In 1975, John T Molly’s book Dress for Success became a national bestseller. It promised the American workforce “scientific” proof that certain clothes could “increase your income” and “boost your status”. It offered searing advice like: “Sweaters give out nothing but negative impulses … they say ‘lower middle class’ and ‘loser.’”
For those with office jobs, the workplace has long been a place where fashion counts. Molly’s book gave rise to ideas like power dressing and the adage about “dressing for the job you want, not the one you have”. But a new casual office culture, spurred by San Francisco tech companies where hoodies are the norm, plus the work-from-home revolution, was supposed to ameliorate some of those pressures.
Instead, things have gotten worse, as appearing on camera and keeping an active social media presence has become the norm. Now, the focus is no longer just on appropriate attire for the professional class, but a wide range of beauty and body standards for people in professions who never previously had to worry as much about what they look like. In the social media age, there is no such thing as having a face for radio.
A slew of recent studies tell us that hot people make more money. There’s a term for this workplace phenomenon: “lookism”, or a bias against people perceived as unattractive. One 15-year survey found that hot MBA candidates had a higher probability of holding more desirable jobs than their “plain-looking counterparts” – the authors called this an “attractiveness premium” corresponding to over $2,500 in higher salaries. Another 2018 report called attractiveness “an enduring, positive labor market characteristic”.
Visible, successful people now sport ubiquitous features that increasingly come courtesy of needles and scalpels: airbrushed skin, impossibly high cheekbones, thinned noses. We expect this of celebrities, but filler, semaglutides and cosmetic surgeries are now commonplace for people in professions from childcare to administration. Ageism is a big factor: in a survey last year, for example, 15% of people over the age of 45 said they would consider cosmetic surgery to get on at work, a figure which rose to 20% for Botox and fillers.
Below we spoke to welders, home builders and lawyers – all of whom say they never thought the way they look would influence their work this much.
Hannah Hembree: ‘I have hair appointments all the time’
43, divorce lawyer at Hembree Bell Law Firm and owner of My Confident Divorce, a law firm that represents only women, Austin, Texas
Looks matter more now than they did 10 years ago, 1000%. Along with being a lawyer, I’m trying to grow as a thought leader for women in the divorce space – that means more forward-facing, PR-type things.Whether you like it or not, social media is a big component of growing a brand or company. I work with a stylist, I have hair appointments all of the time, and I go to a medi-spa for all the aesthetics one gets when they’re 43. I’m spending four figures a month on things like Botox, filler and beauty appointments.
There’s a pressure to always be on as a woman. I go on morning news shows to talk about divorce stories and trends. Now, when I go on vacation I have to think about the clothes I pack, the hair tools I bring, in case I need to shoot content while I’m away. That’s another thing I wasn’t dealing with 10 years ago. Literally right now, I am vacationing on the beaches in Delaware with my family. I got a call from my PR team to go on TV in New York. I had to have some clothes shipped from my house, and I went on a shopping trip, to get something appropriate to wear. That took time away from my family.
YaGass Sey: ‘I’m not trying to look good for other people’
27, social media consultant, Jacksonville, Florida
If someone likes looking at you, they’ll hire you. I’ve known this from the start of my very first job, at the [chain store] Rue21. I was 16 and essentially the cute personality hire. They had me standing at the front of the store selling perfume to bring people in, and I did nothing else. I was the only person who ever had that job, in front of the store, to this day.
Two years ago, I made a TikTok about pretty privilege – the idea that people treat you better if you’re attractive. It really took off and became one of my best viral videos. (I now have over 247,000 followers on TikTok.) I made a scale of pretty privilege, with levels from one to four, with the treatment getting better based on someone’s looks. People in the comments were asking me what level they were. There were so many comments. I was bored at home. So I was just like, “alright, Cash App me $5” and they would get a reading on my personal thoughts of their pretty privilege, or where they were on the scale. I was not expecting people to go through with it, but it took me weeks to get through everyone and I made a few thousand dollars off of it. It was proof of concept that I could make money off of nothing, or just from my personal opinion.
I think people saw me as an authority on this because of my delivery. When you’re in the consulting business, looks absolutely matter. And being attractive gives you a level of confidence that people are attracted to.
When I was in a front-facing positions such as restaurants, I was spending maybe $500-$600 on my presentation: different hairstyles, nails, lashes. Now, I work from home, so, even though I am still visible on TikTok a lot, I find I spend a lot less. Not doing as much has made me appreciate my natural beauty more. My nails don’t break because I’m not in the salon getting them drilled off all the time. My lashes are longer because I’m not having something glued to them all the time. My hair’s not breaking off. Everything’s healthy, and I’m not trying to look good for other people, so I feel pretty all the time.
Lindsey Hover: ‘My botox and nails don’t stop me from working hard’
39, welder and content creator, Huntington Beach, California
My appearance has definitely helped me get jobs. I know for a fact that I got one welding job through Instagram, because they wanted their shop to get more exposure through my page.
I got into welding through an ex-partner. He was into cars. I bought a truck that was full of rust and bullet holes, and he said he’d help me restore it. Then we broke up, so I had to figure out how to do it on my own. After that I apprenticed for a while, working as a bikini bartender to get by. Then I went to fabrication school. It was important to me that I didn’t come off as some stripper to the guys, I needed to do the work to prove myself.
As I built my reputation as a welder, I started getting a lot of attention online. People were like “Who’s the blond welder?” so I used that to my advantage and made the Instagram The Blue Collar Barbie.
I work a blue-collar job, but I also embrace my femininity. I always have. I’ve spent thousands of dollars on my hair. I have Botox. I have fake tits. I get my nails done. But that doesn’t stop me from getting dirty and working hard.
I do think there was resentment from other people who do this work. A lot of men were like, “Why is she getting all this free shit from brands?” But I stuck with it and became a better welder than a lot of men out there, and that’s how I earned respect in my field. When I got better at my job, I started showing off more skin, because why not maximize everything I can? Why wouldn’t I? That doesn’t negate the fact that I’m actually a really badass welder.
De’Laney Ortiz: ‘I signed up with an agency for good-looking dog walkers’
30, actor and gig worker in New York City
I’ve done pretty much every side gig imaginable. Hospitality, babysitting, watching someone’s dog, coaching kids’ basketball. I’ve noticed people treating me better, or sometimes worse, because of how I look. I would say people can be standoffish and on guard, especially in the hospitality industry, because they think that people must tell you that you look good all the time. They treat you a bit meaner to humble you. Which is weird, because all I’m trying to do is ask if they want some wine or a cocktail. I’m not trying to hit on anybody.
I’ve just signed up with a dog-walking service, Hot Dogz, which is an agency for people who want good-looking people to walk their pets. Since I do a lot of gig work, I’ve gotten used to these weird job experiences. When it comes to dog walking, people like the idea of somebody kind of cute that they get to deal with on an every other day basis. They do vet us – it’s not a gimmick, and it’s not guys looking for a sugar mama. We can talk and joke around, but I try to be professional. When there’s that mutual respect, whether it’s a client or myself, then I’m like, “OK, we can connect here and it’s not all about what I look like.”
Carter Sherman: ‘Getting camera-ready has added an hour to my day’
32, co-host of the Guardian podcast Stateside with Kai and Carter, New York City
I majored in magazine journalism, at a time when I wasn’t thinking at all about being on camera or what I looked like. Now as a podcast host,I’m on camera up to four to five times a week. I love what I do. At the same time, getting ready has added an hour to my day. And I don’t think I’m even seriously investing that much in my appearance. I’m doing the bare minimum to look professional. I’m going through my makeup much faster, and straightening my hair more often than I have since high school. I couldn’t put a dollar amount on how much I’m spending on my appearance, but I’m definitely paying more to replenish products than I did before.
I haven’t gotten many comments from viewers on my looks, but the ones that I do unfortunately stick with me more than I’d like. I got one comment, below the line, that said I needed to eat a hamburger. I was like, if I was heavier, you’d be making comments about that. There’s no way to win. When I don’t get those comments, that probably means I hit the acceptable threshold of what I should look like.
I’m at the age where I’m noticing lines forming on my face. I have friends who have gotten Botox or filler, but I have deep feminist misgivings about it. I have decided that I would prefer to not do it at all, but if I get to a place where I really feel uncomfortable and unable to do my job because of my insecurities, then I would give myself permission to do something about it. I go back and forth wondering, what is the right way to think about this? It does take a lot of mental energy trying to figure out what my stance is on this exactly.
Calvin Rust: ‘I tell my crew to brush their hair’
24, home builder and content creator, Meridian, Idaho
My dad is an engineer, so I come from a more white-collar background. I think in the home-building industry more generally there’s a bit of stigma about dwelling on your appearance; it’s like, your work speaks for itself. But your first impression can help with your goals. I now have a crew of guys. I always tell them that you can’t control many things, but what you can control says a lot about you. So it’s the little stuff: brushing your hair, working out, taking care of your body. I tell my guys: if you’re currently working on my crew but you want to be a job site super, looking good is going to set you apart.
Our TikTok started because we just had a slow day. I threw a couple of videos up, and one took off. We thought it was fun, so we kept doing it. Over time, it morphed into a brand. Now we have 500,000 followers. We’re aiming to be a pretty big custom builder in the Idaho area. Before TikTok, we just framed houses. Now, we’re building them. That brings this more self-imposed pressure, because a framer can dress one way, but a general contractor works with clients, who appreciate someone who dresses well.
Retention is really important in social media, so we take note of what works well, and so much of that is visual: cowboy boots versus work boots, or tennis shoes versus basketball shoes. It’s a little micro social experiment with every video we put out.
When it comes to TikTok, there is a specific look that does well. The workwear company Brunt once sent me this jacket. It’s a nice olive green with a hood. I got it for free, but it probably costs over $100. I’ve noticed that when I wear that jacket, my videos do really well – 30-40% better than the ones where I do not wear that jacket.
Jaime Maser Berman: ‘It starts to feel like The Substance’
48, publicist, New Jersey
Publicists and beauty journalists often get to try treatments for free and I think people are just like, “I would never be able to pay for this on my salary, or that sounds like a fun story to write so maybe I will go and get this.” And all of these women kind of start to morph in a way that feels ever so slightly like Demi Moore in The Substance. And it’s a little bit trippy. But I realize I’m talking out of both sides of my mouth – like I do the same thing, but it feels like I do it very conservatively.
It’s a badge of honor to be in your 40s and 50s in this industry. I am constantly engaging with people who are 15-20 years younger than me at work. That can be daunting. So I do the part: I get my hair colored every few weeks, I get Botox. I’m doing everything I can to look my age, but young for my age. You want to say, “I’m really proud to be 48!” But only because you want people to say, “Oh my God, you’re 48? I thought you were 40!”
I love my job. But do I worry as every year passes? Yes. Sometimes when my younger colleagues say the year they graduated college, I am absolutely flummoxed. In my more insecure moment, I worry if I’ve aged out of my job. I hope the answer is no.
