A matter of appearances How workers’ aesthetics are regulated in advice, hiring, and at work

The time, effort and energy people invest into looking good for work is not simply driven by vanity. Aesthetics have become increasingly important, affecting for instance job opportunities, salaries, status, and recognition. The ‘right’ aesthetics are often a condition for being hired and it is common for employers to set appearance-related standards for employees, particularly in the service and creative sectors. This aesthetization of work puts substantial demands on individuals in terms of time, effort, and mental strain. Moreover, it contributes to the exclusion of certain individuals and bodies. These far-reaching consequences raise questions about how, when, and by whom the importance of aesthetics for work and specific aesthetic norms in the workplace are reinforced.
In this dissertation, I look into how the regulation of workers’ aesthetics in the Dutch post-industrial labor market takes place. In four qualitative case studies, I show that aesthetic regulation is an ongoing process performed not only by employers but also by other labor market actors, that it often takes on implicit or concealed forms, and that it is a two-way process, as work aesthetics also regulate workers.
At different points in the process of finding and having a job appearances are made to matter. Sometimes in direct ways, but often through unclear and implicit forms of regulation. It is precisely this opacity and ambivalence surrounding the significance of aesthetics in work that results in significant yet underestimated consequences for the alienation of workers, for the structuring of inequalities and exclusions in the job market, and for society-wide aesthetization.