When I was a teenager I would come home from school and if ,my mom was there she would be watching “her stories”. What that meant was there were soap operas on the television while she was doing whatever thing was on her list that day. Afternoon soap operas have mostly gone away now but I remember looking at the television screen and being amazed at the clothes that all of the women wore. They woke up and got dressed every day. By dressed I mean they looked nice. They looked like they had somewhere to be. They looked like they were ready to take control of any situation.
When I got older and began looking for jobs I would regularly hear the advice to “Dress for the job that you want.” To me that meant if I was going to interview as a check out person I would dress as if i wanted to be the manager. When I went to interview for a job as a quality control person working in a video tape duplication factory I wore my best business like dress even though I knew that the people I would be working with would wear jeans to work every day.
I come by all of this naturally. My dad’s last job before he retired was driving a school bus. Every day he wore slacks and a button down shirt. He had nice looking jackets and loafers to go with it. He always had a nice watch on too. Now he is retired and has been fighting the cancer battle for the last 5 years. It’s been terrible but every time he has to go into the hospital for a chemo treatment he gets fully dressed. I actually can only remember a few times in my life seeing my dad in jeans….and I am not sure if he owns a pair of sneakers.
I was just watching a series on Netflix called No Tomorrow. One of the characters was wearing designer clothes and had her nails and hair done regularly. At one point in one of the episodes she tells the main character that until she started dressing like that no one took her seriously. She couldn’t get people to invest in her department.
In a June 2017 issue of Inc Magazine an article was published titled “Research Shows the Clothes You Wear Actually Change The Way You Perform.” Here is a snippet from that article:
Like it or not, your clothes and presentation communicate volumes about you as a person. The question is not whether you care about fashion, it’s more about what you’re communicating intentionally or unconsciously through your fashion choices. Just as the actor in the right costume moves and speaks differently, so does the everyday person.
Your clothes tell a story about you. If you want to show that your work is clean, sharp, and to the point, you need to dress in clean lines, sharp creases, and (yes) points on your shoes and tie. Even the way you wear your glasses speaks volumes about you and your work!
Clothes do make a difference. The great thing is that we have a wide range of clothing styles and price points to choose from now. Not that long ago all clothing was a huge investment. Now we can choose to spend a little less on some items, such as trendy styles, and save up for items we know will last and that we can wear for years to come, such as clothes with classic styling.
I’m not saying that everything you wear needs to send a message to be deciphered but I am saying that you can choose your clothes to change the way you approach each day and maybe even bring a smile or lift those you come into contact with each day. Consider that next time you are thinking about adding something new to your closet and your wardrobe.
This outfit is one I just finished last week. Can you see how amazing I feel in it? The color and the style with a bit of fun thrown in. You can see all the details about this outfit on the Minerva blog.
