Proper Work Clothes and How It Affects Your Professional Image

Everyone wants to look professional in their work place. We want to dress smart and professionally or dress for success with a runway flair - to look like those professional models. But, what we forget is that your company might have a different dress code. What should be more important is that you dress accordingly or appropriately. Each company has their own dress code, so what the proper business attire is would depend on what the norm is in your office.

Lately though, we wonder what ever happened to the so called dress code. Though there are still companies who follow the proper business attire simply because they have a distinct work clothes to follow, in this case they have corporate uniforms for every day of the week. But more often you see professionals in the ubiquitous jeans paired with dress shirt with a small laptop backpack. Experts now ask whether today's generation have lost sight of the importance of appearance to professional success or they simply do not know what to wear to work.

What we need to realize is that no matter how casual things may have become, people in business and anywhere else will judge you by the way you present yourself. Even you do that, too. Take for example in a busy and crowded place, a restaurant or hotel and you look around. You make quick judgments on the people present based on the work clothes they are wearing. You make judgments on who they are, their line of business, their personalities and their competencies. And usually you decide that those who are dressed smartly are people of influence than those in casual clothes.

One of the most common mistakes of those going for an interview is not taking the time dress up properly. They prepare a pretty good resume and giving the best answers without taking the time to make themselves presentable enough. What we do not realize is that one way of making our would-be employers appreciate that we are taking the job search seriously is by dressing up properly. Experts believe that a professional image can be projected by the choice of clothes, accessories and appearance. So no matter how much you strengthen your interviewing skills and rework your resume if you do not take the same effort on what you wear for the interview, you will not be able to make a great impact and develop chemistry with the interviewer.

Yes, your work clothes or interview attire does send a message about your judgment. And then again, the colors of your corporate apparel matters, too. Experts advise that navy blue is the best color choice for an interview or a first business meeting. Black sends a strong statement of power, knowledge and authority which might turn-off the person who will do the interview. Muted red is a better choice to bright, dynamic red which might be considered aggressive by some. Brown and green are safe choices for the first or second interview as it projects honesty and integrity.

Job searching is not the proper venue to try your artistic clothes sense unless the field you are targeting to work on is on the artistic side. To get that dream job, make sure your work clothes create a professional impression for you. And once you get the job, make sure your corporate uniforms promote yourself and your company in a positive manner.