9. Dressing right

Task 1

Do's and Don'ts to survive the formal dress code.

DO:

DON'T:

Always look professional Dress for the audience, the circumstance, the corporate culture, and yourself Wear clothes that fit Make sure your clothes are pressed Keep jackets buttoned (formal) Err on the side of conservative Keep your hair neat and trimmed No hair in eyes Mild (or no) fragrances Ties should be conservative and reach the middle of your belt buckle Lace-up shoes (usually black) with a suit A traditional starched business shirt, preferably white cotton with a suit Shirts with a simple collar and cuffs A formal but simple watch Hair, usually parted to one side, not reaching the top of your shirt collar Over-the-calf socks Wear heels (up to 1 1/2" to 2"), with a high vamp, with formal attire Hose should be skin color or darker (carry an extra pair when presenting) Conservative business make-up, stressing the mouth and eyes more if presenting Check for lipstick on your teeth Simple manicure

Wear clothes that talk louder than you do Undo too many buttons on your blouse Wear clothing that no longer fits Wear wrinkled clothing Fabrics that have a noticeable sheen Hair that falls in your face or obscures your eyebrows Hair that requires continual adjustment Fragrance that smells from a distance ID badges when you’re presenting Busy patterns Garish ties Sloppy facial hair (in some organizations, any facial hair can be career-inhibiting) Shiny tie pins or clips or big belt buckles Visible jewelry (other than a watch and/or a single simple ring) Distracting lapel pins Open top shirt button with a tie. Short-sleeved dress shirts Short socks Loafers with a suit Anything too bright, tight, sheer or short Toe cleavage (open-toed shoes; Heels so high you’re unsteady

Task 2

Make the dress code for

a) school;

b) institute;

c) club or party;

d) concert if you were a famous singer;

e) television announcer.

Task 3

Read the text

Dress Code for Businessperson

Dress’ Speak [United States, colloquial] – a phrase used to express how clothing and the way it is tailored and worn translates into a personal statemen.

The way you dress speaks volumes about who you are as a person and as a business communicator. Let’s face it, clothes talk. Whenever you enter a room for the first time, it takes only a few seconds for people you’ve never met to form perceptions about you and your abilities. You don’t have to utter a word; people peg you one way if you're dressed in black leather or in jeans and a T-shirt, another if you’re squeezed into gold lamé, and yet another if you’re sporting a classic suit. Regardless of who you really are, your clothes and body language always speak first.

First Things First

Some of the perceptions people can form solely from your appearance are:

• Your professionalism;

• Your level of sophistication;

• Your intelligence;

• Your credibility.

Whether these perceptions are real or imagined, they underscore how your appearance instantly influences the opinions of strangers, peers, and superiors. Being well dressed in a corporate setting can influence not just perceptions, but also promotions.

The Basics

So what’s right and what’s wrong?

First, there is no single set of rules that will work for everyone; sometimes the only written rules are expressed in your organization’s dress code, if it has one. But there are a handful of characteristics that most successful business communicators share when it comes to dress and grooming.

Your corporate culture and the role you play in it should guide your choice of business attire. Some organizations still expect top male executives to wear a dark gray suit on Monday and a navy suit on Tuesday with an understated tie and starched white shirt. These companies expect female executives to wear a dark, skirted suit with a solid, light blouse.

However, more and more businesses are moving to full-time business casual at every level in the organization. Some just have one or two days each week that are casual. And the definition of business casual varies, ranging from jeans to blazers.

Business dress requires you to know your audience. You need to gauge what attire will be right for the audience and the circumstance. This all hinges on the norms of the culture of the industry, region, company, division, department, and function.

While your attire can be a vehicle for personal expression, you can pay a price for violating the written and unwritten codes of your culture. Always know the price before you pay.

Business attire is different from social attire and tends to be more formal: the parameters that cover business attire are narrower than they are for social attire. For example, social attire can be more suggestive or flashier or make more of a statement, while business attire should be tuned to the needs of the business circumstance.

In business, your clothing and grooming should not distract. Rather, they should direct attention to your face and particularly your eyes. When you connect with someone else's eyes, they tend to listen. But who can stay focused on eyes when your manager has her fingers manicured with lavender polish and 10 bolts of silver lightning striking her cuticles, or your purchasing agent has a copper ring pierced through his nose?

Typical formal business attire has an advantage because it can easily direct listeners to your eyes. A light shirt/blouse under a closed dark jacket forms an area of brightness near the face. A contrasting tie/scarf can heighten this effect. Red in the tie/scarf can help draw the eyes of your audience to your own.

When you're in front of a group giving a presentation, making a speech or just plain talking, you need to choose your attire to match the event (but a formal suit in front of an audience in jeans and T-shirts is rarely a good idea).

Regardless of what you're wearing, make sure it works. Check not just for fashion sense but also for fit. Nothing sends a worse message than a poorly tailored jacket. One common offense is the wrong sleeve length. The jacket sleeve should end at the middle of your wrist bone, with the shirt sleeve extending three eighths of an inch beyond. Since almost everyone has one arm longer than the other, make sure the tailor checks the length of both sleeves.

If you are not wearing a long-sleeved shirt under a sports coat, the jacket length should extend to the end of the wrist bone. This will preserve the visibility of your hands without calling attention to the bareness of your forearms. Conversely, your jacket sleeve should be shorter if you wear French or double cuffs, to better display the cuff and links. Pant legs should reach the tops of your shoes, forming a single break a little above the point of contact. Socks should cover your calves-this will help you avoid showing leg hair every time you cross your legs. And now some words about shoes.

The great American dancer, Fred Astaire, who wrote the book on popular dance, said this about footwear: “If you want to know if a fellow is well dressed, look down.”

Business suits take simple lace-ups, not slip-ons for men. And the best shoes for women are closed-toe with a high enough vamp to allow you to walk securely. Formal attire requires heels; these should be typically 1½ to 2 inches.

Business presenters need more than a professional look. They need to be able to move in their clothes. Narrow skirts, tight pants, or confining – разве так говорят об одежде? (form-fitting) jackets restrict movement.