It's still important to dress and look good for work. However, over the years, there has been a demise of professional dress - dressing for work has gotten downright sloppy. What's a company to do, let alone its employees? Meanwhile, there are all sorts of jobs and careers, and they necessitate appropriate dress for work, whether it's a law firm, a factory. or a university. It used to be that the only appropriate office attire that communicated success was the suit. Today, there is a continuum of options that are just as appropriate and successful-looking, depending on where you work and what you do. I don't wear a suit and I'm not about to buy one; yet I do make an effort to dress in a professional manner. As a former fashion coordinator and retailer, and now a marketing educator, I can assure you that marketing yourself is just as important as having another business do this for you. Your image matters. It's no longer "Dress for Success" with just suits; nevertheless, what you wear has to communicate the best about you. This book is for men and women and with the information you will learn how to dress for your job and career. You'll be able to dress up or down, depending on what your needs are at the workplace. Today, there truly is a continuum of clothing possibilities that spell success no matter what we do for a living. I Don't Wear A Suit is the must have handbook for men and women for dressing great in TODAY'S workplace! Specifically you will be able to: * Identify the foundations of good style and design * Identify the appropriate clothing for your workplace * Use color to develop your own individual look that WORKS for you * Maximize your assets and iminimize your liability for your body type * Accessorize for impact * Travel light but right * Develop a dress policy that protects your business' brand image Table of Contents Acknowledgements Preface Introduction: It's a New World Out There! Chapter 1: Looking Good IS Important Chapter 2: The New Continuum of Dressing for Success Chapter 3: Workplace Dress 101: Getting Started Chapter 4: The 9 to 5 Dilemma Chapter 5: If Work Goes Beyond Five O'Clock Chapter 6: Travel Light and Right Chapter 7: The Foundation of Style Chapter 8: Make Color Work for You Chapter 9: Maximize Your Assets, Minimize Your Liabilities Chapter 10: Create Impact with Accessories Chapter 11: Take Care of Your Investment Chapter 12: Skin Deep Chapter 13: Good Quality, The Right Fit Chapter 14: A Word to Employers Chapter 15: It's More Than the Clothes You Wear Glossary Selected Bibliography Index

I Don't Wear A Suit!

A guide to style for ALL OF USBy Victoria A. Seitz

AuthorHouse

Copyright © 2011 Victoria A. Seitz
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4634-6831-6

Contents

Acknowledgements...............................................................xiPreface........................................................................xiiiIntroduction: It's a New World Out There!......................................xvChapter 1: Looking Good IS Important...........................................1Chapter 2: The New Continuum of Dressing for Success...........................7Chapter 3: Workplace Dress 101: Getting Started................................17Chapter 4: The 9 to 5 Dilemma..................................................27Chapter 5: If Work Goes Beyond Five O'Clock....................................37Chapter 6: Travel Light and Right..............................................43Chapter 7: The Foundation of Style.............................................51Chapter 8: Make Color Work for You.............................................59Chapter 9: Maximize Your Assets, Minimize Your Liabilities.....................67Chapter 10: Create Impact with Accessories.....................................75Chapter 11: Take Care of Your Investment.......................................87Chapter 12: Skin Deep..........................................................97Chapter 13: Good Quality, The Right Fit........................................107Chapter 14: A Word to Employers................................................117Chapter 15: It's More Than Just the Clothes You Wear...........................123Glossary.......................................................................131Selected Bibliography..........................................................143Index..........................................................................145

Chapter One

Looking Good IS Important

We are a very visual society! With YouTube and the variety of entertainment shows, gossip magazines as well as the hundreds of reality programs, we give a lot of clout to what we see. As someone in the advertising and marketing industry, I'd say that exposure on television is where it's at. With over 500 channels we have a lot to watch! Today, trends and fads get the majority of their forward motion via the media either through TV or the Internet, both being visual in nature. And because of this influence, media personalities and marketers use clothing to impact the audience in a positive manner. For you, the influence you have with others is also enhanced through the visual signals you emit. This is referred to as Attribution Theory.

Attribution Theory

Human beings subconsciously (or perhaps unconsciously) size up other people, places and things during first encounters based on very little information. Attribution Theory states that for human beings to function in a society where we face a barrage of stimuli constantly, we need to be able to categorize it quickly and do so on limited information. It's kind of like organizing your computer files, putting all the files in various folders as well as the recycle bin. Or think about all the emails you receive – some you read, some you delete, and some you save for later. That's how we, as human beings, can simplify our lives and move on.

So understanding this mental process, what are the nonverbal messages or cues that human beings use to categorize people who they encounter on a daily basis? Some of these factors include the clothes worn, mannerisms, body image, and overall appearance. Everything about a person communicates messages about them. For example, if you see someone and they have acne, you might infer that they're young, maybe a teenager. If we see someone with glasses, perhaps we might infer that they're smart (or want to be) or do a lot of reading. If we see a woman covering her head in a certain way, we may infer that she is a member of a particular religion or from another culture. Again, we make inferences about people on very little information, and this subsequently influences how we interact with them.

This is why so much consideration is given to appearance. The sum of the factors – such as clothing, body language, mannerisms, hair and body type, which constitute a person's appearance and together may be considered beautiful and favorable in the eye of the beholder – subsequently promotes interaction between individuals. In fact, appearance is about 55 percent of the evaluation in first impression situations. Frankly, in the first 3-4 seconds, people size up those they meet on all the cues that are available. All of this is done before we ever say hello! And once that happens, we also assess whether what they say fulfills those expectations or breaks them. As they say, first impressions count and are so critical in the workplace, in interviews, and on first dates!

Further, in 30 seconds, people make at least 11 assumptions about you – including your occupation, social status, marital status, trustworthiness, credibility, ancestry and (most important) your likelihood to succeed! Everyone wants to be around a winner! In job interviews, about 75 percent of the decision to hire you is based on your appearance. The actual interview itself is about whether you fulfill the expectations set when you both first saw each other. Additionally, there is an 8 to 20 percent difference in the entry salary you receive based on your appearance. Maybe you look like a person that the company wants to invest in and maybe you don't – it's up to you!

All across the world, there are distinct definitions of what is beautiful. What is beautiful in one country may be perceived as ugly in the next. Why is beauty so important? It seems that most people associate with what is beautiful with what is good. There has been a lot of research on this topic with these same findings. For example, a study done in measuring student success found that students who were perceived as "beautiful" were also perceived to be smarter and more inclined to succeed in school. Outward beauty is defined by a culture and it drives companies to offer many products and services to enhance it.

Moreover, research has shown that people are attracted to others that dress like them. Often, someone's appearance infers their political beliefs, values and attitudes. Let's say you are interviewing for a position at Saks Fifth Avenue. Do you look like a Saks Fifth Avenue employee or someone from Walmart? You decide – do you want to look the part?

Further Considerations

It's important to realize that impressions can be broken. For example, if we have little experience working with persons with disabilities, we may hold negative impressions based on individuals' outward physical disabilities. Yet when we get to know disabled people, we could find that they are brilliant and wonderful to work with. Or maybe you meet someone and extend a hand, and they take it, but they give you a very weak handshake. This may be due to problems with arthritis, but you might assume they are a meek person. Or perhaps you're trying to do business with someone from another country, say Japan. You're frustrated because they don't give you eye contact. Well, in many Asian countries, eye contact is perceived as inappropriate and where they do look might be your forehead. As with first impressions, nothing is in stone; however, we want to put our best foot forward.

When we...