It’s a big deal that your clothes impact or influence others. But what about choosing the right clothes so that they best impact you?
A recently published study by two students of Northwestern University’s Kellogg Business School provides insights into how to get the right mindset by choosing the right clothes. They created the term “enclothed cognition” to describe a process that affects your mindset based on the symbolic meaning and the physical experience of wearing your clothes.
Defining “business casual,” is downright challenging. Entrepreneur Magazine recently did a feature on it, and created even more confusion, based on reader comments and tweets.
As your certifiably crazy image consultant, I suggest we take a collective deep breath because I’m going to give you what I believe to be a solid definition of “business casual” right here.
The jacket remains one of the most pivotal pieces of clothing a man can own. I swear by them because they can be used to dress an outfit up or down, relative to where you’re going and who you’re seeing. They’re easy to remove, if necessary. But if you’re wearing a great jacket, why give in to taking it off anyhow? The jacket provides structure without being committed to outright formality at a time in our pop culture when a perfectly tailored suit is still associated with sinister financiers.
The advertising companies hired by Careerbuilder and Docker’s are supposed to create messages to build the brands of their clients. But what they did in the process is create a profile about the average American man. Their picture isn’t too pretty.
Despite occasional groans by corporate drones, the annual holiday party is generally considered a morale booster. After all, when else would you (and your entire company) discover that your accounting auditor may be diffident by day but be Disco Dan by night?
How many times have you heard that saying? How many times have you thought that saying was a bunch of bunk? This is what happens with an abundance of overuse and an underwhelming amount of explanation.
An acquaintance in Ithaca, New York alerted me to a Wall Street Journal blog post written by a Silicon Valley-based thirtysomething man entitled, “The Perils of Interview Attire.” Writing about one of my favorite topics – how Silicon Valley engineers are known to have a style all their own – Jon Gray tells of his perilous job interviewing wardrobe experiences. In Gray’s situations, intentionally wearing an item – or not – moves beyond the physical. It’s a head-trip.
Among three of Gray’s buddies who have interviewed at startup companies, none have worn ties to job interviews in years, he says. Welcome to Silicon Valley, home of the dress for success counterculture, where success is measured not by the noose around your neck but based on other factors. Now you might be thinking with this comment that I’ve gone soft and that the Silicon Valley is an altruistic place where qualifications, merit, degrees, and diplomas are all that count. Cough. Cough. Image still matters heavily, but it matters in a different way than in other parts of the country.
In Gray’s post he explained how he went to an interview wearing a suit with no tie, and unbuttoned his dress shirt at the collar. The company vice president gave him a sartorial thumb’s down, even though the recruiter’s feedback was flying high. He promised to dress more appropriately for additional interviews. When he went back to meet with the president and the CEO, he wore a suit, tie, and even shined his shoes for the occasion. When the CEO showed Gray out of the building he told him to “never wear a tie to an interview at a startup!”
There are all sorts of issues with this story. One is that he took advice from two sets of colleagues but didn’t get more insight. A second issue is that he didn’t know more about the startup company’s culture. A third issue is that after meeting with the company vice president he should have had some ideas of how to dress for subsequent interviews based on how the vice president was dressed and based on the vice president’s feedback about the way he showed up for the interview. A fourth issue is that the recruiter should have provided better information to Mr. Gray about the way he should dress for subsequent interviews.
Jon Gray got caught in a wardrobe game played by many men in the Silicon Valley counterculture. How does a guy be an individual and still fit in to the culture of the Valley, and the technology sector culture?
The simple answer is the complex answer: Guys like Jon Gray have to know themselves and have to know the company they are [going to be] employed by.
As I said in my comment response to Gray’s blog post, “A self-assured man dresses for the purpose of achieving his goals, and goal number one is being able to look at yourself in the mirror knowing you represented yourself properly.” This answers the part of knowing yourself. “The idea of dressing appropriately for an occasion means balancing your own needs and goals with the expectations of your audience.” Without losing your sense of self, you need to know your audience. “If you don’t know your audience’s expectations, you need to inquire.” This means, do your due diligence and research a company even if it means parking your car in the lot and watching the comings and goings of the people.
Jon and others might wish for the good old days of rules – as we knew them to be. In fact, there are ‘rules’ of dress that apply to Jon’s situation but they aren’t the classic rules found in dog-eared copies of published books. These rules are experiential and are ever-changing. It only makes sense this is happening here in Silicon Valley, a place where game playing is an art form.
Designing and managing your image is the secret science of your success.
Joseph Rosenfeld helps professional men and corporate workgroups create effective visual brands. Visit JosephRosenfeld.com for details.
One of my favorite neo-soul singers, Angie Stone, sings the famous line, “If you can’t stand the heat, get out the kitchen.” Were that to apply to clothes, we’d all be naked! But when it comes to getting down to business during the heat of summertime, people always think it’s okay to cut corners by wearing less in order to be comfortable. This can easily communicate an “undercooked” image. So I’m going to share some tips to help you dress comfortably during the summer months leaving you looking as cool as a cucumber.
When was the last time you had a haircut? A summertime hairstyle takes a bit of weight off the top and keeps you from getting, well – hot headed.
Are your dress shirts too tight at the collar? There’s an easy method for getting into the properly fitting dress shirt so you don’t get “hot under the collar.” Get someone to help you with this or stand closely in front of a mirror. Use a tape measure to get a skin measurement of your neck. Wrap the tape measure snugly around your neck, being sure the tape goes just beneath your Adam’s apple. Hold the tape in place and breathe before taking the measurement. Now add one-half inch to the skin measurement. If the final measurement totals a full inch [like 16] or a half-inch [like 16 ½], that’s your dress shirt size. If the measurement totals a quarter-inch or three-quarter inch, round up to the next quarter inch to get your actual dress shirt size. This allows your shirt to fit you properly. Avoid starch so your shirt doesn’t shrink around the collar and so it feels softer after laundering.
Do your suits become sweat suits as heat and humidity are on the rise? During the summer, wearing a tropical wool weight is very helpful in maintaining the most polished and professional image, no matter what the thermometer reads. Also ensuring the lining is fine gauge keeps air flowing between the garment and you, ensuring better comfort even while you’re all dressed up.
Depending on whom you’re meeting and the occasion, dressing up could be complete with a sport coat. Jackets provide the opportunity to wear blended fabrics like wool blended with silk or linen. Lightweight options like these are informal and keep your mood and message on the light side.
Lighten up the vibe with lighter colors. Do this with shirts, pants, and even tailored clothing. But, don’t wear a light colored suit to an interview or to an important meeting with someone you are meeting for the first time or don’t know well. Lighter colored garments are light reflective and cooler to wear. This is a great way to keep a cool temper, no matter the temperature.
Feet are a constant source of agony during any season. But one easily overlooked solution has to do with when you go shopping to buy your shoes. If you buy shoes at the end of your workday, say after 5:00pm, your feet will be at their most swollen of the day. It’s the best time to know the worst-case scenario of how shoes will fit your feet. Then when you wear your shoes, you’ll be more reasonably assured of their comfort all day long, all summer long.
Along with these tips, I suggest avoiding blisters by wearing socks with your shoes. Good quality socks will wick moisture away from your feet and be more comfortable, although it may seem counterintuitive. Finally, avoid looking like a dweeb by wearing short sleeve dress shirts. Wearing clean-cut sport shirts best conveys the short sleeve look. Be sure the message you intend to send is more relaxed because these shirts will appear that way and may not be appropriate for all business occasions.
Don’t use the summer months as your excuse to slack off and devalue your image or position. Should you be the boss, everyone in the office reads your outfits like a thermometer to know what to wear to the office during the summer months. Keep a cool look as you show value to your clients, colleagues, employer, and employees.
Designing and managing your image is the secret science of your success.
Joseph Rosenfeld helps professional men and corporate workgroups create effective visual brands. Visit JosephRosenfeld.com for details.
A couple months ago I was interviewed for a spot on Monster.com about what aging men should do to appear competitive in the job market. Published late last week, I’m grateful for the exposure the piece provided. Since the article also included information about sprucing up the resume and using social media sites, the author could never have included all the tips and tricks I shared with her.
The tips the author did cover in the article are:
• Update your interviewing clothes if you haven’t been shopping in a while
• Maintain a modern hairstyle and visit a hair stylist before that interview
• Boost your confidence and mental acuity through physical fitness
I thought I’d give you a few more tips to help you score that job.
Use clothing to power you up or power you down.
The overall effect of your clothing and accessories’ style, fit, and color has an effect on your interviewer. You want to ensure it’s the right effect. Are you known as a go-getter? The right outfit will help support that attitude. But if the position you seek is executive level, you may have to power down the look that conveys you’re a doer deep down so you can show up to the interview looking like a director. So for instance, lots of color and pattern appears active to the eye and is emblematic of an active personality. But opting for an interview outfit with few colors directs the focus onto you and shows you as a person in control.
If you’re the quieter type, powering up your look is a great way to boost your self-confidence. Do a practice interview in a shirt and khakis and then put on your interview suit and accessories and get feedback about how you sound. Undoubtedly you’ll hear that you sounded better when you looked better. Why? Most likely, subconsciously, you felt better. Popping your outfit with a color accenting your eye or red skin tone, along with wearing a garment with strong a strong angular line will give you a bolder, more energetic appearance.
Visit your tailor if your clothing doesn’t fit.
Let’s face it. Not all of us have fared so well economically lately. As tempting as it is to just purchase new clothing for the job interview, it’s not always practical. So if your cash receivables are as tight as the fit of your suit pants, a visit to the tailor may ease the stress of unemployment and you’ll feel better at the interview, too.
Maybe you don’t wear a suit so often. One of the worst effects of wearing a garment you’re unfamiliar with is wearing one that’s not familiar with you either. By making sure it fits well before you need to wear it, you’ll sit properly and comfortably during the interview and you won’t be fidgeting over your clothes or wondering just how much your stomach protruded over the waistline of your trousers.
Don’t try to compete on looks with the 20-somethings.
Hey, your train left the station some time ago. Don’t get off track by looking back at what should have been because you notice a newer locomotive leaving the garage.
Looking age appropriate, while maintaining a modern, up-to-date style, is so important. You don’t want to be typecast as being ‘older,’ which happens when your clothing and hairstyle is outmoded. This points to the symbiotic relationship between you and your clothes. Old clothes equal an old “you.” New clothes equal a new “you.” So at the very least get your old clothes updated, as I all ready suggested.
If you do act on my advice and go on the hunt for something new, be sure it’s updated to reflect who you are today, not who you once were, or who you wish you could once again be. Avoid looking collegiate to appear younger. ‘Over compensating’ is a poor decision. Don’t dress for the job you’ve presently got or the job you’ve just had. Move forward in your mind and manifest it through your style.
Designing and managing your image is the secret science to your success.
Joseph Rosenfeld helps professional men and corporate workgroups create effective visual brands. Visit JosephRosenfeld.com for details.
It was interesting to me as an image consultant attending a business conference where the expected attire was listed as “business casual” so, according to the conference flyer, “everyone can be comfortable during the conference.” I found this to be very strange language for a conference dedicated to making high-level business connections. Excuse me, but shouldn’t everyone know how to buy clothing that is at once the right size so it is comfortable and the right style so it is appropriate for the occasion?
The term ‘business casual’ is officially on my shit list and I am out to ban this term from use because there is nothing ‘casual’ about doing business. Since when is business to be done by chance or without prior thought or planning? The way you dress for business is part of the way you do business.
I have to wonder how much more productive meetings would be if people showed up looking like they were ready to engage with the other party. If you were interested in buying a piece of real estate, would you be comfortable visiting a messy home? Virtually anyone reading this would honestly answer, “No.” So why not take care of the most valuable piece of real estate you own?
Often, you just get one opportunity to make an indelible impression at an important meeting or interview. The meeting may not turn out as you’d prefer, but the least you can do is show up looking like you care about yourself, about the person you’re meeting with, and like you care about doing business.
There is so much confusion as to what ‘business casual’ is and what it means. Every author has a different spin on what it is because they want to sell books. Wikipedia even has a citation-lacking entry about ‘business casual’, full of statistics backing up misinformation in support of someone’s wardrobe imperative. Even OpenTable.com regularly lists ‘business casual’ among the dress codes of restaurants it supports. If you’re going out for a social dinner with friends, how does ‘business casual’ even figure into your game plan?
The truth is: when you inquire about the accepted style of clothing, you’re asking for the rules, for the “code,” so you fit in at the interview, or at the job, or for the business or social occasion. When the answer you’re given is ‘business casual,’ it only causes more questions than it does answers.
Answers are available, but getting meaningful insight requires unlearning bad information and wiping the slate clean in order to get clarity. Here are some key tips to keep in mind about relaxing the look of your professional attire without looking like you’ve gone out of business:
If you dress up every day in a suit and are looking to relax the look, opt for a sport coat.
If you regularly wear a sport coat, continue to wear outfits that are “jacket ready.”
If you commonly wear pant and shirt, combinations, show your personality and finish them with suitable accessories because shoes and a belt will really stand out with just a shirt and pant.
Don’t confuse these social attire items with business attire:
Jeans
Knit polo tops
Short-sleeved shirts
And never wear clothing in which to conduct business that is torn, stained, collegiate or sports themed, or athletic wear.
There is an appropriate time and place to wear all kinds of clothing. Knowing when and where to wear your wardrobe items requires planning and intention to accomplish your goals.
Designing and managing your image is the secret science to your success.
Joseph Rosenfeld helps professional men and corporate workgroups create effective visual brands. Visit JosephRosenfeld.com for details.