What should your team wear to your trade event?
First impressions matter.
Especially when representing your brand at a trade event.
Building the right event uniform for your team is not just about looking professional, it’s about standing out against the crowd, being instantly recognisable to potential customers and making a lasting impact.
So, how can you achieve all this with personalised workwear for your team? Through this blog, we’ll take a look at important features you need to consider before building your staff uniform, how clothing for events can affect the visitors at your stand and even the success of the show and offer your inspiration on event staff uniform ideas.
Let’s dive in.
Problems you may face when dressing your team for an expo
There’s nothing worse for your event staff than standing in a busy exhibition hall for hours on end, dressed in uncomfortable, worn down and ill-fitting clothes.
It can be the difference between an enjoyable, successful show and a difficult and unsuccessful show. It can also have a negative impact on your brand visibility, as many visitors will be seeing your brand for the first time. If your team is uncomfortable and unhappy throughout the show, potential customers will pick up on it.
But understanding what to wear to a trade event can make your and your team’s events so much better.
Important features to consider
Style
One of the first key features you need to consider when knowing what to wear to a trade event is style.
How would you like your business to be perceived? Is there a message you would like to get across? Do you want to exude professionalism, approachability or expertise?
Initially knowing what workwear style you would like your team to be dressed in will give you the perfect foundation to build your event workwear off.
Professional Style
Depending on your industry and the types of events your team attend, it might be common to wear suits, corporate shirts, dresses and skirts to your events. With in-person events and conferences growing in popularity again after the pandemic, it isn’t surprising to see businesses embrace a traditional style once again.
A traditionally professional style will look different to every industry, but it historically consists of button-down shirts, suit trousers or skirts and a blazer. Commonly in black, navy or grey.
Back in the day, this type of attire was commonplace at trade events and is still very popular at conferences.
But a professional style of workwear no longer is seen as the traditional suit and tie combo. One of the ways you can exude professionalism with your workwear is through branded knitwear. With its classic look, it gives the impression of sophistication whilst being warm and comfortable for your team to wear.
Henbury is a fantastic clothing brand that designs professional, durable and comfortable knitwear that is perfect to embroider.
Our favourites include:
Casual Style
Incorporating a more casual style into your event workwear does not mean that your team won’t look professional.
If anything, dressing your team in smart, yet casual garments can make them seem more approachable.
Additionally, a casual style allows you to have more freedom when choosing your workwear colours. Bright and vibrant colours will automatically attract eyes at busy events and your team will be recognisable in even the busiest of crowds.
Stanley/Stella are known for their casual, sustainable and fashionable garment range. Their innovative colour range allows you to perfectly match your customised workwear to your branding, whilst still creating a bright and visually appealing uniform. Perfect for both of our print and embroidery customisation services.
Our favourites include:
Durability & Fit
Durability and fit go hand in hand when knowing what you should wear to your next trade event. Ensuring your event workwear properly fits each member of your team will only increase the overall lifespan of the garments.
Think about it like this, we know that even though unisex garments can be flattering, traditionally they are based on the male body type. This means a straight-cut fit, with longer sleeves and torso to fit the standard male body type.
This is not an uncommon topic of conversation. Here at MyWorkwear, we recently conducted a study into the gender workwear gap. We found that women are unfortunately not as catered to in the workwear industry as men. However, brands are noticing this gap and are working towards creating a more inclusive garment range.
Dressing your female team members in the traditional unisex fit will not only look unflattering, but uncomfortable. When your team is dressed in uncomfortable workwear for a prolonged period of time they will inevitably feel the effects and their morale will decrease.
So ensuring they are comfortable has to be a number one priority when choosing your event workwear.
But how does this link with durability?
When you are in ill-fitting and uncomfortable workwear, it encourages you to pull, twist and tug at your clothing. Unless your garments are designed to be ultra-hard wearing, this will negatively affect the quality of your workwear.
This is why choosing high-quality and comfortable event clothing will inevitably increase the length of time your workwear will stay vibrant, smart and professional.
Additionally, knowing how to maintain your workwear will ensure your new expo workwear stays clean and bright throughout your entire event season. Delve further into this point in our recent blog discussing the best ways to maintain your workwear.
Garment Colour
Colour is the first feature visitors will see of your team at your events. So it’s important to think about what colour best represents your event staff.
Here’s what to consider when selecting the colour of your workwear:
What are your main branding colours?
A popular choice for promotional clothing is to utilise the main colours in your brand guidelines. This colour will already suit your logo and has already been established in relation to your business.
Delve further into your brand guidelines to look for secondary brand colours.
Many brand guidelines will also include secondary colours that are used throughout your marketing practices. These secondary colours are usually more muted tones, that support your main branding colours, to ensure they beautifully stand out. Choosing to base your promotional uniforms on your secondary colours is a fantastic way to expand the look of your team without going too far out of the zone of your branding.
Vibrancy of your event uniform
The ultimate aim of any trade event is to attract as many new customers for their exhibitors as possible. This makes exhibition halls very busy places. So standing out against the crowd is very important. Choosing a vibrant colour for your event employee uniform can make your team easy to identify in a crowd.
Your choice of colour may also have a negative impact on the longevity of your event uniform. Whilst white can be a bright and crisp looking colour, marks and stains show up on white garments very easily. To avoid this, you can choose garments that are easier to clean or embrace darker colours that hide everyday marks better.
Psychology of Colour
Another aspect to consider is the psychology of colour.
Colour is a powerful communication tool when it comes to workwear. Choosing the right colour for your brand can send powerful messages to potential customers.
Here is how different colours translate:
Uniform ideas for event staff
Take a look at some style inspiration for you to help build your event staff uniform around.
Men’s Classic Uniform Inspiration
If you’re looking for a new take on a professional style, why not try a promotional staff uniform similar to this?
Pairing a white button-down with a black knitwear jumper, like the Nimbus Beaufont Extra Fine Cashwool Merino Knit Sweater will keep your team comfortable and warm with a touch of class.
Men’s Comfort Uniform Inspiration
If you’re looking for a new take on a professional style, why not try a promotional staff uniform similar to this? Pairing a white button-down with a black knitwear jumper, like the Nimbus Beaufont Extra Fine Cashwool Merino Knit Sweater will keep your team comfortable and warm with a touch of class.
Men’s Casual Uniform Inspiration
Embracing a casual style for your event workwear will not only keep your team comfortable throughout the day but also make your team appear more approachable.
A printed hoodie is a brilliant addition to your event workwear, we recommend the Russell Authentic Hooded Sweatshirt.
Women’s Classic Uniform Inspiration
A modern take on classic professional women’s workwear is black tailored trousers with a coloured turtle neck knitwear partnered with a branded Nimbus Womens Vesper Bodywarmer.
Women’s Comfort Uniform Inspiration
Embrace a warm and comfortable workwear look with everyday trousers and a personalised fleece.
Comfortability is essential when working long hours at a show and the Craghoppers Expert Ladies Miska 200 Micro Fleece Jacket is a fantastic layer to keep your team warm.
Women’s Casual Uniform Inspiration
Allow your team to experiment with their style with this casual expo workwear look.
Build your look with casual jeans, a t-shirt and this Awdis Ladies Cropped ¼ Zip Sweatshirt.
Elevate your brand identity.
What to wear to a trade event? To answer in short, branded workwear.
If your business is exhibiting at trade shows it’s imperative that your whole team are branded in your company logo.
Not only is this important so visitors at your stand will be able to identify members of your team. But, you will be outwardly promoting your brand all across the event.
Whether your team is talking to visitors, having meetings with current customers or taking a walk around the event, every moment will add to your brand awareness.
To learn more about the benefits of branded workwear, check out our blog post.
Here at MyWorkwear, we are experts in customising workwear, we’ve been doing it since 1976!
We offer both embroidery and print services that will take your workwear to the next level.
If you would like some more information on our personalised clothing, contact us on 01952 585881 or email our sales team at sales@myworkwear.co.uk.
Our top garment recommendations
Custom Polo Shirts
Polo shirts are the most popular choice for event workwear. They give off a professional look whilst being comfortable to wear over long hours.
Personalised Gilets
Gilets are a brilliant way to add a professional look to any workwear ensemble. Here are some of our favourites.
Customised Hoodies & Sweatshirts
Layering is essential for your team to keep your team comfortable throughout any event and hoodies are a great choice to throw on that extra layer.
Branded Hi Vis Vests
In any exhibition hall, it will be a requirement that your team are in hi vis vests for set up and take down of your exhibitor stand. This is another brilliant opportunity for your team to show off their branding!
Start building your new expo workwear.
Now it’s time to start creating your team’s event workwear look!
Whichever style of event staff uniform you are currently leaning towards, we always recommend choosing garments that are comfortable for your team to wear.
Ultimately, if your team is comfortable throughout the long hours of a trade show, they will stay productive, approachable and most importantly happy.
Branding your event staff uniform is essential. It will ensure your team can be easily identified by potential customers, add a welcoming presence to the stand and outwardly promote your business across the entire event.
To start your journey to elevated branded event workwear, but are after more advice tailored to your business, why not give us a call? Either call us on 01952 585881 or drop us an email to sales@myworkwear.co.uk.
Here at MyWorkwear, we have been proud experts of personalised workwear since 1976.
Partner with the best, by starting your journey to elevated event workwear with us. Start by choosing your garments, add your designs and check out!
James Worthington is Co-Owner and Co-Managing Director of MyWorkwear, having taken over the business from his father and founder of the company, Mike. James has decades of experience in the workwear industry, supporting businesses across the UK with their workwear requirements.
