Work: The Ultimate Cosplay?

Those of you heading to Halloween shindigs or who had enough chutzpah to wear your costumes to the office might have costumes on the brain today  (that is, if you invested any time or creative effort into your outfit. I have yet to see what kind of costume my random closet raid will yield). SAG cards or not, most of us like wearing costumes because they allow us feel like we are someone else for a little while.

A former professor shared a story during class once: as her father was leaving for work one morning in a dapper, corporate-looking suit, the little girl next door saw him and shouted “I like your costume!”

The little girl unknowingly made a spot-on observation about what it means to get up, get dressed and go to work every day. In her eyes, her neighbor looked like he was playing a part, like he was trying to be someone else (or going to a Halloween party dressed as a character from ‘Mad Men’).

Without spinning off on those  ‘all fashion is a costume’ and ‘we are always playing a part’ tangents, it’s safe to say that a lot of people like us in the workforce have our ‘work selves’ and who we are outside of work. If the gap between the two is wider than that ginormous tv you’ve had your eye on, you might consider whether or not you are in the right career (Journalism Jobs, Database Administrator Jobs, Operations Jobs) .

Of course we may have a work persona–professionalism and restraint aren’t bad— but if you feel like you have to be a completely different person while you’re at work, are you being true to yourself? You still may have to dress up and play a role to an extent, but your job should be a (metaphorical) cosplay that works for YOU. So when people see your liederhosen and unicorn mask ensemble and you get that ever-popular question, “What exactly ARE you supposed to be?”  You’ll be able to tell them.

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