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March 2007 Fashion Secrets
Read Fashion Secret Archives Here
Casual Dress for Work: Friend or Foe?
By Ginger Burr (Total Image Consultants)
Jane has been standing in front of her closet for the past 10 minutes mentally running through her day. She has a staff meeting first thing, then lunch with a potential client, paperwork to attend to in the afternoon, and it is freezing outside with snow expected by the evening commute. "What should I wear?" she wonders, feeling more frustrated with each passing minute.
When did getting dressed for work become so complicated? Fifteen years ago to be exact. This is when the concept of professional dress was turned upside down by the advent of "casual Fridays." What was once considered strictly weekend-wear began making a flagrant appearance at the office. Since then, people, especially women, have been stuck between a rock and a hard place. Conform or be seen as outdated, and if you do conform you had better know what you’re doing, or it can have a quietly damaging effect on your career.
Since then, we have gone to the extremes of casualness, and as a result, there’s a current trend towards more professional dress. The corporate culture, however, has been changed forever. Business casual dress remains the familiar dress code for most people and interpretation of that trend is still a mystery or frustration to many.
Here’s my concern: don’t be too complacent when it comes to casual dress at work. If you’re looking for advancement, are on a career tract, or just want recognition, it’s to your benefit to be aware of the risks and understand the rules when it comes to what you wear to the office. While in a perfect society we would be judged solely on our work achievements, our world is significantly more complicated than that.
Top 10 rules for successful business casual dressing:
- Know what’s acceptable and what is not. Don't assume anything.
- Look for (and be) a role model. If you’re not impressed with how your supervisor dresses, do not follow her lead—look elsewhere.
- What are your clothes saying about you? Too often we dress on autopilot. Are you sure you are making the impression you want to? If not ask someone whose opinion you value.
- Replace clothing when it fades, loses its shape, or becomes pilled (an often overlooked concern).
- When in doubt, don't wear it to the office—this includes flip-flops (especially if they make that flip-flop noise) and crocs.
- If it doesn't fit properly, don't buy it or have it tailored.
- Beware the double standard. Women are still kept to a different standard than men when it comes to dressing for work and are sometimes seen as less authoritative when they dress casually.
- Own at least one pantsuit. A great pantsuit offers versatility as a pivotal piece in your wardrobe, and no longer needs to look “suity” or dowdy. Wear the pieces separately or together using your jacket to bridge the formal and casual business worlds.
- Hair and makeup require the same attention to detail that they do when you are dressing in traditional corporate wear.
- Lastly, dress for the job you want not the job you have.
Following these 10 guidelines can give you the competitive edge as well as peace of mind. Less concern about what you are wearing allows you more time to focus on your work, as it should be!
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Copyright 2007, Total Image Consultants - All rights reserved.
To purchase Ginger's book "Fashion Secrets Mother Never Taught You", please click here.
Copyright 2004-2007, Total Image Consultants - All rights reserved.
Fashion Secret 2007 is written and produced by Total Image Consultants. Please direct all questions and comments to ginger@totalimageconsultants.com.
If you would like to forward this newsletter, we ask that you do so in its entirety. Do not alter its content or form and please include copyright info. Thank you. To purchase Ginger's book "Fashion Secrets Mother Never Taught You", please visit www.totalimageconsultants.com or www.amazon.com.
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