Clothing and the Professional.
It all begins with treating yourself like a professional.
If you treat yourself poorly, you will perform poorly. Many Service Professionals see their job as the bottom of the totem pole. As a result, management lives up to that expectation and lowers expectations and pay as a result. After all, in their minds, they are not paying professionals but just some help that doesn’t care how much they make. This is unacceptable as an outcome for the business and should be an unacceptable outcome for you as well. If you want to be taken seriously as a Service Professional you have to look like a professional first.
Image Foundations.
Image Foundations.
Although many of us cannot afford top of the line suits. ALL of us can afford decent slacks and dress shirts or shells and well-kept shoes. All Service Professionals should attend meetings with their manager and the executive team in a blazer and tie. This is the BARE MINIMUM for showing you take your career seriously. Few will want to hear your opinions if you look like you don’t care about yourself. The foundation of this chapter will be information I received watch Antonio Centeno on YouTube (Real Men Real Style). If you get nothing else out of this book than to go and watch his videos it will be time well spent. So let's break this down and focus on how to build your wardrobe. You have to do this. Three reasons why.
First, you are going to be doing job interviews and sadly what you look like matters to hiring managers. I am sorry I wish that a hiring leader could see into your heart but they don't and they won't so you have to get your first impression right. A poor resume can be forgiven, not knowing how present a professional image cannot.
Second, you deserve to be taken seriously! A sharp dressed professional will be given better service, access to better deals, and get the best seats in restaurants. Why because companies want to leverage you to draw more client into their institution. This means that when you dress sharp you are literally a walking billboard. You are advertising excellence, caring, quality. And you don't need a degree to do this. And you don't need high paying job for this. It's just a result of taking a little time to present that image.
And finally, it presents your employer or department in a good light. People talk when a department is full of well-dressed men and women. Other employees in departments where the dress code is lax will begin to inquire on employment in your department. Why? Because there is a link in peoples minds between dress code and the value of the position. So you can drive up the value of your department or job by just changing how you look. You can change YOUR value by changing how you present yourself. OK, so how can you do this and for less money.
Shop off brands and get them tailored.
Let's start with the foundation after undies for men. Your shirt. Your shirt is seen by everybody and its critical you get this right. During much of the day your sports coat, blazer, or suit jacket will be hung up. So the shirt is your day to day signature. First, for men, while younger men can get away with wild colors and styles, I recommend keeping it simple. YOU DON'T NEED A LOT OF SHIRTS!! I recommend 3-5. If you wear an undershirt. Which you should do! You can get 3-4 wearings out of a shirt before you need to either wash it yourself or send it out for cleaning. Consider basic colors or Blue, White, Salmon, and Green. This should be a shirt that buttons down the front and is long sleeved. You can always roll the cuffs if needed. You'll want to pair these shirts with 2-3 ties if you are just building your wardrobe. Try to stay with thicker cloths as they take perspiration better and keeps your undershirt well hidden. If you have lighter skin consider a white tee if darker toned a dark tee to blend it into the background. You don't want the undershirt showing under your shirt.
Now I spend on my dress shirts $85 to $125 dollars. I am at a point in my career where this is a good investment. If you are just beginning or if the wages don't allow for it $30-$40 a shirt is reasonable. If you can't afford 3-5 buy two. No one will know you only have two. They are the same style of shirt after all. Now I recommend presenting a unified image and having the same style of shirt makes this easy. Certain shirts are better suited as club ware for the weekends and not for work.
It is critical to get your shirts tailored to fit your body type. This is especially critical for big men. Nothing sadder than a professional who is going above and beyond to present a good image and its thrown off by a shirt that is not tailored! Now if you don't have the cash initially, an ill-fitting shirt is still an improvement over a tee shirt or golf shirt. But as soon as possible get it tailored. The collar should not be too tight. Your skin should not spill over the collar. A loose collar, on the other hand, will create the "turtle" effect. You head will look like it could suck right in. You should be able to fit a finger comfortably between the neck and the shirt in an ideally tailored shirt. The shirt cuff should just peak 1/2 to 1 inch beyond the sports coat.
As for ties neutral colors and patterns are appropriate. Leave the beer can tie at home and settle for stripes, spots, and simple patterns. A standard tie is always the best answer when in doubt. Skinny ties and wide ties are fads and fads come and go. But a basic blue striped tie basically will last your career if cared for.
For women blouses and shells in neutral colors such as ivory, white, black, blue, and red are appropriate for the workplace. I don't recommend pink. You can pull off salmon, but leave pink at home. Keep the wild patterns and jeweling at home as well. You want the attention on you and your ideas and performance and not your clothes. You want to show power and respect and base colors do this for men and women. Do make sure you wear a bra and make sure it fits well! You can keep the spending down on bras by taking the time to get measured at a department store and then purchasing a less expensive version at a mid-range or entry range store. I knew a very successful lobbyist who did her clothing shopping at mid-range stores but had her bras custom made. It's that important to your image. A word about skirts and dresses here. Try to keep skirts at or below the knee and in the neutral colors of gray, blue, khaki, and black.
For both sexes slacks are critical. Do try to keep the slacks basic and simple. Leave the golf slacks at home! Basic colors like gray, blue, khaki, and black are always in style and can be broken out for special occasions in your personal life as well. These must be well tailored as they complete the silhouette you want to present. Keep the cuffs and breaks just above the shoe. Remember you don't have to wash these slacks after each wear unless you see stains that can't be easily taken out with a wet cloth. Nothing destroys fabric than frequent washing. 1-2 times a month should be plenty if cared for and hung nightly.
As for sports coats, you need to ensure that these coats are fashion neutral. Your blouses and shirts are the main show at your desk most days. It's rare for a professional to wear their coat at the desk all day. This means that your coat or sports jacket will live well past the slacks that you wear with them. Drycleaning any garment is harsh period. 1-3 times a year unless smell or stain force the issue all that is needed to keep a coat in fighting shape.
Finally, there is the business suit. For men and women, the business suit is the calling card for interviews and important family events. You can have a great career with only 3 suits! You don't need a bunch of them. There are many executives who will tell you that a suit needs to rest between wearings. In the ideal world yes. And in the ideal world Service Professionals would make the money needed to maintain such a wardrobe. So deal with reality. Keep it pressed. Clean minor stains with a little dry cleaning solution and a clean cloth. You can get the solution for cheap at Walmart or Target. You only need to clean your suit 2-3 times a year max or when the stain is beyond help at home. This is where keeping your suits darker matters. There are mid-weight, lightweight, and heavyweight cloths. Stick with the lightweight darker clothes as they are great choices for year-round wear and keeps your inventory at home light which saves money on cleaning.
To be a Service Professional requires a professional image and this requires a professional look. These simple strategies if followed will help you to not only serve customers more effectively but present you in a positive light in front of management. Good Luck!
First, you are going to be doing job interviews and sadly what you look like matters to hiring managers. I am sorry I wish that a hiring leader could see into your heart but they don't and they won't so you have to get your first impression right. A poor resume can be forgiven, not knowing how present a professional image cannot.
Second, you deserve to be taken seriously! A sharp dressed professional will be given better service, access to better deals, and get the best seats in restaurants. Why because companies want to leverage you to draw more client into their institution. This means that when you dress sharp you are literally a walking billboard. You are advertising excellence, caring, quality. And you don't need a degree to do this. And you don't need high paying job for this. It's just a result of taking a little time to present that image.
And finally, it presents your employer or department in a good light. People talk when a department is full of well-dressed men and women. Other employees in departments where the dress code is lax will begin to inquire on employment in your department. Why? Because there is a link in peoples minds between dress code and the value of the position. So you can drive up the value of your department or job by just changing how you look. You can change YOUR value by changing how you present yourself. OK, so how can you do this and for less money.
Shop off brands and get them tailored.
Let's start with the foundation after undies for men. Your shirt. Your shirt is seen by everybody and its critical you get this right. During much of the day your sports coat, blazer, or suit jacket will be hung up. So the shirt is your day to day signature. First, for men, while younger men can get away with wild colors and styles, I recommend keeping it simple. YOU DON'T NEED A LOT OF SHIRTS!! I recommend 3-5. If you wear an undershirt. Which you should do! You can get 3-4 wearings out of a shirt before you need to either wash it yourself or send it out for cleaning. Consider basic colors or Blue, White, Salmon, and Green. This should be a shirt that buttons down the front and is long sleeved. You can always roll the cuffs if needed. You'll want to pair these shirts with 2-3 ties if you are just building your wardrobe. Try to stay with thicker cloths as they take perspiration better and keeps your undershirt well hidden. If you have lighter skin consider a white tee if darker toned a dark tee to blend it into the background. You don't want the undershirt showing under your shirt.
Now I spend on my dress shirts $85 to $125 dollars. I am at a point in my career where this is a good investment. If you are just beginning or if the wages don't allow for it $30-$40 a shirt is reasonable. If you can't afford 3-5 buy two. No one will know you only have two. They are the same style of shirt after all. Now I recommend presenting a unified image and having the same style of shirt makes this easy. Certain shirts are better suited as club ware for the weekends and not for work.
It is critical to get your shirts tailored to fit your body type. This is especially critical for big men. Nothing sadder than a professional who is going above and beyond to present a good image and its thrown off by a shirt that is not tailored! Now if you don't have the cash initially, an ill-fitting shirt is still an improvement over a tee shirt or golf shirt. But as soon as possible get it tailored. The collar should not be too tight. Your skin should not spill over the collar. A loose collar, on the other hand, will create the "turtle" effect. You head will look like it could suck right in. You should be able to fit a finger comfortably between the neck and the shirt in an ideally tailored shirt. The shirt cuff should just peak 1/2 to 1 inch beyond the sports coat.
As for ties neutral colors and patterns are appropriate. Leave the beer can tie at home and settle for stripes, spots, and simple patterns. A standard tie is always the best answer when in doubt. Skinny ties and wide ties are fads and fads come and go. But a basic blue striped tie basically will last your career if cared for.
For women blouses and shells in neutral colors such as ivory, white, black, blue, and red are appropriate for the workplace. I don't recommend pink. You can pull off salmon, but leave pink at home. Keep the wild patterns and jeweling at home as well. You want the attention on you and your ideas and performance and not your clothes. You want to show power and respect and base colors do this for men and women. Do make sure you wear a bra and make sure it fits well! You can keep the spending down on bras by taking the time to get measured at a department store and then purchasing a less expensive version at a mid-range or entry range store. I knew a very successful lobbyist who did her clothing shopping at mid-range stores but had her bras custom made. It's that important to your image. A word about skirts and dresses here. Try to keep skirts at or below the knee and in the neutral colors of gray, blue, khaki, and black.
For both sexes slacks are critical. Do try to keep the slacks basic and simple. Leave the golf slacks at home! Basic colors like gray, blue, khaki, and black are always in style and can be broken out for special occasions in your personal life as well. These must be well tailored as they complete the silhouette you want to present. Keep the cuffs and breaks just above the shoe. Remember you don't have to wash these slacks after each wear unless you see stains that can't be easily taken out with a wet cloth. Nothing destroys fabric than frequent washing. 1-2 times a month should be plenty if cared for and hung nightly.
As for sports coats, you need to ensure that these coats are fashion neutral. Your blouses and shirts are the main show at your desk most days. It's rare for a professional to wear their coat at the desk all day. This means that your coat or sports jacket will live well past the slacks that you wear with them. Drycleaning any garment is harsh period. 1-3 times a year unless smell or stain force the issue all that is needed to keep a coat in fighting shape.
Finally, there is the business suit. For men and women, the business suit is the calling card for interviews and important family events. You can have a great career with only 3 suits! You don't need a bunch of them. There are many executives who will tell you that a suit needs to rest between wearings. In the ideal world yes. And in the ideal world Service Professionals would make the money needed to maintain such a wardrobe. So deal with reality. Keep it pressed. Clean minor stains with a little dry cleaning solution and a clean cloth. You can get the solution for cheap at Walmart or Target. You only need to clean your suit 2-3 times a year max or when the stain is beyond help at home. This is where keeping your suits darker matters. There are mid-weight, lightweight, and heavyweight cloths. Stick with the lightweight darker clothes as they are great choices for year-round wear and keeps your inventory at home light which saves money on cleaning.
To be a Service Professional requires a professional image and this requires a professional look. These simple strategies if followed will help you to not only serve customers more effectively but present you in a positive light in front of management. Good Luck!
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