Soon, if the weather and economy cooperate, it will be summer and college graduates will enter the workforce. One thing that can keep qualified candidates from landing a job is their failure to dress for success. Well, success in business, anyway.
Since it’s casual Friday (as opposed to casual Monday through Thursday) let’s review some of the fashion faux pas “career experts” say employees need to avoid in order to not derail their professional ambitions. (Because women have more fashion choices, and therefore more room to make mistakes, most of the advice is aimed at them.)
One of the biggest mistakes, career experts say, is showing too much cleavage. Sexy isn’t professional and it’s distracting, the experts say. And ill-fitting clothes (whether too tight or too loose) aren’t sexy or professional. (Of course men can have this problem, as documented in the “Seinfeld” episode where Kramer invents “The Bro” or “The Manssiere,” as Frank Costanza prefers it be named.)
Anna Post, spokeswoman for the Emily Post Institute, told the Wall Street Journal that women should also avoid: Spaghetti straps, backless shoes, skirts that are more than two inches above the knee and anything low cut. (Again, why leave men out of this one?)
Post says men can “don colorful ties, shirts, and even blazers and pants” (but not all at the same time to avoid the colorful clown look).
Nicole Williams, a career expert in New York, says men “should stay away from untucked shirts or anything else that makes them look like they’re going to a bar.” (The connection between untucked shirts and going to a bar is a little murky, but maybe it’s because the beautifully, professionally dressed characters on the show “Mad Men” are constantly going to a bar.) (Is that era actually an argument for casual dressing at work, especially for creative types? Or just an argument against five-martini coffee breaks? It does make a good argument for hats, for men and women, and an eloquent argument against girdles and pantyhose for everyone.)
Experts also advise young professionals not wear: The smugness of youth; their heart on their sleeves; a sense of entitlement; or iPods or phones as accessories.
Times are changing and each business will have to decide its own rules regarding things like tattoos and body piercings. For what it’s worth, we would rather see the actual nose or eyebrow piercing, than a little Band-Aid covering it up.
If you are leaving the Northwest for a job interview, leave the flannel and Gortex at home. Discover other regional fabrics, and fashion faux pas.
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