Dress Code Violation

I’ve been wanting to write this blog for a LONG time, but held off as I wanted to have some clear thoughts about this particular issue and some varying perspective. It gets a little personal, but whatever, I may be the queen of TMI. 

When I got my first internship that required me to dress business casual and it actually mattered what I wore, I was so excited! It sounds ridiculous, but up till then, my work attire consisted of jeans and a nice T-shirt or tank as I waited tables for most of my income. If you were in a sorority in undergrad, you’d know that chapter meetings were the epitome of up-to-date business fashion. Every time I arrived, I would scan my sisters for new ideas and cute shoes! My day to day attire in undergrad was similar to my service industry attire and mixing it up and feeling as if we were moving on to the next step in life for a moment was exciting for me, but I digress. 

Once I got my job, I was excited to wear all of my cute business casual things. There was a level of dress code enforced at chapter that I thought I could use as a jumping off point on what to wear for work. Unfortunately, I WAS SO WRONG! I actually had a mentor when I started my internship that helped with various aspects of my personal development and I was thankful to have someone to help with that. I thought most of my issues revolved around not having a filter and saying things very matter-of-factly. I was shocked to know that my dress had been questioned more than once at work. I mean, I’m reasonably smart and when I looked in the mirror, I felt like I looked good. Nothing was hanging out or too short, but I still was getting the same feedback that something was wrong. 

This issue used to make me very angry! I mean why is it that I get in “trouble” for something I’m not even trying to do? The argument I kept hearing is that my dress could be distracting. Um, distracting to whom?! I wanted to counter with this: “Well a man in a nice shirt and good fitting suit pants distracts me!” (which most girls would agree, haha) and they don’t have to change what they are wearing! I have since come to the conclusion that it isn’t distracting to others as much as distracting from me and my abilities. 

I’ll give you an example on the flip side. I recently met a person that was supposed to be in marketing. You know the stereotype for marketing people, gregarious to the point of talking your ear off, creative and hip! This person was awkward, dressed badly and looked drab. My first thought was, wow, you must be a terrible marketer. How ridiculous is that! This person could have been the best thing since Twitter and I wouldn’t have even listened because of their appearance and interaction. 

This is where the whole “Don’t dress for the job you have, dress for the job you want” comes into play and I think it’s easier said than done. I have no idea how to dress for the next step in my career, and it’s definitely a learning process. But my advice this week, is even though it is ridiculous and makes you angry, put yourself on the other side of the issue. How would you judge you?