Employment Guide: Dressing professional outside the office

It’s no secret that many college students — whose day-to-day getups are frequently composed… It’s no secret that many college students — whose day-to-day getups are frequently composed of head-to-toe Pitt Pride sweats or skinny jeans and ironic T-shirts — find transitioning to a professional wardrobe quite challenging. Everyone wants to dress to impress, but a good black suit can be expensive or feel too old or stuffy for someone who’s still schlepping a backpack around campus five days a week. On top of that, virtually no one is entirely sure what “business casual” looks like.

Most students are aware of the basic tenets of dressing for the average day at the office. Short skirts — anything above the knee is in question — and wild accessories are out. Dress pants and simple, “polished” hairstyles are in. But there are a few occasions that fall somewhere between the casual and the professional — the occasions that involve co-workers but don’t take place at the office, that are supposedly “informal” but may have serious consequences for your future employment. These include interviews, office parties and “casual” meetings over coffee.

For these instances when you’re not on the clock, but not off the hook, here are some Do’s and Don’ts to remember.

Do Dress Like Yourself

If you’re a girl who hasn’t worn anything but pants since the age of 9, don’t feel the need to don a skirt and high heels now — dress pants and sensible flats will work just as well. On the other hand, if you’re someone who usually dresses with “flair,” there’s no reason to go to a job interview feeling frumpy in head-to-toe gray when a nice, colorful blouse or sweater would be just as appropriate.

Sadie Stein, who writes a Dress Code series for the Gawker network blog Jezebel, feels like she’s playing dress-up in a suit and advises readers that, “If you look uncomfortable, it more than overrides the professionalism of a getup.”

Don’t Try To Wow Everyone With Your Fashion Sense

It’s the workplace, not a beauty pageant. You want your coworkers’ attention to be on you — your skills, your ease of manner and the quality of the work you do — not on your clothing. The name of the game is to avoid being distracting. If your interviewer, or the co-worker you were having coffee with, doesn’t even remember what you were wearing, then whatever you wore was perfect.

Do Err On The Side Of Caution

If you’re uncertain about wearing it, don’t. This goes for denim — even really nice denim — open-toed shoes, black with brown, white after Labor Day and virtually anything else you can remember being told is a potential faux pas. If you think it might get you labeled unprofessional, you should eschew it until you’ve been working at a job for many, many years. Once again, your clothes are not supposed to distract anyone — including you! Every minute you’re worrying about whether your outfit is appropriate is a minute you could be concentrating on the actual obligations of your job.

Do Give Yourself Wiggle Room

When a reader wrote in to ask about proper footwear for law school interviews in snowy climates, Sadie noted that “there is no shame in switching from wellies to heels in the bathroom.” In slushy Pittsburgh, this is excellent advice. Likewise, employers are in the same frigid boat as you are and will not judge you for showing up to that coffee meeting in a virtual cocoon of wool scarves, as long as you take them off as soon as you sit down to business.

Other accessories can allow you to alter the formality of your outfit after you’ve left the house. A nice, professional jacket or blazer can be added to a too-casual getup if you find yourself underdressed, or removed if you find yourself looking too stuffy.

Don’t Hesitate To Ask!

Everyone was new to the workplace once, including your boss. It is better to reveal your ignorance of proper work attire through an earnest question, which shows your desire to be appropriate and your willingness to learn, than through a glaring faux pas that you could have avoided had you swallowed your pride. You aren’t expected to know what to wear to the office Christmas party by magic — just ask a trusted co-worker, take what you can from his or her advice and take notes for the next party when you get there.