Suits

I had a meeting tonight at the wonderfully opulent Canary Wharf. Now I used to work there and can attest to it's brilliance and splendour as well as to it's blocky, glass walled metropolistless facade which is really rather lovely to visit, not always so good to spend most of your day in. I don't mean to say that the aesthetic isn't pleasing, it is. Billions of pounds have been pumped into the area to ensure we all appreciate just how aesthetically pleasing it is. I think my main problem with our sparkly, silvery and costly financial hub is the fact that among this style, architectural mastery and beautiful sunset stealing vistas are a load of sad faced, stressed paced, grey and black clad individuals.

Among the amazing colours and lines of such an important and poignant area (in the already historically and aesthetically splendid London, lest we forget), you'd think one would step up to the mark and flex some serious haute couture muscles. Alas all we can hope for are splashes of safe, harmless and usually similar styles.

Women don't seem to be as bad as the men in this capacity. Women seem to have a knack for adding a little colour to themselves without jeopardising their often solid, professional and damn right rigid persona's with a scarf or a pashmina or the like. It's all very well thought out.

Gentlemen though, of any age, colour or creed tend to cling to the unremarkable and mediocre greys and blacks (and navy's) which inspire... well, not a lot really. No wonder stress levels are through the roof and multinationals are having to build rooms specifically for creative thinking (with a vast spectrum of bright colours never seen in nature hanging on the walls) when these poor people have to look at chalkboard sketches of themselves in dull mirrors all day.

For industries which are increasingly reliant on creative thinking and 'out of the box' mindsets, I think it's time to shake it up a little. Let's get companies to start thinking in the same way as they push their employees to. Let's bring a little colour to the office. Smart can be bright. Professional can be fitted. Serious can still be fun. I myself wear a tie and a waistcoat on an almost daily basis but I ensure it bleeds through a personality which I'm comfortable with people seeing as my own. I absolutely love the smart, tight look, I just think it really shows off a figure (and we all have one somewhere under all that polyester) so let's not be afraid of it. Let's relish it. Let's bring ourselves into the workplace, not just our skills.

I sat back in my seat, during my meeting in Canary Wharf. I saw a man walk passed the window on his way home or to another meeting (or to see a hooker), whatever. I saw him walk passed in a wonderfully tailored fitted suit with a stunning orange shirt and a burnt orange tie. I watched him disappear into this distance and couldn't help thinking; Our skills and talents have always been our strongest assets, so isn't it time to let our style become our strongest suit?