After three years of working from home, most industries have resumed in-person meetings and events. But there is a twist: in many cases, the dress code has significantly changed.

Take a hedge fund event I attended recently in New York. Advertised as an industry outlook followed by cocktails, the early-evening gathering featured a panel of four in which the three men were not wearing ties, and the senior woman wore sneakers. The audience was even more casually dressed. High heels were few and far between, and suits were almost non-existent.