Dress for the Job

Dress for the job you want not for the job you have, or so goes the ad\age in the corporate world when it comes to dressing for success.
This is easier said than done if you work for a large corporation and that too in the throes of a full blown electricity crisis.  In the corporate world, employees tend to dress in layers.  The higher one is on the managerial ladder, the dressier one must be.  I guess in a world where interpersonal communication is the key currency and perceptions and impressions matter more than ever before, clothes do maketh the man. 
Comer summer with sweltering heat and no electricity, it is really hard to imagine why people believe that suits and ties count as practical business attire.  I can understand why the suit and tie would be considered as clothing of choice for Europeans but on a hot day when I have to give a presentation to my senior management dressed up to the hilt and that too in a partially lit room with no air-conditioning (there is only so much that can run on generator power) I fail to see the classiness of my suit.  Sure there is endless advice available on how to beat the heat while dressing code for business.  Dressing in pure cotton and eschewing mixed material makes good sense as does wearing lighter shades of colour. Many companies have taken a bold stand by allowing their employees to dress smart casual unless the situation really requires them to be dressed in particular, tend to be conservative dressers and serious creatures of habit.  More often than not I come across managers during extended afternoon meetings dressed in classic black suits in the sweltering heat.  The disheveled looks on their faces makes me wonder if that is where the term “dressed to kill” was coined from.