All Dressed Up With Nothing to Wear

As an add on to yesterdays post I thought it would be interesting to discuss what is appropriate attire in the office setting. After reading multiple articles I have found plenty of contradictions to the black and white dress code of dressy suit and closed toed shoes. As a recent graduate just entering the professional world I can understand the dilemma of what or what not to wear. Here are some tips for dressing to impress in the 21st century.

• Practicality- If you are working on Wall Street expect to be dressed a bit different than someone doing outdoor sales. You want to make sure that while you follow your companies dress code that it is also functional. Especially if you will be doing a lot of running around.

• Know Your Company- With many creative jobs opting for casual attire to express individuality its important to know what your company expects. While its better to be overdressed in comparison to underdressed, you want to make sure you fit the culture/environment of the company you are applying for. Try to do a bit of researching of the company dress code before you interview for a company and before you start work there. Its important to get off on a right foot.

• Rules of Thumb- No matter how relaxed your company is unless it is a strip club or bar do not show any body parts you would be embarrassed for your grandma to see. Ladies put away those low rise pants, miniskirts and plunging neck lines. Men stay away from showing any chest hair, no one and I mean know one wants to have questions of if you are part werewolf running in through their mind.
  
  
  
• Grey Area- Here are some items that have become normalized in today's business attire, but are also ones that should always be double checked with each companies dress code. Shoes seem to be a big grey area. While for the most part closed toed shoes are a must, recent trends have made question marks in many female minds. Peep toed shoes show a tiny bit of the foot, and are neither open or closed completely. Also women it is important to keep note of the height of your shoe 4 1/2 inch stilettos may not send the right message at work. Sleeveless shirts are also a question for females. Men, again with the hair issue, lets not go there. My last grey area are shorts. It has become more common for women to wear shorts in the work place. Make sure those shorts are to the knee and of a dressier fabric. And men, do I even have to bring it up again? I think you know my answer on that one guys.
  
  
  
  

So those are just some of the do's and don'ts of the professional world. It is a very hard subject to tackle. There are so many categories of what you should or shouldn't do in the professional world. Try to keep things classy with a twist of flavor. You want to stand out but surely not in a bad way With so many once upon a time taboo items becoming common day, this is not an easy task. In the end the best way to fight any feelings of uncertainty is like always, research. While it may be a pain, in these tough economic times, it will pay off.