WHEN turning up to a party, virtually every woman’s nightmare – and probably most men’s – is arriving to find someone else wearing exactly the same outfit.
You can make a joke about what good taste you both have but the chances are you will spend the rest of the evening at the opposite end of the room trying to convince yourself that your dress looks better on you than on the other person.
After years of being told what to wear at school, we all enjoy the freedom of choosing our own clothes.
Yet thousands of people in the travel industry turn up to work everyday quite happily wearing the same as everyone else in the office.
Thomas Cook Retail human resources development manager Colin Dalby said: “As adults, I think people appreciate the commercial value of uniforms.
“As well as being of financial benefit to the staff, most employees agree that it looks professional – as long as they feel comfortable with the styles,” he said.
Luckily, those who make the decisions today are either kinder or have more fashion sense than their predecessors.
Gone are the stiff A-line skirts, mountainous shoulderpads, American-tan tights and 10inch winged collars that were the uniforms of yesteryear.
These days uniforms are designed to be practical and comfortable.
Uniform manufacturer De Baer chief executive Jacqueline de Baer said: “Fashionable is the wrong word.
“If companies followed fashion they would be changing their uniforms every few months. They are designed with social trends in mind.”
Take the crew who work on low-cost airline Go. Reflecting the style of the company, the crew looks very approachable in Gap-style trousers, colourful t-shirts and jumpers.
Marketing manager Mireille Briggs said:”Go stands for good value service and we want the uniforms to match this. We want the clothes the crew wear to be simple yet stylish, casual yet professional.
“Some low-cost airlines allow their crew to wear jeans, but we thought this was too casual.”
Giving the staff a choice of uniform makes life a bit easier for them.
Going Places gives its female staff three different length skirts, short and long-sleeved shirts either in a lightweight fabric for summer or thicker for winter. In the last two years, trousers have also been introduced for women while men’s uniforms are based on suits.
Poppy Lancefield, a counter clerk at the multiple’s Sutton, Surrey branch said: “Knowing what you are going to wear each morning saves a lot of time. Even better, we don’t have to iron the skirts and blouses.
“Wearing a uniform saves us money and it makes us look more professional and promotes the company.”
However, while this may suit the multinational agencies, the independents like to take a more relaxed approach.
Twickenham-based Thames Travel managing director John Green allows his six staff to wear whatever they like, as long as it is smart.
“We definitely do not wear uniforms. As an independent we want to project a very different image than the one a multiple wants to project,” he said.
“I want my staff to look like individuals and I don’t like the regimented feel that uniforms give. Clients like to come into our agency and feel comfortable.
“They get to know the agents as people who are really interested in their holiday,” he said.
While agents don’t mind wearing the corporate colours in the office, it’s a different story when it comes to going out at lunchtime or heading out down the pub after work on a Friday.
One 20-year-old Lunn Poly employee said: “I don’t feel comfortable walking around the town in my uniform and I wouldn’t be seen dead wearing it in the pub.”