Many years ago, I spent a summer as a Teaching Assistant for a Business Communications class at a university in Bangladesh. The students were bright, young (though some older than yours truly) and eager to learn. Although respectful, you could tell they possessed the arrogance and callowness of youth. So much for communications skills, eh?
The boys (and yes I use the term boys not men) were especially proud of showing off that they owned multiple, plain frumpy blue dress shirts with ill-fitting khakis or badly-hemmed grey pants. Blue dress shirts, the oft-ridiculed staple of the business world. These poor sods saw it as a badge of honor to dress in the most, nondescript manner available to them. Now don’t get me wrong, I do love the blue dress shirt but take it out for a walk once in aw hile.
It’s all very well and good to fit in. It’s quite another to peacock. But there’s a middle ground to dressing professionally, to dressing with style and a little bit of flair without becoming a peacock or a character in a Dilbert cartoon.
One of my favorite websites is a fashion blog called TSBmen.com. In it they have a style guide where you can input different variables:
Where are you going – brunch (low key), business corporate, casual friday, holiday party, night club
Weather – Fall, Heate Wave, Rain, Spring, Summer, Winter
What do you want to wear – types of accessories, button shirts, footwear, outerwear, pants, suits, tees/polos
From there, they pull from their extensive collection of pics to give you some inspiration. Check it out at tsbmen.com/styleguide.
One of my favorite go-to’s is a simple black or grey suit with white shirt and tie. Notice that the outfit isn’t that fancy. The key is in the details. The tie should be skinny (bowtie is acceptable in many situations these days). Use a square fold on the handkerchief not the fussy triangle. Make sure the shoes are polished; keep them in cedar tree shoes and put taps on them to save wear and tear. I’m now going to claim that I’m a style maven but classics with a bit of personal flair work best for the fashionable PM. Your appearance will help build credibility with your clients and coworkers.