21/09/2014
Dress up for the job and dress for the income you want to earn...
It’s a famous saying “CLOTHES MAKE THE MAN” It means if you dress like the CEO of a company, people perceive you as a professional with Influence. Hence why dress down?
There is another saying “FIRST IMPRESSION IS THE BEST IMPRESSION.” Literally and practically it means is that it’s very difficult to change the first impression. So why leave any stone unturned to make the best impression?
The above two phrases are a fact of life and worth their weight in Gold. We humans have limited attention span and once we have experienced an experience our interest level drops down for the subsequent encounters. Hence it makes business sense to make the best impression the first time. The best impression is created by what we wear which is an external factor and how we behave which is an internal factor. For this post we will discuss the external factor ie. How we dress? And we call this phenomena as “POWER DRESSING”
Power dressing begins with a suit of exquisite fabric with a fine tailoring.
Suit comprises jacket and trousers made of same fabric and colour (Black, Charcoal, Brown, navy Blue); cut from the same cloth.
The length of the jacket should just reach the end of your thumb.
The length of the jacket shoulder should reach where hand meets the wrist.
Half an inch of shirt cuffs should be visible outside of the jacket’s arm
Jacket should comply with current trends which is two buttons.
When you are standing; close first button of your jacket and when you sit down open the buttons.
When you button up the jacket, it should leave half an inch space between your abdomen and the jacket.
Jacket should fit your torso and float on your shoulders. If your jacket hangs or appears cylindrical shape, get it altered.
Mind you Jacket should look V shape hugging your torso.
Trousers should neither float nor wrinkle at the bottom. There should be one break or dimple near to the bottom.
Avoid pleats in your trousers because that gives you a bulky outlook around waist.
Wear a leather belt and colour of the belt should match with the colour of your shoes.
Purchase a quality full sleeves shirt and tuck it in your trousers.
The size of the shirts collar dictates the size of your tie knot. Large collar would go with double knot and small collar would go with single knot.
As a thumb rule; the width of the tie should match width of the jacket lapel. And its length, it should just fall where the belt is.
In conclusion I would reiterate; POWER DRESSING is not about Dressing for the income you currently make but POWER DRESSING is dressing for the income you want to earn.
