baseball caps and because I’m relatively new, I already had a ring light, and at the minimum wear a nice modest neutral top or sweater and usually makeup too on calls. This has led many times to clients thinking in the more senior person on the client team and my more senior colleagues getting irritated about it.

Curious if this is caused by an image thing or something else? Also wondering what your office “dress code” is on virtual calls?

[Anonymous]

I would ignore your irritated colleagues, because it's not your job to fix this, but a solution (other than them cleaning up) would be for everybody to introduce themselves with title/role, or for the most senior person to do all introductions for your team.

My work expects clean, neat attire on calls. Hoodies are fine for internal calls but we're supposed to look a better for external calls. I always wear makeup and have a neutral background.

[Anonymous]

Weird that your senior colleagues don't understand that they are in a sales role and need to look the part.

[Anonymous]

How do you know senior colleagues are irritated by it?

[Anonymous]

Wait until you are older, you aren't going to want to be in excellent lighting either. Much less staring at a right light.

[Anonymous]

It could also be how you speak and carry yourself. Do your colleagues often defer questions to you for response or request that you present vs them?

[Anonymous]

Depends on culture. My old job, unshaven, unshowered, hoodie showed you were a hard worker no time to take a break.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, I've tried to explain to my manager who I otherwise got along with that I had trouble getting clothes that fit even t-shirts and that I could get standard business clothes custom fit fairly inexpensively. He would wear worn out old t-shirts to work, though he likely had the same issue as I regarding clothes fit. He thought I was "showing off".

It's weird they'll get all into "Hawaiian shirt" day, but when winter rolls around if you wear a tie, even loosely with the top button popped they lose it. I happen to have been to China hand have a nice collection of silk ties my relatives gave me, that are warm and comfortable in the winter if not tied too tight. Like a scarf... Why isn't a Hawaiian shirt consider flashy and showy, but a silk tie is?

In practice I don't mind the "off the rack" casual clothing with gold chains and fancy cell phone pockets.(west coast start up style) It just doesn't fit me and to get custom fit stylized casual clothes is hugely expensive.

[Anonymous]

This is entirely dependent on your work culture and who your client/target audience is.

[Anonymous]

If you're irritating your senior colleagues with how you dress, obviously stop. It's not worth it.