DRESS FOR SUCCESS
Vicki West, Faculty
College of Business
Texas State University
601 University Drive
San Marcos, Texas 78666
Phone: 512-245-3224 E-mail: vw03@txstate.edu
(Updated August 2004)
1.Geography
¬
The
Temperature – Clothing choices are obviously influenced by temperature
trends and variations.
¬
The
local cultural norms – Some cities are very formal cities and some
cities are known for their casual culture.
The economic and business sectors of a community often play a pivotal
role in the cultural norms for clothing choices. An example of a cultural norm difference
within the short distance of 200 miles is
2. Customers
¬ Their appearance – Customers wear many different types of clothing, which is often dictated by the demands of their profession. Farmers, bankers, high-technology workers and educators all dress differently depending on the functional demands of their daily work.. A salesperson’s appearance is certainly impacted by their customers’ industry.
¬
Their expectations for your appearance,
however, are generally reflective of their general impression of your
industry. The salespeople representing
the banking industry would be expected to dress differently than salespeople in
the music recording industry.
3.Your
Corporate Culture
¬ Norms for your industry should dictate the general parameters for appearance choices. It is obvious that corporate cultures change from time to time. Recently, the trend has been to dress more casually in the hot weather months, even in very conservative industries such as banking and finance. However, the consensus of many industry groups is that it is important to maintain a professional business attire on a regular basis, with some exceptions based on geography and a salesperson’s customer base.
4.Your
aspirations
¬
Top levels of your organization
generally set the tone for an entire organization. If you aspire to reach a high level in the
organization, it would be important to take note of what expectations your
organization might have of your general appearance.
¬
An old rule of thumb is to dress “one level above your position.” Watch your immediate superior. They will be making the decisions about who
is promoted. If you aspire to have a
promotion to the next level in the organization, dress as if you already have
the position, then you will be perceived to be a good fit for the job.
5.
Your own personal style
¬ Wait until you have the “halo” effect before making a personal style statement. The “halo” effect refers to the tendency to generalize one positive aspect of your behavior to all aspects of your behavior. This phenomenon can work to your benefit. No one wants to look like a corporate drone with no individual style. But the first week on the job may not be the best time to exercise your personal appearance statement. Wait until you have proven your professional skills, no matter what the industry, before wearing clothing that may be deemed inappropriate to your particular industry.
¬ Be reasonable in your wardrobe choices. Being individualist and memorable can be a very positive decision, depending on the range of choices that are acceptable to a specific industry group. But choosing outrageous or completely unsuitable clothing is probably not in the best interests of your personal career development.