Men passionate for high-visibility

Jason Gill is one of those bucking the notion of a man’s status being judged by his clothing.

Chrissy Harris

IS THERE a clothing revolution going on among the men of Gladstone?

If you believe the clothes make the man, Jason Gill is another example of fashion stereotypes being turned upside-down.

Mr Gill is a university graduate, chemical engineer, professional and articulate, but you won't catch him in a business shirt or a tie.

Like most highly successful men in Gladstone, he heads to work every day in high-visibility industrial clothing.

Mr Gill is an operations process engineer at QAL, and his attire is further evidence that in Gladstone, high-vis is the new business suit.

Gladstone truly is the town where you can't judge a person's social status by their clothing.

"When you see a suit and tie, you think 'professional', you think 'boss'," Mr Gill said.

But any notion of a man in a suit being more successful than the man in high-vis has been blown out of the water.

"What I realised when I came to Gladstone five years ago, is that the wealth of the town is quite evenly distributed," he said.

"It's not like in the capital cities. In Gladstone, the tradesmen, the engineers, everyone is on a pretty good wicket, provided they're involved in industry."

That's not to say age-old tendencies to judge a person by their threads are completely gone. There are still instances when old cliches take hold.

Whenever Mr Gill walks into a shop wearing his uniform, people always ask what his trade is, assuming he is a tradesman.

"Even today in Gladstone there are people with the perception that a work uniform translates to a tradesman.

"Everyone from the QAL banner wears the same uniform," he said.

"Our senior managers at the highest level of accountability on site are all dressed the same way."

So when Mr Gill gets out of his work cloths, does he like to slip into some stylish, upscale apparel?

"Not at all," he said.

"I'm very much singlet and jeans and shorts guy."

"The only time I dress up is when I have to."

"I used to work in an accounting firm. I wouldn't complain if I never have to wear a suit again."

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