Gen Y Help: How To Dress at the Office for Women
This post is a two part series on how Men and Women should dress in the office. Today’s post will help young professional women dress appropriately at the office. Stay tuned for Grant’s post for men!
Everyone should know that first impressions count so job candidates must dress appropriately for interviews. Many newly corporates wonder how they should dress in the office. After landing one’s first corporate position, new hires need to be self aware of how they are presenting themselves to others. Constantly ask yourself, “How are others perceiving me?” If their perceptions are not at your expectations, make changes. Colleges are constantly evaluating you (consciously and unconsciously) so you must always look your best if you want to be respected and considered to be professional.
Dress codes very from office to office so you should understand your company’s policies. The policy may not be written in stone but you should have picked up on visual ques during your various interviews. If your company does have a formal dress policy, it should be easy to figure out what is acceptable.
How to Dress for Success
Always dress how you want others to see you. If you want to be seen as professional and confident, you must dress well. If you interact with customers or business leaders, you always want to look your best.
It is appropriate for women to wear skirts that fall just above the knee. Some companies demand that women in skirts or dresses wear pantyhose. For those not confident wearing skirts, pants are appropriate. For business casual attire, pants should be ironed. Creases really make “business casual” look professional. Pants suits are appropriate and always look great. Women should wear little make up and sensible shoes. Some capris may be acceptable but only if non-denim and made out of traditional pants material.
While you may love to dress with bright colors and patterns at home, they may not be appropriate for the office. Wear classic colors like black, grey, and navy. Be conservative. Don’t show too much leg, cleavage, or middrif. Look around at rising stars around your office. Dress like they do. If your goal is to be a manager, dress like managers do. Avoid perfume. Other workers may be sensitive to your perfume or lotions so it’s best to err on the safe side.
When it doubt, iron it again. Don’t forget to put water in the iron! The secret to ironing is having water in it. If you can afford it, get your clothes dry cleaned.
Finally, avoid going too casual on Fridays or dress down days. It’s sometimes easier to be less professional with coworkers when everyone wears jeans. I recommend avoiding the temptation to dress down on Fridays. When everyone else may be less cautious and casual, you will look professional instead of sloppy.
What does Business Casual Mean?
What is business casual? Business casual is very popular in offices today. Many companies no longer require employees to wear business suits with neckties (international standard business attire). According to Monster, the business casual look means that workers should dress professionally but relaxed, neat, and pulled together.
Do you look the part? Submit a photo of yourself dressed professionally for work and we may feature your look on a future post!
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To your ironing point, my secret is women’s no-iron collared shirts from Brooks Brothers. They come in all the basic colors – white, light blue, other light colors, a few patterns. They not only fit well over the bust, but also come out of the dryer ready-to-wear. At about $75 a shirt they are a pretty good investment if you have to wear business formal every day.
Great post, I can’t wait to see what Grant comes up with.
Three thoughts: you mentioned the pantyhose with a skirt potentially being a necessity. In Washington if you work on the Hill, it absolutely is a necessity, even in the middle of the swampy, nasty summer. Also (feminists are here advised to put on the earmuffs), unless you’ve got great skin and at least decent legs and are reasonably tanned, you should definitely rely on pantyhose whether required or not.
Second, to that girl walking to the office, carrying the ridiculously large purse containing her shoes, who’s exceptionally well-dressed but for her flip-flops: suck it up. If you can wear heels all day long while pounding the marble hallways, you can handle your 3/4 of a mile walking on the commute. Nothing presents a worse image than the girl who only wears her big girl shoes while at her desk and is wearing her flip flops on the other side of the office door. What happens when you run into your boss outside the office and he wants to grab a quick cup of coffee to talk something over before starting the day? It’s like wearing a shirt but no pants when videoconferencing from home, but worse because you’re being a slouch in public.
Finally, women should wear scarfs on their heads, not around their necks. Scarfs around the neck make you look like a clerk at the post office. I heartily encourage women to wear standard “men’s” neckties. A slightly sloppy knot with the top button unbuttoned? It’s a look simultaneously professional and intimidating. Okay, and also kind of hot.
Great comments, Monica and Alex!
I live in frigid Erie, PA and most of us have to wear snow shoes/boots when plowing through the snow to get from our cars into our buildings. I bought a pair of Boss waterproof snowshoes for the winter. They are appropriate for my trek from outside to my desk. You bring a great point up about the flip flops though… it would be horrible for your manager to stop you and ask you to meet with them while you are wearing flip flops! NEVER WEAR FLIP FLOPS TO WORK!
Definitely wear your heels to and from work in the summer/spring/fall seasons. I live in Chicago, so I too have a few pairs of boots that I”ll wear to work instead during the winter. Concerning flip flops, I keep a pair in my purse just in case I have to walk further (over a mile) in a very short amount of time – most young professional women I know do the same. So to some extent I disagree with the “never wear flip flops” rule.
Regarding scarves around the neck: I still like them. Alex, I’m not sure if you are a guy or a girl, but either way, I’d rather look professional than “hot” at the office. The image your painting sounds like a woman who’s just walked off the set of an avril lavigne video (imho). But I agree with the pantyhose comment.
I am indeed a guy. I glad you agree with me on the ‘hose – now keep spreading the gospel ’til all that should be covered has been.
On “commuting shoes,” I’ll give you winter boots and exceptionally long walks when in a rush. But these are not every day exceptions.
On ties… Maybe this is a fetish of mine or a romanticizing of the 1920s, but I do believe that a woman in a button down and tie with a conservative skirt (we’re talking about wearing the tie slightly loose, not with the blouse half open) is certainly professional and it can project a very powerful image. You can look hot and professional at the office without slutting it up.
I totally agree that a professional wardrobe is really important–and that many recent grads make the mistake of keeping their college “look” at work. But appearing too young at the office can be really detrimental to how people perceive you and how seriously they take you. Even though it may seem superficial, so much is based on appearance.
I have been on the job for roughly 2 years and work in management consultation. In case it isn’t common knowledge, consulting is typically quite formal. As a young person it is important for others to take you seriously. Your dress is a very quick way to build credibility early. However, some entry-level folks do not make a lot of money. Therefore, they may need to compensate for not-great-clothes. The best way to do this is to always look clean and pulled together. You can achieve this look by always ironing with STARCH, dry cleaning the items that you don’t wear close to your skin (you won’t have to dry clean as often), and buying simple, clean, and classic clothing in muted colors. Make sure they fit well — hem and tuck if necessary. Otherwise, if you make money then dress like you do. Your boss knows how much you make. Don’t disappoint.
If you are a smaller, more petite lady then finding a suit that doesn’t look like your father’s oversized version is hard. I recommend JCrew suits.
Now onto some other slightly inappropriate comments posted earlier (i.e., “it looks hot”). Ladies, if you work on the WEST COAST then bare legs are fine and mostly preferred in many work situations. Simply make sure your heels are appropriate. No heeled sandals. However, if you are in a client-facing role, then it is best to cover your legs. But don’t do it with hose! Talk about making your legs look like sausages. Try various types of tights. Please. Don’t imitate your mom’s 1980s shoulder pad and hose suits. It’s baaaaad.
Alex-
Try running to a bus and walking through city streets and their dreadful grates to work in high heels. It’s hard work, slows you down, and is also really damaging to your shoes. Flipflops can be lifesaving when you are going to spend the rest of the day in heels- especially if you are walking to lunch with coworkers.
Classic wrap dresses with a coordinating cami underneath are a great option when suits are overly formal, and have the advantage of being useful outside the office. Monica’s suggestion of Brooks Brothers non-iron shirts is fantastic- They are an awesome investment. Also, ladies, if you wear hose, keep an extra pair in your desk (I recommend spanx). Nothing looks worse than hose with a run!
Manifesto For Pantyhose and Nylons
Preface: Before women get all upset after reading this, let me say I am for equality between men and women, but that DOES NOT mean there should be a double
standard when it comes to professional and classy dress. As it stands today, women can get away wearing pretty much what they want in all environments –
work, school, the symphony etc. I’ve even read stories/postings and seen where women show up to school or work at professional environments in their PJ’s a T-shirt and flip-flops, and clearly just rolled out of bed…yet they still demand R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Men, on the other hand, are still expected to dress in a
shirt, tie, socks and nice shoes before they get respect. This is unfair and it’s time to do something about it.
So now that a recession is upon us and nylons are making a small come-back, perhaps it is time to fight against this nonsense and insist on changes. I think
those who think those who follow the New York/Hollywood fashion world a little too religiously when it comes to poor taste, especially in the lack of wearing
nylons or pantyhose, need be made to make a choice about their livelihood. I propose that those of us who have the ability follow this manifesto.
1. If you are in a business casual environment and are tired of seeing flip-flops and bare-legs, talk to management to get them to “spruce up” the dress code
to show professionalism to each other and to clients.
Tell them that it is illogical reasoning to assume that “I don’t see clients; therefore I should not have to wear nylons”. Are they robots and just sit at
their desks all the time? Do they not go out for lunch, and are they 100% sure that a client or potential client is not in their building checking out their
environment? Besides, their job is not there for their personal comfort, it is there to service the needs of their customers and their comfort. And yes,
That does include IT workers. I am in the IT field and have been so for over 10 years and have witnessed the decline has its roots in that field,
particularly during the “DOT COM” days in the late 1990’s. Just throw around words like “Application Service Provider”, “India” and “Outsourcing” to get the
attitude to change in the IT shops of businesses.
I’ve researched this bit and my conclusion regarding performance and dress codes is this. Relaxed dress codes do increase productivity, but ONLY for a short
period of time. After the novelty of a relaxed dress code wears off does one discover that people are actually more careless about their work, less customer
service oriented (honestly, do you believe that customer service has gotten better in the last 10 years in any industry?) and you see less productivity and
more tardiness. The solution, dust of the 1995 employee handbooks and move back to a formal dress code which includes shirt and ties for men, and nylon
hosiery for women.
Also, it appears that as the dress code has slipped in professional settings, sexual harassment has actually increased as women feel more comfortable baring
more skin. This is another good argument to bring up with your employers, because sexual harassment could end a company’s life and all the jobs within it
faster than you can say “Paula Jones”.
Insist that you feel that the business is applying a double standard against men by making them wear socks while girls can go bare. The employer legally has
the right to dictate a dress code in the U.S. as long as it is applied uniformly and fairly. If your business is casual attire, you might have to accept
requiring socks or opaque tights as well as pantyhose for a while. But those in business casual environments or smart casual which require socks at
aminimum, perhaps the time is right to introduce that women should have to wear hosiery, particularly if you are a man and have to wear a suit and tie.
2. If you are owner, in a hiring or decision making roll in your business, do not hire consultants or potential female employees who show up bare-legged. If
they can’t be bothered to present their best selves on a first interview, its indicative there could be attitude problems later.
3. Keep track of the aggressive female employees who complain if/when a new policy requiring nylons is implemented…put them on the short list of people to
let go when the company needs to scale back due to hard economic times.
4. Be aware of the “passive aggressive” types, who when given the requirement to wear nylons, simply refuse and try to “sneak by” by wearing longer pants and
shoes, but who you can still tell are not wearing hose when they sit down. Add them to your shortlist to let go as well.
5. Do not hire female lawyers. I’ve read about 60% of law students these days are female. I’ve also noticed the greatest trend (by reading through blogs on
the topic of professional dress and nylons is of women insisting on not having to wear nylons) are the women lawyers (Think Reese Witherspoon’s character
comment in Legally Blond “Pantyhose…it’s just not me”). OK, if there not you, you’re fired because I only want professionals, and YES professional dress
IS important. Besides, the US and the world need less lawyers anyways.
6. Do not transact business or monies (of significant value) with women who are dressed like slobs and do not wear nylons. If you are buying/selling a home,
or cars, jewelry or other goods of significant value where they make a commission, choose a man, or better yet a well dressed woman. I have turned down
service from women who dress like men (black pants, pull over shirt, socks or no socks) or slobs (bare legs, open-toed shoes) and have purchased big items
from a man instead. It is a little uncomfortable, but when the manager asks, I just say “Look, I’m spending a lot of money here…and I believe in all
aspects of professionalism. Your female employee does not exhibit the characteristics I consider professional, she’s got a nose ring, and a funcky visible
tattoo, and she isn’t even wearing nylons. Sorry, but I choose not to spend my money validating that attire.”
7. All things being equal, promote women who truly support the requirement to look professional and wear hosiery, demote or fire (see point 3) those who will
not.
8. Complain to the networks who let their anchor’s bare-legged. I complained about Katie Couric multiple times, and while it did not amount to much, I am
glad to see she moved to CBS, where she is struggling and may be leaving the network soon. I’ve also complained about Megan Kelly of Fox News multiple
times. I watch Fox news much less now because she is all over the place (and I’ve let them know that I’m tired of seeing her…I find her tacky,
unprofessional and somewhat smarmy). Also, guess what Megan Kelly is…that’s right, a lawyer (see point 5).
9. Do not support anything that Candace Bushnell produces, writes or sells. Candace is the brain-child author/producer of Sluts in the City, I mean “Sex and
the City”. She is an avowed pantyhose hater (that’s why her trampy characters went bare and helped propel the movement of bare-legs everywhere). Her latest
TV garbage is called “Lipstick Jungle” on NBC. More tackiness and ugly toes and legs. Ban that garbage from your television.
To conclude…I beleive the gender feminism has gone way to far and now men are second class citizens to women. We see it in the court system where women get
better treatment over men in custody and ad we see it in our popular culture where little boys have no honorable heroes and are told to suppress there boyish
ways and expected to act and behave like good little girls, and if they do not they are drugged you with Prozac. Yet, we discover left unattended,
women/girls are MORE violent, more dishonest more deceptive, less contrite and more aggressive than boys could ever dream of being as evidenced by this
latest round of aggressive girl teenage violence. I believe women/girls who have chosen to not wear hosiery is a symptom of this overall problem. We are
not teaching girls to GROW UP to be honorable women and ladies, instead we are allowing them to be the worst of MEN, tramps and sluts. The time is now to
reverse the trend while there are still decent and honorable men who can have the courage to look a woman/girl in the face and say, “No, I don’t accept this
nonsense…you will dress like a lady or I will no longer date you, no longer employ you, no longer let you have my money etc.”
Wow– I’m not really sure what to say about all of that but that’s quite an extreme tangent and thank you for voicing your opinion.
@Schroder
To assert that women who don’t wear nylons (with pants even?!?) are slobs or sluts, is extremely ridiculous. There are much better indications of a person’s character, and much bigger issues to worry about. Furthermore, I think it’s arrogant for you to basically command how women must dress.
Wearing nylons does not make you a professional, nor does it even make you look professional. The way a whole outfit works together, as well as a woman’s confidence, character, and and personality, all play into professionalism. Anyone can wear nylons.
Myself personally, when I’m dressing professionally I like to wear a blouse and slacks with black dress socks and shoes.
Although you raise some interesting thoughts, it’s pretty difficult to take that post seriously. Why are you so big on creating a short list of people to fire?
pantyhose
uncomfortable (on body and in shoes)
constricting
yeast-infection inducing
i will not sacrifice my health and well-being in order to look like what some might consider profession. by no means am i a slob. but i only wear pantyhose to church.
Cassie – LOL, rereading my post I agree I must have been in a mood because it does seem a bit over the top…but let me explain. Why is it riduculous to have dress code and enforce it, my employer does on me? I have to wear a nice shirt, suit and tie everyday. Socks and dress shoes are required as well. Now, I don’t mind it (at all), and the overall environment of my very professional organization is pleasant, driven, and sharp in all aspects…and our customers (quite frankly) are attracted to this. I do agree that wearing hosiery alone doesn’t make you a professional, but a polished appearance is a part of the package. I can respect a woman for at least wearing black socks, like yourself, as long as they don’t start crossing the line and stop wearing any socks at all, just because it is “in style”. My philosophy is simple…to set the standard and bar high, because there are always those who will push the envelope (and that is part of what I am railing about in this post). The lower you set it (as we have seen in recent years) people (men and women) start claiming wearing pajamas and slippers to work is acceptable and even a “right”, after all they are “professionals”.
Kelly M.
Like I wrote with Cassie, I must have been in quite a mood that day. Let me explain. I strongly and unapologetically believe in a polished and professional appearance at work and for traditional formal events. Bare legs, exposed feet, flip-flops, bedroom/house slippers are the antithesis of a professional, beautiful, appropriate appearance. Yet, we have seen in the last 10 years those things become the “norm” in so-called professional environments all over. Nowadays, if you call someone out on being unprofessionally attired, many (particularly women, but sometimes men) fight back or continue to find ways to “sneak it by” or just blantently ignore. My reaction is simply start enforcing the rules or professional attire, and leting those who don’t buy into it go find another environment they will be happier in. Remember, in business or any service organization, even the government, we are not at the job for our “personal comfort”, but for the comfort and needs of the people we serve. If it makes you feel any better, I’m not jst talking about women, but also men who come in with the sandles without socks (come on, you honesly can’t say that men in sandals, birkenstocks and the narly feet are a part of a professional appearance). All of this is less about being comfortable physically, as it is about being “in style”. Just becasue something is “in style” does not make it appropriate in all settings and enviroments.
Sa’rah
pantyhose
uncomfortable (on body and in shoes) – Then find a brand and material that is right for you…stop buying the $1 cheapo drugstore brand that feels like a burlap bag.
constricting – Find a size that is right for your body.
yeast-infection inducing – ummm, wear undergarments.
i will not sacrifice my health and well-being in order to look like what some might consider profession. – Nor should you…however, women for decades have managed to wear hosiery without sacrificing their health and well being. For many, many years it was really, no big deal. All of a sudden, fashion changed and it became a big deal. Again, this is less about comfort and more about being “in style”.
by no means am i a slob. but i only wear pantyhose to church. – I’m glad to hear this.
Is this a joke? Profound satire? Brilliant!