Dress Code

You might think that just because you work for yourself that you can dress however you want.  To a degree you can, but Signing Agencies and Title Companies will obligate you to a style of dress.  Usually, Business or Business Casual.

I wanted to write about this because within a short time-frame, I encountered multiple Notaries wearing what I thought was terribly inappropriate attire for a Signing. I don’t want you to think I am picking on women, but the 2 I have in mind happened to be women and as generally, this tends to be a heavily female dominated industry, I tend to run into more female Notaries than male Notaries. I think it is easier to make recommendations as to what you should wear, vs. what you should not…

Business Dress is fairly easy: 

For guys, slacks or dress pants and a nice shirt, probably a button down, maybe a tie, maybe a jacket, maybe a sweater and nice shoes – no sneakers or tennis shoes. 

For girls, likely, a skirt or slacks or a dress, a nice blouse and probably heels or nice shoes. Jewelry or accessories are up to the individual, but generally, nothing too distracting or gaudy. 

If you find yourself somewhere in the middle, go with what works best for you, I am not one to judge.

Business Casual opens all kinds of options for everyone.  I think that for guys, a clean, dark pair of jeans with a polo or button-down shirt or sweater along with a nice pair of shoes, is fine.  For women, I am not even going to try.  The options are too great (us guys have it so easy).  I will say that no matter what you choose to wear, remember that you are a representative of the Title Company. I look at it like this, if I were to conduct a Signing in a Title Company office, would I wear this…if the answer is Yes, great. If the answer is No, maybe you should rethink your wardrobe. If the answer, is ‘I’m not sure’, or ‘maybe’, go change.

A few recommendations:  1)  If you would wear it to the beach, do not wear it to a Signing, 2)  if you would wear it to a bar or the club, do not wear it to a Signing, 3)  if you would wear it to a backyard BBQ or like event, do not wear it to a Signing. 

No flip flops.  Guys, no bare feet at all.  Girls, sandals are OK, but closed toed shoes are better. No jeans with more than 3 holes, meaning, 1 for your body and 1 for each leg. If I can read the date on the Quarter in your pocket, maybe reconsider your jeans, if your blouse is open enough from above for me to see your naval, maybe reconsider your top and if your skirt or dress is so short that when you get out of the car others can see your color of the day, maybe you should rethink your outfit altogether.

Remember, this is not a date, this is not an afternoon delight, you are not looking for Mr. or Ms. Right or Right Now, this is a professional visit, treat it as such.  All you need is for one Signer to say something to the Title Company, intentionally or otherwise, and you might be blacklisted.  And, if the Title Company hears it, I guarantee you that they will say something to any Signing Agency that was involved.

As a Notary, we want to be memorable, but not for the wrong reasons.

All of that being said, you might ask yourself, Can I dress better than what’s talked about here? Of course you can. Should you? Why not? Don’t ask that same question about dressing further down. Can you wear a pair of jeans with holes in the knees? Is it OK to wear a dress snug enough to display all of your attributes? Should you wear a crop top and show off your love handles? In all of these instance, you can, but should you? Feel free, it’s just likely more work for me. 🙂