Estate agents and any dress code

It probably doesn't matter if the cat is black or white so long as it catches mice.

Tonight’s male estate agent wore dark chino-type trousers, polo shirt and a jumper. Did the job competently!

Having said that, a solicitor who wears a mini kilt black tights bovver boots and has tattooed mitts won’t inspire confidence in clients or associates, even if good at her job as it implies attitude.

Beg to differ. She has impressed us immensely. And we were referred by a friend who was also impressed. We've just given her name to a neighbour who has fence boundary issues - he already knows about the way she dresses because we told him ages ago but he's more interested in how she has dealt with us. She doesn't always seem to dress like that, I have seen her in a skirt and jacket by the way. She has her own partnership and seems to be doing well. As someone who spent most of her life in the required corporate suit I quite admire her for doing her own thing and I think a lot of her clients are much younger than I am so probably not so bothered by the lack of suit.

I tend to agree, oreo, but I always feel guilty when I judge by appearances in a situation like that solicitor one.

On the other hand, I've met many a respectable-looking professional whose respectability, on closer acquaintance, leaves a lot to be desired.

And on the other other hand, in evolutionary terms we are 'programmed' to judge by appearances because on balance it has increased our chances of survival.

I guess one just has to carry on winging it!

Baggs

How to derail a thread subject in one easy lesson 😂🤣

Who?

😁
We all view appearances and judge accordingly I guess, so the old ‘never judge a book by its cover’ is pretty apt.It soon becomes clear if the person can do the job well or not.
Having said that, a solicitor who wears a mini kilt black tights bovver boots and has tattooed mitts won’t inspire confidence in clients or associates, even if good at her job as it implies attitude.

How to derail a thread subject in one easy lesson 😂🤣

I am a size 16 - not morbidly obese - but some people are, for various reasons not all to do with gluttony or sloth, and it is hurtful for many of us who are overweight to know that people see us in this way. I can't do anything about my weight, which is thyroid-related although I shouldn't feel the need to explain.

All the same, I know you well enough to know that you wouldn't have set out to be hurtful, so of course I accept your apology.

Doodledog

I was joking, really. I didn't mean to cause offence, anyway. The only comment on this thread that I've found offensive was the one about slim people - the others are (IMO) a bit pompous and snobbish, but no more than usual on GN.

I wasn't accusing anyone of anything - my comment about defensiveness was as I said - someone asking why responding defensively is defensive. It struck me as amusing, is all. It was one comment on a post that tried to take the heat out of the increasingly heated debate. I don't care what EAs wear, but I find semiotics interesting and tried to explore that angle in my post. If this post is me being defensive, so be it, but get your facts right?

Please accept my apology. I mentioned slim as a physical attribute I find good - I suppose as opposed to the 'just rolled out of bed, rumpled look'. I initially posted I supposed it was the agents attitude.

Then I foolishly peeked at how people in a successful Paris agency look/ dress/ appear - not at all city 'professional' - more as we do out in the country, but decidedly slim. Daft post on my part.

I admit to being shallow, but it never stops me from doing business with the people who work for me/us in the way I/we wish.

I surely didn't attempt fat shaming, it was a comment, in a post, seemingly about appearance. I typically keep my shallow thoughts inside my head - I'll try harder when typing on GN.

Germanshepherdsmum

Dear God.

😄😄

Dear God.

Some of you probably wouldn't be impressed by our new solicitor. We were recommended to her by a friend and when we met her some months ago I must admit my jaw must have dropped a bit. She was wearing a short kilt style skirt, black tights, biker boots and a very large sloppy jumper. No makeup and quite untidy looking hair - but it's always possible she styled it that way deliberately. She also has tattoos around every finger on one hand. She's absolutely brilliant - listens to what I say, answers my questions, she's organised and does what she says she's going to do. She's actually the most impressive solicitor I have ever had to deal with, although there haven't been that many and all house sale related. I guess she gets away with it because it's her own partnership. She's also quite pregnant so I don't suppose she'll be around for long, which is the story of my life when it comes to people we're very impressed with.

I was joking, really. I didn't mean to cause offence, anyway. The only comment on this thread that I've found offensive was the one about slim people - the others are (IMO) a bit pompous and snobbish, but no more than usual on GN.

I wasn't accusing anyone of anything - my comment about defensiveness was as I said - someone asking why responding defensively is defensive. It struck me as amusing, is all. It was one comment on a post that tried to take the heat out of the increasingly heated debate. I don't care what EAs wear, but I find semiotics interesting and tried to explore that angle in my post. If this post is me being defensive, so be it, but get your facts right?

To be fair, M0nica, asking why 'responding in a defensive way. . .' is being defensive does seem rather, erm, defensive

Why shouldn't someone be defensive if they feel their view is worth defending? The people who don't like what they term defensiveness can just not comment instead of implying the so-called defensive person is doing something wrong.

Defending a viewpoint is perfectly rational. Accusing someone of being defensive is attacking the person rather than the argument. Play the ball not the man.

Why can see you rings in private areas of somebodys body?

Best to swerve hospitals. Assault by eyelash is the least of it.

Don't come too near one or two of the hospitals in Greater Manchester then...(I mean, stay away if you can anyway)...at least one has changed it's dress code recently and now thinks it's perfectly acceptable to have so many tattoos Ray Bradbury would question it. I've seen plenty of clinical staff with enough rings in places that haven't seen daylight for a very long time to make me shudder, not to mention absurdly long eyelashes like the ones on those creepy ma-ma dolls I remember from childhood. It's just a matter of time before one of those bits ends up being left in a surgical patient or swallowed by an unsuspecting medical patient....

I wasn't clear. I was asking why responding to someone's comments meant I was being defensive.

GN is a discussion forum which means we all post our own views and also post how we agree/disagree with other people's views and why.

That is all I have ever done. If that is being defensive, then anyone who has ever responded to a thread on GN other than posting that they agree with the OP was being defensive.

To be fair, M0nica, asking why 'responding in a defensive way. . .' is being defensive does seem rather, erm, defensive .

The thing is, if everyone judged EAs' professionalism by their clothing to the point where they went elsewhere if a company's representatives looked too downmarket, the agents would be being told to dress up, which clearly they were not in the case of the company you used.

Maybe, however, at a time when money is tight and house prices are disproportionately high people would react against paying large commissions to people who can clearly afford to spend a lot of money on their work outfits? Visible signs that agents are making a lot of money from hard-pressed clients might not go down well.

It's tricky, as clothing needs to signify respect for the client (so no food stains, missing buttons and worn-down heels), show that the company is successful (so nothing too cheap), but not flaunt that success to the people who are paying their wages, so made-to-measure cashmere might not be appropriate - the agents are working for the clients, and shouldn't make them feel inferior, however subtly. As most agents will cater for a range of clients, getting all of that right will be a balancing act.

Ok I give up!
You are clearly not capable, or maybe not willing to see the error of your ways and accept that some of your comments were judgemental and unfair.

And why is doing that being defensive?

How have you not taken criticism you ask.
You have responded in a defensive way to pretty much every comment that did not agree with your point of view.

How have I 'not taken criticism.'

I was interested to read in one of the papers today that Gareth Southgate, the English Football Manager, is deliberately changing the way he dresses at work. Out go the snappy suits, instead he will dress more casually (but no less expensively). He says. Whenever you put something on you are making a statement, I am conscious of that now

Which is exactly the point that I have been making from the beginning.

Look back my friends. I rest my case. This woman can criticise but can’t take it. Not impressed 😉

Last time we had an Estate Agent round they sent a young man who was dressed a Cross between Rupert Bear and a Dandy, nice enough and very polite but admitted he had no idea how much our house was worth!

I can cope with criticism, but I am sure I did not say I was wearing blusher that day, In fact I cannot remember saying anything about what I was wearing at all.