Be Smart: Look Smart

I wanted to write about an interesting event that a group of us at RQS had this weekend. One of our employees, Kathy Callan, is a professionally trained Fashion Consultant. Kathy is one of those people that always looks put together. She is walking evidence of her talent and knowledge.

Right or wrong, the truth of the matter is: when you look and dress professionally, people will tend to listen more to your opinion and value what you say. If you look smart, your words seem smarter. If you look like a mess, people tend to be less inclined to take you seriously. Dressing well can be a serious advantage in the work place.

Kathy gave us some good advice and passed along some of her secrets, some basic and some not so obvious. I really cannot do her presentation justice, as she had photos and examples to back up everything she was saying. I will try to convey some of the major points. You shouldn’t wear any faded or worn out clothes to a professional setting. Sweaters that have lint pills on them should be returned, defuzzed or thrown out. Shoes should be polished and have no scuff marks, and definitely no athletic shoes. You should wear a fitted coat to work, no ski jackets.

Women in a professional environment should plan to wear three articles of clothing: a jacket or sweater, a shirt underneath and a pair of pants or skirt on the bottom. There should be a “line of separation” between the top half of your body and the bottom half. This can be achieved with a different color material on the top and bottom (ie: a different color shirt and pant), or with a belt if you are wearing the same color on the top and bottom. The line of separation should be either 1/3 of the way from the top of your body (ie: a shirt that stops at the waist with long pants), or 2/3 of the way from the top of your body (ie: a longer shirt with a knee length skirt). It should never hit ½ way – this cuts the body in half and is very unflattering. I would have never believed the difference this makes visually, except Kathy had pictures to support this claim. It was very interesting.

As this is an area where I can use some help, I will put Kathy’s advice to good use. I thought it might be good to pass along some tips to other colleagues in the consulting world. Thanks to Kathy for sharing your knowledge!

Daria