Rule 2: Dress for Success
Saturday, January 12, 2008 at 02:46PM Attire is critical in the workplace because this is one of the easiest ways to mislead everyone regarding
your level and power within the company.
I will address this issue from the male perspective.
There is a tendency, especially in Technology, to dress down. The dress code for many companies today is business casual. It used to be simple when a suit and tie were required because the only way you could go wrong was with a cheap suit and tie. Unfortunately, business casual can be interpreted many different ways, allowing for big mistakes in the selection of business attire.
Wearing a polo shirt and Dockers is one of the most common mistakes. While this certainly qualifies as "business casual", it does not convey business clout. This is one step away from jeans and a t-shirt and tells everyone you have no ambition. This is how mothers dress their kids to go to school; how wives dress their husbands to go to work so that women won't be attracted to them; how teenagers dress when they go to a nice dinner with the grand parents. This is not how you should dress at work.
Here's what you want to achieve: if you're an analyst, you want people to look at you and think you're a manager. If you're a manager, you want people to think you're a director. If you're a director, you want people to think you're a VP. People need to believe you're already in the role you're trying to get promoted into.
Here's how you need to dress for business casual:
- Button-down shirt, always pressed (no wrinkle-free, dryer fluffed), single color, no pattern, fitted with sleeves buttoned.
- Crew neck, white t-shirt underneath (never wear a button-down shirt without a crew neck white t-shirt underneath, especially if you can see through the shirt).
- Dark slacks, no pleats, no patterns unless it's a very light pinstripe.
- Long dark socks that will never bunch up down around your ankles and expose your white, hairy legs.
- Polished leather shoes, never scuffed. No penny loafers or loafers with tassels. Let's just say, no loafers. No square toes either. Keep it simple, but still stylish. No Payless shoes. They squeak. Spend the money. Trust me, people look at your feet and judge you.
- A simple belt, small buckle. Never wear suspenders, unless you're a stand-up comedian. Even then, I wouldn't recommend it.
- And get yourself a watch. Nothing digital. Nothing a skateboarder would wear.
Look at the executives in your company. Look how they dress. The best put together people are always at the top. You need to look like that's where you belong. Because then people start believing the rest of your bullshit, and pretty soon you get promoted to the position you're pretending to already have.
As mentioned, this is from the male perspective. I'll defer to Tech-Babe for the female perspective... She'll address (a-dress) this shortly (Yuk yuk)...
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Reader Comments (7)
Got any dress tips for the corporate workers of the female persuasion?
I think that the realm of business casual for a woman is even more hazy and dangerous, than for that of a man.
All very true, and exactly why I quit working for "the man". Hated being told how to dress. At 5 years old it was annoying. As a grown adult it is just sad.
Sarah: didn't mention it originally, but I'm leaving the female perspective on office attire up to Tech-Babe. She tends to be a lot less political than I am, so it'll be interesting...
A Blog About Nothing: It can definitely be annoying, but I'm past feeling (having a cold dead heart), so I'm still in the game. By the way, love your blog. I'm adding it to my blog roll...
Not to worry ladies. Got my 2 cents coming...rough Monday, what can I say?
Here you go ladies...Rule 2: Dress for Success - Ladies Only
Jason...as always, your input is welcomed=P
I work at home, casual day for me means no pants.
The most put together people at my company are gay. The women in IT also dress with the button down and white T shirt. Butch is in I guess.