Hedge fund industry dress rules for women

Like Hollywood executives, hedge-fund chieftains are often the most casually dressed guys in the room (though their Seven jeans and untucked Lacostes cost as much as some suits).

But those dress codes don't apply to their female colleagues. It's a measure of the tremendous scrutiny that hedge-fund women face that they can't confidently imitate the men's 'power casual' style.

'You're neither here nor there,' says Kay Garkusha, who worked at a small Connecticut hedge fund until December. 'You can't dress like the guys and you can't dress like the other women who are in support roles.'

The intense pressure on women executives these days came into focus last week at a meeting of the 100 Women in Hedge Funds group. Double standards show up in many fields all over the country, but none more than the testosterone-charged world of Wall Street. There, women are still fighting for access to executive levels in an atmosphere where men also dissect each others' wardrobes for minute suggestions of power or weakness.

At this moment, the risks of missteps seem higher to many people, with thousands of financiers interviewing for a shrinking number of jobs. Indeed, Amanda Cain, head of institutional sales at Newedge USA in New York and an organizer of the women's event, noted that 'a sizable percentage of the women here are 'in transition,'' -- the new euphemism for 'downsized.' Some of the women who have lost their jobs find themselves second-guessing any sartorial liberties they did take.

Ms. Garkusha sums up the hedge-fund dress code for men as the attitude that 'we can dress like this because we make a lot of money.' Yet, looking back on her six years at the hedge fund, which she declines to name, she wishes she'd worn more jackets to work. She now works as head of client relations at Synergy Graphix, a former client, where she says she accepted a salary cut. While she is too busy to spend much time pondering her clothes, she has wondered if a sharper wardrobe could have made a difference. 'I've thought a lot about that,' she says.

Of course, in the hard-driving, norm-busting world of hedge funds, there have been few rules to bank on. Yet power can shift based on subtle messages. That was the topic many women reiterated last week.

Some people, upon hearing of 100 Women In Hedge Funds, suggest that they didn't know there were 100 women employed in hedge funds. But on a Tuesday evening at the Thomas Pink store on Madison Avenue in New York, 150 women -- each of whom knows her way around a spreadsheet -- discussed concerns they probably wouldn't raise in other settings. Are stockings necessary? What about out-dressing the managing partner?

It's trickier than ever to look sharp without relying on obvious symbols of wealth. An Hermes scarf -- to some the equivalent of a power tie -- could seem to be a metaphor for excess in the current environment.

One young woman described an unmarried colleague who wears a wedding ring to seem more mature and less available to the men she works with. Later, another attendee said that her diamond engagement ring -- from a real fiance -- has improved her professional relationships with male colleagues. Clearly, clothes and accessories are powerful symbols in the workplace. They are seen before our words are heard in a board meeting, and they are remembered long after, like perfume that hangs in a room.

Clothes signal our position at the table. For instance, buy-side executives, as Wall Street's consumers, can afford to under-dress the sell-siders, who are more often expected to suit up to help close a sale.

For women, who have more clothing choices than men, the risk of a mistake is magnified. Just ask Michelle Obama about the peril of bare arms. There's a steady debate about whether former Lehman executive Erin Callan's heels were too sexy.

Still, it's possible to reduce such risks by considering what clothes mean to the people around us. Our clothes at work needn't express our true inner selves. Instead, they can express our ability to contribute or take charge. Collars on a shirt or jacket convey authority. Flat shoes can suggest a girlish lack of authority; if you wear them, choose flats with some hardware and avoid the ballet look. As for stockings, the debate rages on, but if your primary audience is over 50, they may feel more comfortable with them.

One experienced hedge-fund executive, sharply dressed in a Brioni suit the other night, related her experience interviewing for jobs in a suit paired with boots rather than pumps. She didn't get a single call back to a second interview when she wore the boots. If you consider clothes as symbols, a possible explanation emerges: Boots with heels are sexy, with a hint of dominatrix. While that message might be subtle enough for everyday work, our antennae are more sensitive in job interviews, where there's no room for risk.

In an era when most women prefer to focus on their skills, it's a sobering idea. 'We focus so much on gaining that elusive information edge on our jobs that we tend to forget that our appearance can help put us over the edge of that promotion, job offer, etc.,' says Diana Sonis, who worked until recently at a New York hedge fund.

Style

Writing to the library this afternoon, before a table, sat a man.
He wore a dark blue vintage sportswear, white v from t, and upon their arrival in the benefits of short hair. In his reading notes a similar thing, a pen in hand. His desk are a flight sunglasses, a number of other miscellaneous items. Hanging back like a north face jacket, wearing a gray corduroy pants, because it is sitting, are not clear-type. The exposure of the feet placed a black bag, much like the weekend bag, a little big, but it is his bag.
I could not help seeing him several times. Later, go with a table and sat down. To lay down their bags, take out computer and headphones, took off his jacket, dark glasses in their hands will also put on the table, such as conducting a ceremony. I suddenly realized that their package quite like the original look, with the exposure compared to the black bag, they seemed to belong to the same country.
I always used to look at a person's bag, and then shoes, then the jacket.
Sit down, I also took the opportunity to take a look at him several times better. Not see his face, is to look at his things, his or her clothes, and nothing more. It is hard to say, is to attract this person or his things, or style attracted.
He stood up and said the body, to the back of the bookshelf. I think he's back. It was a some loose pants, a gray, it is free to collapse at the waist. His vintage sports jacket, let me first he was a German judge.
So the eyes and the things he table. Aviator sunglasses are still very eye-catching. He returned, sat down. I hurried to recover the line of sight. Put on headphones and start working.
After a while, a 50-year-old middle-aged man sitting in the middle of our spaces. He generally dressed middle-aged man wearing clothes, brown khaki jacket, not the shape of the shallow white trousers, shoes lace. He is a cloth bag pockets, took off his jacket, the inside is a light plaid shirt, the most mediocre style, especially when inserted into the same shallow mediocrity when in a pair of white trousers.
All of a sudden my bag and the cloth with pockets for starting to look aggrieved. Black bag that exposure before the partnership is that it is more like it. Just like that black leather jacket, compared with the brown khaki jacket, more like a small black suit and my partner the same. They are all one country, but now can only hope that the relative distance. The middle into a number of different countries such unexpected things.
Another for a while, that wore vintage uniforms to stand up. Exposure he brought a black bag, will be closed one by one table into things. His intention to leave, and move quickly. So I turned to look at him in that moment he left, I saw his feet, a pair of black slippers. At this time, my gold ballet shoes are also eager to up, as if to wave to pay tribute to her partner.
I would like to take a look at my bag, she seems to have meaning give up. I smiled and told her in his heart: It does not matter, you will encounter more of the same country partners.

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