Clothes to Wear at Work

When getting dressed for the office, it can be a challenge because you want to look professional, yet stylish. You want to be able to look your best, but still project a polished and professional look. Let's take a look at some of the fashions that can make or break you in the office.

Don't be the victim:
When giving a polished image, it's important to pay attention to not only what you wear, but the colors you choose to wear. As a career minded individual, it is more important to keep your job and look presentable no matter what your status is, than it is to look cute or trendy. In general, if you are wearing something that is distracting, then chances are it is not fit to wear in the office. Here are some more guidelines to follow for projecting that confident professional image.

Color plays a vital role in a professional image:
Traditional career colors are red, gray, navy, and black. Generally they work with pants, skirts and shoes, while the top can be a lighter more feminine color. Some examples are ice blue, lilac, soft pink, and ivory. It is very risky to wear bold or loud colors, so unless you can really pull it off don't do it.

Make sure you get a good looking handbag:
You want to project confidence, not cheap or messy. A good quality handbag will show you care about how well you are organized.

Make sure your details are taken care of. Your nails need to be painted, take good care of your shoes, always style your hair nicely, and of course, never wear wrinkled clothes.

Your fit needs to be conservative when choosing clothes:
Never wear anything too tight or too revealing. Skirts need to be comfortable to sit in while blouses shouldn't gap between buttons and should be able to be buttoned comfortably.

Its okay for designer items however, you want to not get anything that is covered in logos. It's okay to display a logo prominently in one spot, but not all over the place.

How does your boss dress
Most of the time your boss has it pretty close to perfect as far as how someone should dress for the workplace. It's hard because companies generally don't have dress codes however, higher-ups in your company usually are dressed to impress in that company. Don't necessarily emulate the exact clothes they are wearing, but get an idea based off of what you see from your boss or higher management. Sometimes you need to go outside and meet clients, so it's okay to dress more casual when you are around them however, you might want to have some office clothes handy, in case that surprise meeting, or that client that just showed up to the office needs some assistance.

Career killers
Depending on what you wear, certain items can really kill your career so it is best to avoid them. Let's take a look at some of the more glaring ones.

Don't wear anything too sexy. Clothes like see-through lace, miniskirts, spaghetti straps, short or tight dresses, strappy sandals do not belong in the office.

Don't wear anything too casual, jeans, hats, sneakers, shorts, t-shirts.

Never wear any clothing that is too baggy, loose, or doesn't fit right.

Business dress codes
Formal business attire. This constitutes business suits or pants suits, closed-toe shoes, blouses, hose and conservatively styled hair. It is expected to wear jewelry and makeup, though those should also be worn conservatively.

Corporate casual:
This basically means dress smart. Things like dressy pants and a blouse, skirts, tops, and some types of sandals can work. Don't wear denims or flip-flops unless your office is extremely casual.

Casual Friday:
If you are in doubt of what to wear then ask a superior. Generally, you can wear anything from corporate casual to polos and jeans, so make sure you know what is appropriate for the office.

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