Clothes Maketh A Woman?

Appearance expectations don't always show up as written dress codes or grooming rules. More often, they seep into culture in quiet but powerful ways

- SAKSHI BATRA

IN CORPORATE INDIA'S ivory towers and buzzing boardrooms, a quiet tension lingers beneath the surface—one that has little to do with performance metrics or quarterly outcomes. It is the implicit expectation to “look the part.”

For years, discussions around workplace equality have centred on pay gaps and leadership representation. Yet, when speaking to women across industries, another subtler question emerges: Are women still being evaluated, consciously or otherwise, on their appearance at work?

Sujaya Nag, Senior Vice President—HR, Brigade Group, calls the pressure very real but often invisible. “Across my years leading HR in India and overseas, I've seen how women carry an extra layer of scrutiny that men might not face. We hear it in coaching conversations—women second-guessing what to wear for a client meeting, wondering if they'll look 'too young' or 'too serious,” she says.

Appearance expectations do not always show up as formal rules. More often, they seep into culture in quiet but powerful ways.

Nag believes it could be a dress code interpreted through personal bias, a comment brushed off as ‘just feedback,’ or an assumption that grooming equals competence.