What to wear to work? Making your client’s style, your style

In response to a chain of comments over at door64.com on my recent blog post about the client who wanted to cut my hair, I left the following comment, which is my new outlook on what to wear to work and around clients. Do you agree or disagree? How do you determine what you wear to work?

@matt & @softwarejanitor - Thanks for the input and advice. I agree that, especially in interviews and first meetings, wearing something tailored more towards your client, rather than your personality is important. I had a long talk with my good friend, fashion designer, Ashley Heathcock, from My Charms for Charity, here in town and this is what we decided: it is important is to make their (the client’s) style, your style.

So, this is what we did:

-We took out all my old suits, dusted them off and separated the pants and the suit jackets.

-We took out all my jeans and took out anything that was too tight, too flashy, or had too many pockets.

-We brought out all of my tailored dress shirts.

-Once we had a pile of respectable clothing, we (and by we, I mean she) put together a plethora of clothing combinations that suited both the clients style and my style. We were careful to never place a suit jacket with suit pants and when wearing suit pants, made sure to use an industrial (see. cool) looking tie, paired with a sweater vest of some kind.

-It’s hard to explain without throwing up some visuals. But, what we came up with was my new work anywhere, anytime and still be geek chic wardrobe. What I was threatened about was losing my identity by conforming to a dress code, but Ashley gave me some great compromise choices.

So, there you have it, the give and take of corporate America and its subsidiaries. Oddly enough, I’m really enjoying my new style and hairdo a lot more than my old look. All things happen for a reason, I suppose!

P.S. Since I owe my new look to Ashley Heathcock’s awesome fashion skills, I think it’s worth noting that she has a charitable project she created called My Charms for Charity that helps her pay off her massive student load debt ($130,000…yikes!) from AIU London AND helps local charities. $3.00 from every charms goes to charity, the rest going to costs and her student loans.

She’s making a great attempt at using social media to further the cause, so show some support and leave her a comment, take a look at the charms and if you like, purchase one. They’re really cool and go to a great cause! Thanks!

Just trying out some new types of writing to those who read this far. Apparently, I’m a writer now, so that means I have to find a voice, supposedly. Feel free to tell me exactly how you felt about this style, story, content, etc. Hurt my feelings if you want, I just need the feedback or the people who pay me money will beat me with a bone whip. And if you're enjoying this blog, consider commenting or subscribing for free.

Tagged as: boss, business, clothing, dress code, how to, style, wear