Nearly Two-Thirds of Jewelers Have a Store Dress Code

Yes: 64%

• A pretty strict code. Four colors: white, cream, black or gray. Dresses/skirts knee length. Store-approved red can be added in and only nude/natural, clear or fresh tip nails. No body piercings or visible tattoos. — Alisha Moore, Toner Jewelers, Overland Park, KS
• I encourage watching QVC! If the written policy isn’t working, maybe a visual will help. — Christine Matlack, E.G. Landis Jewelers, Boyertown, PA
• Quality casual. Dress too well on the West coast and customers are uncomfortable. — Elizabeth Breon, Coast Jewelers, Florence, OR
• Our salespeople make a great living and in general want to dress like their clients (fairly conservative here). Also they find when they wear suits (both men and women), clients think of them as managerial and more experienced. — Dorothy Vodicka, The Gem Collection, Tallahassee, FL
• Well, considering all three owners have tattoos, this is not a concern and it is consistent with our location and clientele (one of us even has her nose pierced! The horror!). Dress code is casual professional — just enough to signal to people we are the ones working the floor. — Nicole Shannon, Keir Fine Jewelry, Whistler, British Columbia, Canada
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• Nicely dressed, business casual. No tattoos visible. (One exception: our store manager, 35, lost her husband in an accident earlier this year and requested to have a tattoo in the inside of her wrist and forearm. We consented.) — Albert Yocom, Yocom Jewelry, Marceline, MO
• For the ladies, pantyhose are mandatory all year! A woman does not look dressed with bare legs; she looks unfinished. — Laurie Cusher, Hyde Park Jeweler, Hyde Park, NY
• Casual dress. In California, tattoos are very common. As long they are tasteful, it’s okay. — Charles Hood, C.B. Hood Diamond Co., Santa Maria, CA
• We are in a beachside community in Southern California. It’s a very well-heeled community but our dress code is basically denim, diamonds and flip-flops. — Alex Weil, Martin’s Jewelry, Manhattan Beach, CA
• Had a corporate look with a blue shirt and before that polos with our logo, but was told by visiting jewelers to allow for more individuality. Ironically, a few years earlier, a different group of jewelers recommended that we incorporate a dress code with a uniform look. Would ditch clothing altogether if it weren’t for the fact that the average age of our staff is 65. — Bill Elliott, Ross Elliott Jewelers, Terre Haute, IN
• Presentable. I am the judge of that. Yes, I am the store tyrant. — Klaus Kutter, A Jour Inc., Bristol, RI

No: 36%

• We are all one-of-kind and individual. I wear cowboy boots every day and I would not like it if someone told me I couldn’t wear them to work. — Cathy Grad, Caffray Jewelers, Hinsdale, IL
• Dress code? That is so junior high. — Mark Thomas Ruby, SunSpirit Designs, Loveland, CO
• We hire fashionable women. They know how to dress. — Betsy Barron, Love & Luxe, San Francisco, CA
• I hire people with common sense. However, we do have a small sign on the door that says “Pull up your pants” for younger customers. — Cindy Fuller, Fuller Designs, Poplar Bluff, MO
• Not a formal dress code, but everyone does wear business casual or better. I have always worn a tie and sport coat, so that kinda leads the way for others. — Ed Menk, E. L. Menk Jewelers, Brainerd, MN

This article originally appeared in the March 2017 edition of INSTORE.