9 Tips to Beat the Heat and Look Professional: Women
At many offices across the country, today is Casual Friday. If you’re wearing a company polo and a nice pair of khakis, or something even fancier, pat yourself on the back. If you’re wearing a halter top and other people can see your back, read this article twice–unless you’re working from your own back yard like the woman at the left.
Yesterday, I wrote about ways men can stay cool at work while dressing professionally. I noted, “Now only 10% of Fortune 500 companies allow business casual dress, down from 50% a few years ago. … Even if your company still allows business casual, you may take it upon yourself to take it up a notch.”
Women have more flexibility in summer dress (a skirt suit provides a nice breeze that men can’t get, and jewelry easily allows you to “summerize” an outfit), but a summer dressing faux pas at work can be dire. Tank tops and short skirts abound, and they are completely inappropriate in any office atmosphere. In fact, the peak years of workplace business casual also saw a significant rise in sexual harassment lawsuits. (Makes sense, huh?)
Your professional dress helps set the tone for interactions you have with your coworkers, and your wardrobe should define you as a strong, serious employee. According to a survey by the Ladders executive search firm, 60% of managers thought employees in more formal business attire were likely to be taken more seriously–and 22% admitted the better dressed employees were more likely to be promoted.
These summer dressing tips for work are from Nancy Nix-Rice, president of First Impressions Image Consulting and co-author of The New Professional Image. (She’s my mom, but she’s also one of fewer than 100 people worldwide to hold certification from the Association of Image Consultants International.) The tips are based on a corporate atmosphere, so tone them down according to your situation. But if you want to be taken seriously, tip #1 is non-negotiable.
- Too much skin is too much skin, no matter what the thermometer says. Beware of UVB: uncovered, voluptuous bust (or back, belly, butt, bra straps, etc.). Your brain is the B you want to show off.
- An overlayer top really adds presence, authority, and modesty to a business look. A cotton-blend twinset or unstructured shirt jacket are cooler alternatives to a suit jacket in semi-casual situations.
- Under a suit jacket, consider wearing a dressy t-shirt instead of the traditional silk blouse. (For women, it’s perfectly fine to wear a short sleeved shirt under a jacket.) The cotton knit fabric absorbs body moisture and helps you stay surprisingly cool. A tee also doesn’t wrinkle and cling the way a blouse might.
For a tee to qualify as dressy, it should be made of fine quality fabric; the neckline should be finished with binding, instead of more casual ribbed trim. It should also have a shaped armhole, and no logos.
- Consider a business dress like a sheath dress or tailored dress as an alternative to a suit. Look for a solid color and reasonably firm fabric, like a wrinkle-resistant linen. Sleeveless dresses would require a jacket or sweater, but a short-sleeved one should be fine alone. Wrap dresses can work, too, provided they aren’t too low-cut or tight. A nice camisole under the wrap dress could also solve the low-cut problem.
- Most professional offices still expect nylons with a dress or skirt, even in the summer. Resist the temptation to ditch the hose, even if your company’s dress policy does not explicitly require them. Bare legs can invite thoughts that wander above the hemline, and most older professionals (i.e., your boss and your clients) consider bare legs completely inappropriate. Shop for ultrasheer brands during the summer, so they don’t look heavy.
- Companies are becoming more accepting of backless or open-toe footware, but flip-flops, Birkenstocks, and Crocs don’t make the cut. Toe-post sandals (what used to be called “thong” sandals) are usually too skimpy to be office appropriate, but a conservative peep-toe is fine. If you’re combining open toe shoes with pantyhose (because you’re always wearing pantyhose in the office, right?), toeless hose can be a great solution. Super-sheer hose can also work.
- Do remember to care for your feet before you bare them. Your nails should be painted a subtle, natural color (think reds and corals, not hot pink or lime green), and your heels shouldn’t be cracked or flaky.
- The fashion world has attributed magical properties the color black. (E.g. “It’s slimming! It’s basic! It’s … black!”) It also magically absorbs the sun’s rays, and can cook you alive during the summer. Consider a mid-gray or khaki suit instead, or even ivory. You can also punch up your summer outfits with vivid but professional tops. Salmon, turquoise, and purple can be great summery touches.
- I wrote earlier that women’s jewelry offers a great way to “summerize” a look. Consider this turquoise necklace as a statement piece that packs a punch or color, shows some style, but isn’t too overwhelming. With short, chunky gold hoops, this could be a snazzy but professional look that’s appropriate for all but the most conservative situations.
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If you want more specialized wardrobe counseling, the Association of Image Consultants International website has a page dedicated to helping employees (and employers) find the help they’re looking for. Wardrobe consultants can show you which colors are your best, help you weed through your closet to find the most flattering garments, shop with you to fill any gaps in your wardrobe, and then help you mix-and-match your best pieces to make dozens of outfits.
The AICI FAQ page can help you start this process on your own. Heck, if you turn out to be good at the wardrobe thing, you could consider a career as an image consultant yourself! But then you’d definitely have to dress well 24/7 … .
Photo credit: creatingkoan of flickr.com.
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Comments
I’m with you on everything but:
“In fact, the peak years of business casual also saw a significant rise in sexual harassment lawsuits. (Makes sense, huh?)”
Blaming the victims never makes sense.
Nice post — all of it.
Thought you might find of interest this post about the decline of relaxed dress codes:
I appreciate your comment very much, Angie. The issue isn’t so much about women’s provocative dress in the workplace, but about the fact that excessively casual contributes to an excessively casual attitude where inappropriate behavior is more likely.
I bit my tongue when I saw that Katie was going to make that sexual harassment comment. “Not politically correct, but better coming from a woman,” I thought.
But now that Angie took the bait, I’ll chime in with a couple of points from my perspective as having defended many sexual harassment cases and read about hundreds if not thousands.
First, blaming the victim may not make sense, but in a sexual harassment case you better believe it will happen if the victim dressed questionably. There is arguable relevance if the clothing is extreme enough that it could be said to have “invited” the comments, so they were not unwelcome or offensive. Courts and juries may not be all that sympathetic to “victims” in such situations.
Second, the fact is that many (most?) men notice the exposed skin (or overly-emphasized curves). They may look, stare, get distracted, and fantasize. It’s not right and if taken to the extreme may be illegal, but they may also make comments inspired by what they see.
Third, such comments are frequent grist for the sexual harassment mill.
So, if you want to both avoid some sources of potential harassment and avoid your attire becoming an issue if you do get harassed, heed Katie’s advice.
And men, when female workers don’t do so, keep your thoughts to yourself or you may soon be looking for a new job . . .
Another thought: Harassment is the action of the harasser, so it is his (or her) fault, not the victim’s. However, dressing as a professional woman, rather than a sex toy, is surely the first step to being treated with respect. While professional dress cannot insulate a woman from the possibility of sexual harassment, it is a useful tool.
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As a young woman, I hope that this pantyhose nonsense dies out eventually. They’re uncomfortable, unattractive, and a waste of money. I, personally, have not worn pantyhose since I was 12, and never wore them as a legal assistant. None of the female attorneys in the firms I worked in wore pantyhose, not even to court. In my future career as an attorney, I will sooner wear pants every day of the year in Texas than wear pantyhose ever.
Re the pantyhose comment, it illustrates a couple of points.
First, it is always good to take cues from one’s superiors (in this case the female attorneys with whom the legal assistant worked).
Second, practical comfort factors may sometimes trump conventional wisdom. It may be that the expectations are different in Texas because of weather conditions. That may mean pantyhose is not de rigeur for women; it may mean short sleeves and a tie are OK for men spending time outdoors or in facilities lacking AC.
really nice post. thanx!