Unforgettable Tips on Dressing for Success in Your Career

Clothing is usually meant for self-expression, what you wear and how you wear it can all impact you. What your personality may be, what your interests are, and even who you are as a person. But, it can go further than that. People dress a certain way for occasions, and it’s fairly obvious that people are judged by what they wear too. The art of making a positive first impression is so powerful, especially when it comes to the business world (whether you’re a business owner or not).

Therefore, it’s very important to make a first impression, and your attire is going to play a major impact on this. Once you master the art of impressions and dressing for success, you’re going to soar high and make a major impact in your career.  So, where exactly can you begin on this? Well, this is your guide to learn all about how you can dress for success in your career!

Begin By Understanding the Key Factors

Whether it’s professional attire, or something personal, there are some key features that you need to pay close attention to. But this is in overdrive when it comes to professional workwear. So, if you’re wanting to prep your business, you’re going to need to first understand what to look for in clothing so you know what’s best to invest in.

Colour

When it comes to corporate wear, you’re going to want to choose the colours wisely. Ideally, you should use dark colours such as dark grey, navy blue, dark brown, and black. But other colours such as white, beige, or taupe could also look presentable. While there is some colour psychology that’s supposedly taken place depending on the colour of your workwear ( such as brown indicating lack of authority), this is something that can be debated. 

If there’s a colour that you really love, or you believe complements your appearance then go ahead and wear it! It’s important that you feel comfortable about yourself. It’s also important that you feel comfortable in the clothes you wear. Dressing for success is all about being comfortable too.

Think About The Style Of Clothing

This can include padded shoulders, collars, business suits, coats, long sleeves, and the wideness of the legs of the pants. The styling of your workwear should make you look good, it should be flattering. But of course, this should also be something that makes you comfortable too. Don’t forget, that dressing for success is all about reflecting on who you are.

Fitting

When it comes to all clothes you purchase, whether this is for personal or professional use, you’re going to want it to fit, right? Something that looks too big won’t look good, just as something that’s too short won’t either. Ensuring that your clothes properly fit is going to help you feel physically comfortable, but you’re going to look so good too. Make sure that you invest in a good tailor, they can absolutely transform your appearance. Tailors know all about ensuring that clothes perfectly fit and drape the way that they should.

Avoid Revealing Too Much Skin In Your Clothes

Unfortunately, corporate culture, no matter what country, is still very sexist against women (including transphobic). With that said, sadly, showing skin is still considered a lack of self-respect and it’s also considered “asking for attention”. While this certainly isn’t the case, corporate culture is very backward, and women’s objectification is continuously happening. 

 But keep in mind that not all cultures are the same. Some company cultures embrace people wearing what they want, showing an appropriate amount of skin, and don’t allow sexism or transphobia. Also, if you own your own business, you can make the dress code however you want.

The Accessories

Clothing can reveal a lot about your creativity, even if standard corporate workwear can be terribly boring, it’s usually those little touches through accessories that help make you look better, more like yourself.  Accessories can be exactly what portrays your uniqueness. So, what are some good ideas for accessories?

Watches

A watch is one of those accessories that everyone just loves. They never really go out of fashion, even if cell phones do have their own clock. There are so many options for watches, you could even treat yourself to a nice preowned Rolex watch if you’d like. They most certainly have that professional aesthetic to them, and many believe that dressing for success is also about dressing a little bit expensive.  

Ties

Usually worn by men, this is something that women will opt into wearing from time to time, there are different types of ties, and some that even add a little bit of femininity.

Scarf

Whether you opt to wear this in your hair, around your neck (such as a silk scarf), or use it as a handkerchief is entirely up to you.  But scarves can be a great way to help you dress for success

Rings and Necklaces

This can also include earrings. These types of jewellery can also pair up nicely with your corporate workwear. Whether you’re wanting to add a pop of colour (and shapes) to offset the black power suit, or maybe bring a little dainty touch, it’s an entire option thanks to this type of jewellery. Some companies (and general high-level corporate culture) don’t allow for anything flashy. But this can entirely depend. But of course, owning your own business means you can rock whatever you want to wear and still remain successful!

Every Industry Is Different

Throughout this article, it was mentioned that company culture varies, and if you own a business, you can shape the culture and the workwear as much as you want. This is completely true, however, even the industry your business  (or any company for that matter) is also going to have an impact. While comes industries have leaned towards more casual wear (such as engineering), there are some industries (such as law/ government) that still dress very conservatively.

You’re going to want to dress up well to reflect your job, but you’re also going to want to dress up well to reflect your industry. This doesn’t immediately mean that each industry is going to have a dress code that’s 100% going to need to be followed, no, but this does mean that you’ll have to keep this in consideration.

Avoid Trends

When it comes to your shopping, you’re going to want to think a little strategically about this too. When it comes to fast fashion, trends are just constantly dropping. Even just a few seasons ago, the pink power suit with the thick shoulder pads was in. But now, it’s rarely seen. Besides, the quality of your clothing is going to speak a lot about you as a professional. So you’re going to want to get the best possible quality material out there, right? Fast fashion brands may be affordable but their quality is undeniably awful, and there are ethical (as well as environmental) concerns that need to be thought about as well.

Choose Your Shoes Wisely

Sometimes, it feels nearly impossible to create that right balance between comfortable shoes and professional-yet-stylish shoes, right? It can be tricky figuring out what would work best. Usually, loafers, oxfords, or maybe even blocky heels could be fairly good options for shoes that are professional but comfortable at the same time.

Overall, dressing for success can be fairly tricky, there’s no denying that. There are all these rules, even unspoken rules that don’t get taken into account. There isn’t entirely a right or wrong way to go about it. Dressing your best, feeling your best, and showing confidence is going to speak volumes about you as a working professional woman!