Perhaps the hardest part of the professional image is the Papuans of New Guinea: it's enough for a priest to appear at the solemn ceremony of a rain spell, stick an extra pen in his head, or forget to put the necessary "official" coloring, he immediately sentenced to death. Without the right of pardon and employment in the neighboring tribe.
In our business world, everything is not so strict. Till...What's in my image?
About the requirement to appear for an interview in the clothes of business style, already already buzzed already tired of our blunders recruiters. But, it turns out, the definition of business style is ambiguous.
Societies of comrades-in-arms have long been trying to distinguish themselves from something: a cut and the color of clothing, a special manner of behavior and other external attributes by which one can distinguish between one's own and another's bankers from journalists, artists from doctors, lawyers from tiger trainers.
If the applicant, who came to work in a fashionable women's magazine, was dressed in a strict dark suit and looked at the people around step by step, she would surely be offered ... a place of an accountant or a lawyer. But certainly not the post of editor of the fashion section! Or imagine that the head of the advertising department of a large bank is going to be a relaxed young man in jeans and a T-shirt with a playboy rabbit. Sprawling in an armchair, throwing his foot in an American leg (ankle on his knee), he broadcasts about the following: "I'm creative and untwisted, I know how to breed a client." The employer would have to be discarded with valerian ...
Our visual perception of the interlocutor is based on childhood memories, previous experiences and social stereotypes. For example, a white robe - a doctor, a suit and a tie - the head, glasses in a thin gold frame - "smart man", etc. Hence the trust or lack thereof, if the appearance of our partner corresponds or does not meet our expectations.
That's why in large Western corporations the dress code - the requirements for clothes - can be very tough: everything is negotiated, from color to the percentage of the content of synthetic fiber in the fabric of the costume.
In Ukraine for a long time did not pay attention to such "trifles." Now the dress code is observed by everyone whose business, at least to some extent, includes communication with foreign partners, but, perhaps, it concerns only managers and top managers. in clothing, affecting the overwhelming majority of employees in foreign companies (92 percent), in Ukraine it refers only to 68 percent. Here it turns out to be anecdotal situation: if in the corridor of the company you meet a person in a suit and with a tie, - manager or employee of the security service of the enterprise.
"Coding" little by little ...
Introducing the dress code, the companies make up a special document, in addition to the general concepts ("the employee of the company should look neat and tidy"), clearly indicates what can be worn and what is strictly forbidden.This document is presented by the head of the unit to the newcomer or posted on the bulletin board .
Sometimes such requirements can be caused by safety of work. For example, operators of one filling network do not have the right to wear summer shoes without backdrops, rings and bracelets.
The dress code can also affect the company's performance. In a prestigious showroom, male customers were presented with young and pretty employees in mini-skirts. If a married couple was looking at them, she was met by a smart young man in a strict suit.
Uniform rules often do not work in all structural divisions of the firm. For example, the Ukrainian holding includes companies of different profiles. In the one that sells packaging and is oriented to Western customers, the style of clothes, accordingly, is strictly "conserved" - a suit + a white shirt + a tie + badge (for employees, both strong and weaker), but in another, this innovation worsened the situation with sales: customers seemed to be in contact with amateurs, "office boys". As soon as the employees were allowed to put on their jeans, they acquired the image of "professionals" - those who "felt everything they sell with their hands".
Sometimes in the rules of the dress code you can find a mysterious phrase: "The administration expresses the hope that the employees of the company will dress accordingly to their incomes." So it is delicately reminded people: your working appearance indicates the level of the organization, so, be kind, do not bother with the Chinese clothing market ...
However, with the desire to stand out as expensive clothes are also struggling. In respectable firms, often special rules determine how much the cost of an ordinary employee, a top manager or a president can cost. And the subordinate does not have the right to dress for work "more expensive" than his status allows. It deals with other attributes. When the secretary of a representative office of one Western company in Kiev began to regularly come to work on a new expensive car ("A gift from a close person for her birthday," as she herself explained it), she was made an unambiguous remark.
Clothes need to be changed daily. But you can not overdo it: a frequent change of outfits, according to foreign employers, indicates that the employee is paying too much attention to his own person! During an internship in a Canadian bank, a Ukrainian business lady came to a new suit every day for a week. Her colleagues - in the same, only changed their blouses. A week later, they began to sneer at her.
Clothes for success.
Dress for Success - this bestseller of the American specialist in business image John Molloy became a bible of careerists: "Tell me what you wear, and I'll tell you who you are" - in any case, in Western companies this formula is absolutely fair.
Most domestic male managers, having bought a good expensive suit, sigh with relief and forever forget about the menacing dress code. Set "blouse + skirt" - the traditional "uniform" of the secretaries. And women in leadership positions are doomed to a lifetime wearing a jacket in the office. Light knitwear, dresses and skirts made of flowing silk and chiffon blouses are not considered business clothes. And, needless to say, no tops and T-shirts! The pretentiousness of the cut (for example, the asymmetrical skirt of the skirt), the shiny or lacy fabrics, the flashy accessories-in short, all "chic, brilliance, beauty" remains only for the weekend. And do not dare to cite as an example to well-known personalities! place your employee one director - "that's when you become prime minister ..."
And women should go to work in pantyhose or stockings - always and everywhere, regardless of the temperature outside the window or in the office. "When you turn off the water at home, you still clean your teeth, do not you?" - commented on the issue of such "inconvenience" in the heat of a Western business woman. Knee-high socks and socks can be worn exclusively with trousers. Shoes should be made of genuine leather. Color - neutral or any of the black scale. The main thing is that it harmoniously combined with the costume and accessories.
Is it really that serious? Imagine, yes! The staff services of many Ukrainian firms have to constantly make comments to employees who dress excessively brightly. Standards of business style, developed by the UN, they appear humiliating. Our ladies do not want to cover the blouse with light blouses through which the linen shines, refuse deep decollete, wear shoes that completely cover the foot, and skirts on the palm above or below the knees.
The head of one transnational company has acted easier. When, on the eve of the International Women's Day, the beautiful half of his staff came to work in chiffon-silk beauty, accompanied by a powerful train of spicy perfume, he personally presented each of them with a bouquet and warmly congratulated on the coming holiday.
And then ... deprived all quarterly premiums - as a fine for non-compliance with business style in the workplace. And for the future he threatened with dismissal. They say that the employees of this company still shudder with horror, even accidentally noticing a transparent blouse in the shop window ...
The French sighed: "There are three kinds of clothes: the one that is now in the trend, the one that is perfect for you, and the one that you should wear to work." In their opinion, it's not always possible to combine the incompatible. 1 of those who have already been working for foreign companies for a number of years, this problem disappears imperceptibly.
The basis of the business woman's wardrobe is a suit. To facilitate the life of a business lady, the American business dress alliance has developed five styles of modern costume.
STYLE BUREAUCRATIC
Imitates the colors and tailoring the men's costume. The skirt is straight or slightly flared, the jacket with or without lapels. Color - dark blue, gray (in summer all the shades of light steel are welcome). Complemented with light blouses of classic cut. It is irreplaceable in legal, financial and insurance activities, in state structures and political "backstage". The main task is to emphasize adherence to the "old traditions", solidity and integrity.
Do not make a mistake! The quality of the fabric should be excellent, sewing - impeccable, Unfortunately, often our managers of both sexes in dark cheap suits look like poor relatives at the funeral of the Sicilian mafia authority ...
MIXED STYLE - "CALL"
It also has a masculine tailoring, but it has a bright color - red, crimson, bright blue, rich purple, "hot chocolate". Option - the original drawing or texture of the fabric: a large cage, a colored boucle. Mixing styles (male cut and female "shanel" coloring) give the desired result - attracting attention due to light artistic outrage. Such clothing is typical for women in the field of "publicity": television and the media, advertising, the ROK, business in the field of art. Its main task is to emphasize the progressiveness of the company, the uniqueness of the individual, the originality of views.
Do not make a mistake! No sexual provocation and bad taste: business ladies in suits "under leopard" - this is our native invention, plunging into shock of Western partners. In addition, bright colors are counter-indicative to workers of a lower link.
STYLE OF CONFIDENCE
Characterized by a classic female cut. Jacket can be strongly fitted and decorated with basque, on the skirt are allowed folds or flounces. Top and bottom of different colors are allowed. As a rule, such suits are worn without blouses, supplemented with a neck scarf or low-key costume jewelry. Colors - muffled, but not light: burgundy, dark plum, beige. This style is chosen by representatives of the sphere of school education, children's and family medicine, psychological counseling. The main task is to symbolize femininity, the "matriarchal patronage" of the business lady.
Do not make a mistake! Unconfident, timid ladies in such a dress, with their whole appearance, say: "I do not pretend to high steps of the career ladder - I'm just a woman!"
REPRESENTATIVE STYLE
Fancy suits of pastel tones (light sand, cream white, soft blue), the refinement and femininity of which emphasize the neat little collars of velvet or satin, the original finish.
Often supplemented by stylish bright costume jewelry - large shiny clips, short necklaces, bracelets. They are typical for business women, whose professional sphere is connected with the so-called "women's triad" - "beauty, motherhood, home": heads of cosmetic firms, interior owners of interior design salons, directors of fitness centers, employees of tourist business.
Do not make a mistake! This style is typical for the first ladies and rich ladies-philanthropists. But to make such an impression in a small company that sells wallpaper and curtains, it is not necessary. In addition, traditionally it is believed that light suits are appropriate only in the warm season.
STYLE OF PROFESSIONAL CLOTHING
The overalls suit is, as a rule, the same for all employees and differs only in the quality of the fabric and the thoroughness of the tailoring. There is a summer and winter variant. Color - corporate. Low-level workers can wear a waistcoat instead of a jacket. As a rule, they dress in the service sector - hotel employees, salesmen, stewardesses, waiters - all whose professional activities do not allow for a special personification. "I am a member of a single team!" - here is the main task of this kind of costume.
Do not make a mistake! A quality suit-overalls perfectly sits and looks great.
Maybe that's why in such a "festive" dress you can see our woman in a theater or in a restaurant ... Comments are superfluous.