Professional Dressing

To Dress Up or Too Dressed Up

Professional Dressing

One of my besties once shared that she had heard from one CEO that one should always dress for his next role.

It somewhere stuck with me. I started experimenting with this and found it very accurate. It really helped me a lot since it made me stand apart, professionally.

Over the years I also learned that despite your good work you are sometimes not given preference just because you did not give importance to professional dressing. Many of my colleagues wondered why I wore formals and not care to dress casually, Monday to Friday.

By dressing professionally, you feel you are ready to roll once you start your day. It gives you the perfect amount of push required to begin your day. You feel you are at your best self and it gives you the confidence to present yourself in front of your clients (if you are in a client-facing role, like me). 

Well dressed up look changes the whole environment you are in. People tend to take you lightly when you are not dressed up professionally. Let me add here that you do not have to spend a fortune on dressing well. It does not cost you much to wear neat, clean, and ironed clothes.

A well-groomed look helps in building your personal brand. People enjoy talking to you. They feel confident to give you tasks or responsibilities.

Sharing An old video that still makes sense. Hope you will like it.  One old article if you still like to read! 

While you decide to go all out to dress up, tomorrow onwards, make sure:

1. You do not look out of place.
2. You do not go overboard.
3. Accessorise smartly.
4. The fit is good, it is important. Not too tight nor loose that is!
5. To be aware of the weather and dress accordingly.
6. You are not spending a fortune on dressing well.
7. You are not dressing inappropriately.
8. You are well-groomed too, keep your hygiene in check.
9. You dress like yourself, do not wear something which you are unable to carry!!!
10. You smile :-)

Here, it would not harm me to give you a real-life anecdote on how grooming myself further helped me land a job after many rejections.

In 2016, I was trying to look for new career opportunities. I sent my resume to an HR consultant. She kept sending my resumes with no positive results. She was telling every company, she sent my resume to, that this candidate is 40 plus but doesn't look like and is energetic and all. No one bothered and my CV kept getting rejected.

Then the consultant did something and my resume got shortlisted for an interview. I gave 2 rounds of interviews and got selected too! They chose me despite me being above their age bar criteria. However, I could not join them due to commuting issues. The interesting thing here is to know what that consultant did which got my resume shortlisted in the first place!

She, without informing me, downloaded my WhatsApp profile picture, where I had my hair straightened, and sent it to the company along with my resume.

After I was shortlisted for an interview (2016), she gave me a piece of advice. "Please get a hair straightener as you look 10 years younger than your age, with straight hair." By the way, it took me another three years to buy that hair straightener! Now I, sometimes, think why I did not buy it earlier. It's worth every penny I spent. 

Let me share a before & after picture for you. 

  

It would be interesting to share that for some reason, I have always had very beautiful young girls as my team members. They have always been so nice to me and helped me with new trends, make-up, and accessories. They have spoilt me with their unconditional love. They are the ones who keep the environment lively with their constant bubbly laughter and giggles. During our tea and lunch breaks, we discuss the latest trends in watches, clothes, bags, footwear, makeup, etc. I added this real-life experience of mine as I feel that sometimes these discussions with people from different age groups prove to be helpful in knowing the latest trends in fashion. 

Especially so, if you are a 47-year-old woman like me then you would see the change in your taste which is a mix of both elegant and trendy at the same time. You will feel much younger and happy! 

Dressing up is about feeling good and confident, isn't it?!

Let's leave you with some interesting answers I got when I asked this question (see below) 

Why do you care about dressing up? 

1.  A Recruitment Head - "It gives me confidence."

2.  A well-dressed colleague - "I like to dress because it makes me happy. I feel good."

3.  An ex-colleague turned friend - "Dressing up makes my day happy and feels beautiful 😍Dressing up also chins up my confidence and sparks eyes 😃 I love dressing up but it takes time though 😜"

4.  My bestie - "I like to dress up. It cheers me up, to look well, put together."

5.  Major General Sir XYZ - "Till one gets to know the soul, one has to go by the appearance. Appearance has many factors and dress is one of them. Clothes are recent addition; only a few thousand years old. Before this, they were never needed. They say if we continue to wear a mask for a few decades, the next generation will start treating the mouth also as a private part😂"

6.  Associate General Manager of an IT company - "Going out naked is not appreciated."

7.  Director at a fashion house in Delhi - "To feel confident, To feel beautiful."

8. Counselling Psychologist & Clinical Hypnotherapist in Delhi - "It makes me feel good, enhances my confidence. The color of the dress is something that can change the way you look and makes you shine more and stand apart. The kind of dress your wear Indian or western can define your identity, highlight your traits."

9. CEO of an executive research firm in Delhi - "It makes me feel confident, pretty and gives me a sense of identity. It is my style that differentiates me and the way I dress up makes me stand out as an Individual in a crowd!!!! Cheers"

10. Comment / Answer to add up to this list - Why do you care about dressing up? 

Love ~ Sneha