My name is Betty Jester, owner of Caravan Fashions. We are a supplier of identity apparel, corporate suits, uniforms, career apparel or whatever term you want to use. As indicated in our slogan, we can supply corporate apparel to one person or a group of hundreds.

Caravan Fashions was founded in 1972, so I've spent over 30 years in this very specialized industry. Interestingly, it began in the first era of the miniskirt and hip huggers during the early 70's. The conservative management were from the 50's era and were shocked to see what their employees were wearing to work. They wanted an image that reflected the conservative nature of their industry. Hence, uniforms, or career apparel as we prefer to call these garments, was born.

For several years, throughout the 80's and 90's, corporate suiting was considered the only appropriate business wardrobe. I remember particularly the 80's when women were making such inroads into management and we tried so hard to dress as closely to men as possible. For the first time, working women discovered suits, the mix and match concept and that you could actually wear the same garment twice in one week without becoming a misfit.

Then came dot.com. What a nightmare — both in the amount of money lost by investors to pipe dreams and to the dress code and professional image of corporate America. Wear a tie to work? What a dork! You could get rich quick without looking the part so wear shorts and sandals to work. There was tremendous pressure on the traditional companies to adapt to the real winners. Casual Friday was born.

It didn't take long for Casual Friday to devolve into business casual, or as I prefer to address it, business casualty. For the record, how many employees really know what business casual should look like? Basically, it has become an anything goes and let's see how far we can push the edge dress code.

I have never been a conformist yet I have worn "uniforms" for over 30 years. I have still managed to be a successful owner of two clothing manufacturing plants and two retail stores and, if I unpacked the carton, the recipient of many accolades and awards for my knowledge and performance in the career apparel industry.

Daily I speak with Human Resource personnel and customers from various institutions who are appalled by the dress now passing as professional. Guys, you may like it but very few women enjoy having another women's cleavage thrust in their face when they're trying to conduct business, especially if they take their career and image seriously.

What amazes me the most is the amount of money organizations will spend on the perfect location, a cutting- edge architect, the best builder, landscaping to rival the Garden of Eden, only the best furnishings — and then you actually meet a person. And how is that person dressed? What image is this person projecting? None of the building, landscapes or furnishings speak. It only takes this person one quick first impression to erase thousands or even millions in a matter of seconds. Why, I bleat once again, isn't the image of the employees important enough to be addressed also? And why is management hesitant to address it? Yes, it's a personal issue but these employees are not occupying their space — they're occupying yours, mine and your customers/clients/users.

So what you'll find in these pages is knowledge and products distilled from 30+ years of experience. If you're an individual looking for washable suits for your working wardrobe that are in stock and excellent quality or a corporation who believes how your staff looks effects how your company performs, the solutions are here.