Top designers and business consultants will tell you that you should always dress for the job you want. Others say that professional attire is a matter of the ability to pull off a polished look while maintaining a sense of self and highlighting your personality. Regardless of which school of thinking you agree with, you'll want to think about your professional wardrobe if you hope to be successful. If you're looking for tips on how to style yourself for success, read on.
Committing to the Classics
If economic independence is something you value, and you know your career will be a top priority in the future, you'll want to start thinking now about the big expenses you'll eventually use to accent your personal attire. Maybe you're a student in graduate school and your partner's shopping for a diamond engagement ring. While you might be concerned about sparkle and clarity now, you'll also want to consider carat weight, diamond shape, and the materials in your perfect engagement ring. What you might be attracted to now could change. Before making your preferences known to your partner, consider how your ring will look after you've landed your dream job. A marriage is forever, but a career is, too. To play it safe, consider asking for a standard white gold or platinum classic ring.
The same applies to all your gemstones and jewelry. Even if you're already in your perfect job, you'll want to consider the types of bling you're adding to your wardrobe. Great for accents, big or clunky jewelry can also be distracting in the professional or corporate worlds. If you know your employer won't approve, it might be a better idea to build your jewelry collection around subtle but stunning classics like pearls and diamond studs.
Eyes on the Courtroom
You don't have to work in the legal field to know how women in law dress for success. Between movies, television, and streaming apps, you likely know how male attorneys dress, too. If you aren't sure how to style yourself or dress for that job interview, take a look at any courtroom in real life or on the Hollywood screen. There, you'll find men in suits and women dressed appropriately for any professional career you might choose.
Modeling after Mentors
Like it or not, first impressions make a huge difference. When considering your personal style, take a look at the people you admire. Is there a mentor, boss, co-worker, or professor you consider successful? Odds are, they're well aware of how women in law dress for success, too. Whether you're a member of a professional women's group, just out of high school hoping to land a job to pay for college, or already established in your career, eyeing the people you admire and taking note of what they wear will help you come up with a wardrobe that feels right to you.
Personalizing Your Style
Regardless of how well-tailored a suit or those black pumps match that dress suit, you won't feel confident if you aren't authentic. When dressing for success, give yourself the luxury of finding one way to maintain your individualism. Whether that's in a statement piece with an initial, a scarf in your favorite colors, or even in the way you do your make-up, don't forget to bring you to the table. Confidence is the best accessory you can have when hoping for success.
In the end, there's a lot more to achieving success in how you dress. You can give yourself a leg up on the competition by thinking ahead and dressing for the career or position you want even while you're training for it. In the same way you might collect career development tools, building that professional wardrobe now will put you in a great position to reach your goals.
