How to Dress for Success

No matter how great of a person you are, often times you are just mostly by your appearance, and if you’re wanting to get ahead in the corporate world you’ll need to be dressed for success. Here are 5 tips for making sure your outfit works in your favor:

1.  Nice shoes- Even if your hair is neat, your makeup is perfect, and you aren’t wearing too much jewelry, wearing the wrong pair of shoes can completely ruin your outfit and ruin the way people perceive you. If you are going to be dressing nice try and find shoes that go well with your suit pants or slacks. For men, when you pick a pair of shoes you should try and find a belt that will match them (usually brown or black). Women should look for shoes that aren’t too casual, but also aren’t too flashy either. Think moderation.

2.  Appropriate pants- For men, you should consider always wearing long pants, preferably slacks, if you are trying to look professional. In some settings you can get away with jeans, but for the most part you want something a bit more dressy when you are trying to impress clients or your employers. When you are choosing a pair of slacks to wear remember that your socks should always match or at least be very close in color.

3.  Neat professional hairstyle- One thing that employers really look for when they are hiring, and expect of their employees once they’re hired, is that they maintain neat professional hairstyles. Your hairstyle is a reflection of your personal hygiene and having hair that is unkempt or outlandishly styled can really hurt your image. Unless you are planning on joining a rock band you’re best to play it safe and keep things neat and tidy.

4.  Limit the jewelry- When it comes to dressing well at work, one of the things that you should do to maintain a professional image is limit the amount of jewelry that you wear. This goes for men and women, although women might find it more useful. If you have copious rings, necklaces, bracelets, or even large earrings you will probably start to look out of place, unless of course you work at a boutique jewelry store. You want your overall image to be great, but having too many of one thing can take away from the other good parts of your outfit.

5.  Tone down the makeup- When it comes to dressing nice in the workplace or for a job interview you want to make sure you tone down the makeup. Wearing too much makeup can serve as a distraction to the person interviewing you and it can also detract from the professional look you are trying to achieve with your coworkers.

If you’re not quite sure what is appropriate to wear and what isn’t then you should take a look at what the other people in the office wear and go off of that. 

Micah is a writer for Phoenix bankruptcy attorney, Benjamin Skinner.