APPAREAL in Daily Mail

September 08, 2020

Why are men still winning at work? If women have equal leadership ability, why are they so under-represented at the top in business and society? Why are we still living in a man’s world where virtually all the top jobs are occupied by men? And why do we accept it?

We are proud to blog about our Client and Friend Gill Whitty-Collins, author of the book Why Men Win At Work that appeared in a publication in a famous newspaper in the UK, Daily Mail wearing APPAREAL Olesya Cotton Blend dress.

In her provocative book, Gill Whitty-Collins looks beyond the facts and figures on gender bias and uncovers the invisible discrimination that continues to sabotage us in the workplace and limits our shared success.

Read full publication here.

Gill Whitty-Collins, Business woman, Vice President, Author of Why Men Win at Work

Gill Whitty-Collins, Author & Speaker, Brand Architect, Business Renovator, Gender Equality warrior. Gill Whitty-Collins was born near Liverpool and after attending the local comprehensive high school went to study at Cambridge University. After graduating, she joined Procter & Gamble, where she led global brands such as Always, Pantene and Olay and swiftly moved up the ladder to Marketing Director, General Manager and finally Vice President. Her story and vision will inspire you to join the force to make gender inequality history in business and our society

In her book Gill analysed 7% of women who do make it to the CEO position and among other common behaviour patterns that they all share is their attitude to wardrobe.

"..Another thing these women all have in common (and I really hate to say this) is their attitude to how to dress in the workplace. Tamara Ingram (Chairman at Wunderman Thompson) told me, ‘I had to learn how to dress, that work comes with a uniform’ and she was by no means the only one to say that there is a ‘work wardrobe’, you have to ‘look the part’.

Dame Cilla Snowball (Governor at Wellcome Trust) goes further and describes it as ‘armour’.

Hanneke Faber (President Global Foods & Refreshment at Unilever) says, ‘I do believe the way women dress affects how they are perceived.”

Read more in Why Men Win At Work by Gill Whitty-Collins. FREE with every order exclusively at www.appareal.com in September 2020.

Gill's choice, APPAREAL Olesya Dress Collection.

Gill Whitty-Collins wearing APPAREAL A-line Cotton Blend Sage Blue dress

“ ...For Patricia Rodríguez Barrios, it is a tool she uses to make a virtue out of being the only woman in the male-dominated football environment: ‘I try to be the different person, to wear a different colour and stand out...”

“For one COO, how women dress at work is a big passion area. We had run out of time in our interview and I had not been able to ask her views on it, but she spontaneously shared them: ‘I understand the male locker- room psyche, they will talk about your bum, not your work.’ It is something she says she has always coached young women on and continues to do so when she sees them dressing in a certain ‘non-uniform’ way, telling them to not ‘make it a topic of conversation.”

Why men win at work cover, career women, working women, business wardrobe advice

"It is a highly controversial area I know, advising women on how to dress in order to manage around the sex-based thoughts and comments of men. It is also true that dressing professionally and ‘appropriately’ will not always be enough to stop the sexist comments, if a woman’s shapely figure is still discernible for example. But it is fair to say that a work uniform is not just for women. Men clearly have one too, although for different reasons. How many men do we think would prefer not to wear a suit, or a shirt and tailored trousers? I’m sure they would like to put on their jeans, trackies or shorts but they don’t.

Now as someone who has always believed in being myself and wearing, doing and saying what I want, I find it a little difficult to accept that some of these things are important drivers of the success of these amazing women. I personally prefer Eleanor Roosevelt’s philosophy that ‘Well-behaved women rarely make history’ but the reality is that, to an extent, these highly successful women are being ‘well-behaved’, and they are the ones making history by reaching the top levels in their chosen careers when, frankly, most women are not. They are authentic women but that doesn’t mean they are always showing up au naturel – they are thinking and acting strategically in the way they dress, in the way they prepare, in the way they analyse the people they are working with and how to manage them to get the result they want.

What we perhaps need to remember here is that this isn’t a gender thing, this is something that only women have to do in order to succeed – men are thinking about and doing all of this too."

Gill Whitty-Collins, Consultant - Coach - Board Chair - Author & Speaker BRAND ARCHITECT - BUSINESS RENOVATOR - GENDER EQUALITY WARRIOR

Gill's word on APPAREAL: "When the Daily Mail told me they wanted to do a photoshoot and I should wear something professional I new I needed APPAREAL. I chose the Olesya blue dress because it is such a beautiful colour, and it has sleeves and a modest neckline - as well as being really comfortable. It is the perfect work uniform"

Gill is wearing APPAREAL Olesya Cotton Blend Dress in Sage Blue.

APPAREAL Olesya Dress is the ultimate office-appropriate styling. A classic skater dress fit meets the modesty of a T-shirt dress with this laidback silhouette. The flattering piece cinches in your waist and gently skims over the legs to effortlessly flatter your figure. Cut from APPAREAL high-tech Italian double-knit cotton-blend fabric, is soft to the touch, breathable and ensures comfort; perfect for day-in day-out wearability. Made from 100% recycled fabrics made in Italy. For making one dress approximately 600 gr fishing nets had been recycled.

At APPAREAL we know many women love V-necks and especially Wrap dresses. We perfected classic Wrap dress famous for revealing necklines and created APPAREAL Red Sophie Wrap dress. It is a real wrap dress and does not require the top underneath to make it HR proof. You can enjoy office appropriate wrap dress you were dreaming to have!

All APPAREAL Dresses are ultra-comfortable, breathable, thermo-regulating, made from recycled fabrics and do not require dry-cleaning or ironing.

Machine Washable, Anti-Wrinkle, Breathable, Recycled, 4 way stretch