Fashion has got to be one of the most glaring evidences of the great gender divide. Men’s clothes are the so bland: watch a Hollywood red carpet and compare the styles and colours of what the ladies are wearing vs. the men. Wow. A variation on the suit. With colour *rah*.

Like so with work attire. Nothing says “business is boring” like a room full of men in pants and jackets, so why do we persist with it day in, day out? It’s possible to demonstrate professionalism and show respect for the workplace while dressed in something that reflects your personality – just ask a woman!

Granted, this advice won’t be possible for everyone, but seriously consider it if you don’t work in a client-facing role in your organisation. Check with your boss to see whether you can go mufti, even if it’s just Fridays.

In hot weather you could wear a comfortable short-sleeved shirt, then the office won’t have to have the aircon at “freezing” (women can leave their cardi’s at home); plus there’ll be less ironing, which saves time and – in some small way if this idea catches on – the environment (from reduced energy costs).

How much easier would your life be if you didn’t have to wear a “penguin suit” to work?

The Onion had a bit of a laugh at Gillette’s expense back in 2004, with a satirical article featuring Gillette’s CEO bemoaning how competitor Schick released a razor with 4 blades to edge out (har har) their flagship Mach 3 product line, and how they were going to retaliate with… 5 blades! which the company actually did the following year.

Then in 2006 The Economist picked up the joke and ran with it, graphing the trajectory of blade one-upmanship to show that by 2100 a typical razor would have no less than 14 blades.

I was actually a happy Mach 3 Turbo user way back when, until a windfall at work allowed me to splurge on a top-of-the-range electric saver. Several years went by, until one day the charger stopped working, and I was forced to rediscover the joys of manual shaving. Purely by coincidence, Schick started running a promotion on their Hydro 5 series, and started giving them away like candy – I scored 3 for free through my usual source of freebies, the Contagious Network (Schick are also giving them away on their Facebook page.)

Does 5 blades really make a difference? Seriously? You probably know the answer already, which is not really. Compared to the Schick Quattro that I’ve be using recently, it’s much of a muchness. They both do the job admirably, which is to say a close shave with minimum skin irritation, but for me the main factor isn’t the razor but having a good shaving gel. Of course, if you really want to appreciate a good razor, try shaving with one of those freebie hotel jobs…

What do you think – is 5 blades the pinnacle of manual shaving, or will 6 ultimately triumph?