Thursday, 15 Jan, 2009 Offbeat

According to the fashion forum website TheRagTrader.com, a lot of women dress provocatively to be able to climb the career ladder faster.

About quarter of the 3,000 surveyed women said that they would wear somewhat risky clothing to get a bonus or promotion at the office. According to TheRagTrader.com 1 in 20 of those women confessed about wearing provocative outfits on a daily basis.

The survey showed that 78 percent of women consider that their outfit influences their day at the office. More than half of women believe that the way they dress helped them achieve good results at work.

The spokesman for the London-based company, TheRagTrader, mentioned that dressing helps women achieve more in both cases: during 9-5 and when they climb the career ladder. "Even when working from home, it's incredible how clothing can influence your productivity. If you're clothing is too relaxed in style it's harder to get into work mode and all too easy to waste the day," he said.

The results of the study also showed that two thirds of women feel they are more organized when they wear stylish clothes. Sixty one percent of women believe that a stylish outfit helps them gain more respect from colleagues at work. About half of the surveyed women admitted that there was also competition when it came to office dressing. The majority of women, who were involved in office fashion battles, work in the marketing and advertising industries. Second most competitive industry was media and third was the retail industry.

It was also revealed that 25 percent of women at least once were terrified with the fact that one of their colleagues at work wore the same outfit as them, reports Daily Mail.

The survey also showed that quite often there are cases of wardrobe malfunctions at the office. For example, 31 percent of women laddered their tights, 19 percent of men walked around the office with their zip flying low and 14 percent of office workers have split their undergarments.

TheRagRrader.com also listed the worst industries for fashion competition:

1. Marketing and advertising

2. Media/Creative

3. Retail

4. Secretarial

5. Sales