We Dress Like the Future, Not for Their Approval

Inside the Decolonized Dress Codes

In a world where blazers are coded as authority and hoodies as threat, where hijabs are scrutinized but business suits are praised as “neutral,” and where “professionalism” is often shorthand for assimilation, we need more than a wardrobe change—we need a revolution.

👔 Who Made the Dress Code?

The idea of “professionalism” is anything but objective. Dress codes in academic, corporate, and institutional spaces have long been rooted in white supremacy, patriarchy, colonialism, ableism, and class hierarchy.

• Natural Black hair is “unruly.”

• Indigenous textiles are “inappropriate.”

• Queer and trans fashion is “distracting.”

• Assistive devices or gender-nonconforming clothing “lack polish.”

• Hijabs and turbans are “too political.”

• Cultural jewelry is “unprofessional.”

Let’s name it for what it is: a colonial dress code masquerading as neutral expectation.

🪧 Why We Reject “Neutral”

There is no such thing as neutral. Neutral is a construct designed by power to erase anything that disrupts its dominance. When institutions say “dress professionally,” they often mean: dress white, male, able-bodied, straight, cis, and middle-class.

But we are not here to be palatable. We are here to be visible, unbought, and unbossed.

“We don’t dress to assimilate. We dress to survive—and then to thrive.”

We’re not interested in changing what we wear to fit in their institutions. We’re here to change the institution itself.

Because the future looks like ankara blazers in boardrooms, binders and bold lips in faculty meetings, mobility aids adorned with rhinestones, and hoodies at the podium.

And if your definition of “professional” can’t hold that?It’s not professional—it’s oppressive.