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Getting dressed for the office doesn’t mean leaving your personal style behind. Find out which looks give you a polished, professional look and which fashions can be a career killer.
Polished, Not Fashion Victim
Your goal to getting dressed for work is to project a professional, competent image, regardless of your employement level or career path.
The styles, colors, lengths and fit of your fashion choices will speak volumes about your ability to do your job. If you are concerned about your career, you’ll be more concerned with looking professional than looking cute or trendy.
In general, the more distracting a piece of clothing or jewelry is, the less appropriate it is for office wear.
More guidelines to looking polished:
- Color plays a big part in professional image. Traditional career colors include red (aggressive), navy (trustworthy), gray (conservative) and black (chic). Most of these colors work well in pantsuits, skirts and shoes and mix back with softer feminine colors that are appropriate like ice blue, lilac, soft pink and ivory. Loud colors like hot pink and wild prints are much riskier in the office, but some creative types can still pull them off.
- Jewelry that jangles (chandelier earrings, stacks of bangles) is distracting. Opt for stud earrings or single bracelets.
- Slouchy handbags look sloppy. Choose structured styles that project an organized image.
- Most of what constitutes a polished image is in the details: manicured nails, run-free hose, scuff-free shoes, neat hair.
- Fit is everything when you are talking about tailored work clothes. Pants should be fitted, but free of visible panty lines. Skirts, especially straight styles like pencil skirts, should be loose enough to sit down in comfortably. Jackets should be able to be buttoned. And blouses shouldn’t gap between buttonholes.
- Designer labels are great, but heavily logoed clothing and accessories look cluttered and frivolous in the work place. A small designer bag is fine; a logo trench coat looks ridiculous. Choose well-made items that are free from obvious designer labels for the most professional look.
Dress Like Your (Female) Boss
Don’t know where to start working on your career image? You’re not alone because most companies don’t have specific guidelines about what to wear to work.
One of the best clues to company dress codes is what your boss wears. Just think about the styles that the highest-level woman in your organization wears and use them in your wardrobe. Does she wear mostly skirt suits? Or does she rely on pantsuits? Does she wear hose or bare legs? Open-toed shoes or pumps?
If you don’t have a reliable female executive to emulate, then trade on what the men are wearing. If they don suits and ties every day, your best bet is to use pantsuits and skirtsuits: the most formal of business looks.
Some organizations encourage employees to dress as well or better than their customers, especially for sales people and others that meet clients outside the office. For information technology professionals, this may mean corporate casual (more on this below), for pharmeceutical sales it may mean a pantsuit, for a lawyer it may mean a matched skirt suit. One way to always be prepared is to keep an extra “meet the client” outfit at the office for surprise meetings.
Career Killers
Unlike a fashion faux pas, a career killer outfit can do your professional image permanent damage.
Looks to avoid in the workplace:
- Too sexy: see-through lace, miniskirts, spaghetti straps, sheer sundresses, strappy stiletto sandals.
- Too casual: jeans, shorts, T-shirts, hats, sneakers.
- Too sloppy: wrinkled clothing, too many layers, baggy-fit clothing.
Business Dress Codes
- Formal Business Attire- For women this constitutes business suits (a matched skirt and jackets) and, in most workplaces, pantsuits (matched pants and blazer). Closed-toe shoes (no sandals), blouses, hose and conservative hair, jewelry and makeup are expected.
- Corporate Casual Looks-Working women have interpreted this to mean everything from shorts to sundresses, but in its most literal sense it means “smart business.” Dressy pants and a blouse, sleek jersey knits and skirts and tops are all examples of corporate casual. Denim, T-shirts and flip-flops — all ’90s phenoms — are only acceptable in the most casual of work environments.
- Casual Friday – Depending on the business, this can mean anything from corporate casual instead of formal looks or “Wear your company logo polo and jeans.” If in doubt,
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Unless your job requires you to wear a uniform, choosing clothing for work can be difficult. Of course there are industry standards, such as the navy blue suit for accountants and bankers. What do you wear, however, if you work in an industry where there really isn’t a typical style of dress? Complicating the matter further are companies that allow more casual attire. How do you keep from crossing over the line from casual to sloppy? What about the job interview? You want to look your professional best, but you also want to appear as if you “fit in”. Here are some pointers for dressing for any type of work situation:
- First and foremost, no matter what you wear, your clothes should be neat and clean.
- Keep your shoes in good condition.
- Your hair should be neatly styled.
- For women: makeup should be subtle.
- Nails should be clean and neat and of reasonable length.
- Dress for the job you want. If you aspire to be a manager, dress like managers in your company do.
Rules for Casual Dress at Work
Although in theory most people love the idea of not having to wear a suit to work, they are often confused by the casual dress policies some employers have instituted over the last few years. Here are some simple rules:
- Casual doesn’t mean sloppy. Your clothing should still be neat and clean.
- You can’t go wrong with khakis and a sport shirt or a nice sweater.
- If you are going to a meeting or making a presentation, professional attire may be in order.
More: Dressing Professionally When You Have To
Dressing for a Job Interview
In addition to following the general rules for dressing for work, heed this advice when you go on a job interview:
- Adhere to the employer’s dress code: find out whether it’s formal (suit and tie) or casual by asking around or by observing employees arriving for work.
- Dress slightly better than you would if you were an employee. For example, if the dress code is very casual, you should take it up a notch.
- Cover up tattoos and remove body jewelry until you know whether they are acceptable at that particular workplace.
More: Questions to Ask Yourself Before You Dress for a Job Interview
Where to Donate Business Suits
Do you have business suits you no longer need? You can donate your interview-appropriate suits and other professional attire to those who can’t afford to buy their own.
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Business Casual. This is the most common dress-code you will encounter, and the interpretation of this term is the broadest. In general, consider the following:
- Clothing should be conservative and nice. Button-down shirts, trousers, blouses, sport coats, and skirts are suitable.
- Shoes need not be patent-leather and polished; loafers or similar styles are acceptable. Avoid sneakers and sandals, and in most cases closed-toed shoes for women are still required. However, styles can vary toward more trendy looks.
- Keep skirts knee-length or longer.
Casual. This is the most poorly interpreted dress code option. Casual still means work-appropriate, so your clothes must still be neat and conservative.
- Showing a lot of skin (like a bare midriff, or too much cleavage) is always a no-no.
- Avoid sweats, cut-offs, tank tops, and flip-flops. Sneakers are okay, as long as they are new-looking and clean.
- Pair jeans with nicer shirts like polo shirts or casual button-downs. A T-shirt is sometimes acceptable, if it is in good condition. Avoid t-shirts with slogans or ads for things such as beer companies.
- Hair, make-up, and accessories can reflect more personal style, as long as it does not get in the way of your job (such as hair dangling in food, etc.)
In general: it varies by region, so keep that in mind. Business attire in Hawaii means Aloha shirts and khaki pants, which definitely wouldn’t fly on Wall Street. If in doubt, choose something conservative for your first day, and take your cues from the leaders in the office to choose your wardrobe going forward.
The definition of “nice” may be confusing if you’re just entering the workplace, so keep in mind that dressing for work is different than dressing for a party, or for church. Though you may choose nice, dressier clothes for each occasion, the styles you pick will be very different. An Easter Dress will tend toward prettier, flowery fabrics, while a dress for a New Year’s Eve party might be flashy and sparkly. Both are considered “nice” but neither would be appropriate for work.
If you’re still not sure, take your cues from others in your workplace, or watch an episode of The Office on NBC: the wardrobe crew is paid to make them look work-appropriate.