MIT Alumni Lament Business-Clothing Trends

Compiled ByDeborah Austin Business attire may be going to the dogs, agree alumni of Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT) Sloan School of Management in a recent survey. But today's all-time worst business-fashion trend? There you unleash a disagreement. Forty-six percent of survey respondents said they despise casual dress in the workplace -- "We now have to decode carefully what messages we are transmitting by our choices" -- while 43% decry a return toward formal attire -- "Doctors don't need [suits and ties] to gain respect, so why do other professions?" The survey, done in connection with the 50th anniversary of MIT Sloan, located in Cambridge, Mass., garnered about 600 responses from alumni worldwide. Other worst-business-clothing citations:

Women's high-heeled shoes: "as proved by any manufacturing plant tour involving catwalks..."

Corporate logo wear: "It's tribal and a bit bizarre to sell yourself out as an advertising billboard..."

Clip-on belt phone or Blackberry holsters: ". . . makes everybody look like a corporate cowboy or plumber."

Bermuda shorts: ". . . frankly, men's knees and a suit jacket were never meant to be seen simultaneously."