Tips Tuesday: Business wear

In honor of graduation this weekend and those summer internships coming up for some, we thought we'd take this week to give some useful tips on business wear. In the corporate culture, the jobs most of us are striving for, one must dress in business casual wear or business professional, so we will cover these two looks and how to achieve them. We'll also give 10 interview etiquette tips to you as well! :-)

Look 1: Business Casual

Business casual means to dress or look professional, looking relaxed while still looking pulled together. Some appropriate pieces of clothing to achieve this look are:

• Skirts that are reasonable in length, not a mini skirt. Also in fit, you don't want a skirt to fit too tight, but you don't want it to be so loose that it's falling off... (ALL BAD)
• Full-Length Trousers that are a non-jean material.

The bottoms can be paired with the following types of tops:

• Dress shirt. Meaning a nice, dressy blouse. Make sure it's not too revealing and not a dressy top like one you can wear to the club or something.
• Polo
• Sweater Set. This USUALLY means a button up layered underneath a sleeveless sweater vest.
• An informal dress with an APPROPRIATE skirt length can also be acceptable.

Here are a few tips on how to achieve a business casual look:

Tip 1: Let's take this Pinstripe High-Waist Buckle- Back Pencil Skirt from Express. This skirt is VERY cute and barely needs anything to make it stand out really. It can be paired with a nice button up, either a subtle color like black, dark gray, or white. It can also be paired with a bright color like a red, pink, or purple. Here are a few links to some buttons-up, long-sleeve and short-sleeve. Long Sleeve 1, Long Sleeve 2 , Short Sleeve 1 , Short Sleeve 2.

Tip 2: A full length trouser look. Everyone needs a nice pair of trousers because they are so versatile. They can be worn on an interview, to work, church, or even a lunch date with the friends! Let's take these black 7th Avenue Linen Flare Pants from NY&Company. These pants can be worn with a nice, white  Ruffle Front Blouse for crisp, clean look with some flare; or it can be worn with a cami Plain, Lace or even PRINTED but make sure you have a Blazer  to go over it. Even a nice cardigan like these 3: Cardi 1, Cardi 2 and Cardi 3 (Printed) <--- with a plain cami of course, would be appropriate over a cami as a "sweater set" if you can find one.  Here are a few links for some nice trousers: Tan , Heather Gray, Pinstripe .



Tip 3: An informal dress. Let's take this plain Scoop Neck Stretch Tank Dress. You can pair it with one of those cardigans in the tip above or a nice blazer. If you want to keep the color simple but still add some flare to the outfit, you could do a the purple color of this dress paired with a black blazer or cardigan and some leopard print pumps. Simple but still making the outfit pop with the print!

Moving right along to Business Professional...

Business Professional is pretty much self explanatory. The attire should be very professional, meaning suit. Tailored pant suits are acceptable and skirts should be knee-length or longer and cover your thighs when seated. Colors should be conservative (like black, brown, dark gray, and navy).

Here are some links to some nice and professional skirt and pant suits:
Skirt Suit 1, Skirt Suit 2,  Skirt Suit 3

 

         


                                                           Pant Suit 1 , Pant Suit 2 , Pant Suit 3

10 Interview Etiquette Tips:

1. Hair, nails, and clothes should be clean. Clothes need to fit properly and be ironed/pressed.
2. Limit your perfume. Don't overwhelm them with the scent.
3. Make sure to arrive at least 15 minutes early. This shows that you are serious about the job and you can be taken serious. It also shows punctuality, good time-management skills, and organization.
4. Turn off your cell phone or silence it, don't ever pull it out to text or answer a call..(common sense)
5. Don't chew gum in the interview or use slang.
   
6. Give the interviewer a firm handshake and eye contact.
7. Remember your posture (don't slouch).
8. Listen carefully and pause before answering a question. This prevents you from rambling on and on.
9. Have a business card ready to give them at the end even if they already have your resume.
10. Do a follow-up/thank you letter. This shows professionalism and gives another opportunity to restate your interest in the company/position.

• P.S. New York & Company is a GREAT place to get business wear from, they will almost always have everything you are looking for. Express and JcPenny are also great places to look for some Business Casual and Professional items of clothing.