Appropriate Atire for the Office: Dressing to Impress

I envy the executive worker bees of yesteryear and their clearly defined guidelines for formal and business wear. I envy the Gulf businessman in his crisp, freshly ironed dish-dash, smart buttoned up collar and cufflinks: all white for men, all black for women, what could be simpler. In the western world, office workers no longer know what to wear to work, there is total confusion as to what is appropriate attire for the office.

As a journalist, I never thought this would be a real concern as my work in the field always dictated what I should and should not wear. I could hardly wear a three-piece suit to interview an official in a Palestinian refugee camp, but neither could I go to cover parliamentary sessions wearing torn jeans and a T-shirt. On the other hand, I have known some American journalists who, as they work in the Middle East, feel shorts to be appropriate office attire... tsk, tsk.

As a business journalist I have come to realize the importance of exuding a professional, confident and powerful image through my atire and not just through what I write, an image that would set the interviewee at ease and inspire confidence. I may be confident of my professional abilities, but if I don’t dress to impress I will not make the desired impact, if anything I will make a decidedly undesirable impact.

I have resolved today that early Saturday morning I will go to my tailor and get a whole new wardrobe, one that better reflects my professional position. This issue was never a problem for me before: when I covered police and courts in Dubai, or public departments and ministries, the prerequisite journalist attire was very comfortable shoes because chances are you will be spending long days running after sources in them. In a Gulf country, covering up appropriately and wearing clothing that are not overly sexually suggestive, while remaining cool and comfy, should be kept in mind, if you care to establish a good rapport with your subject that is. Otherwise, formal jackets and ties are nothing you think too much about.

In fact, I remember early in my career I would arrive in the office in buttoned up shirt and neck tie carrying a leather briefcase, until my chief reporter told me to relax a bit and dress down. Which was sound advice for the time and place. But, when you crave success, hard work alone wont work, you have to dress the part to be believed.

Of course in business journalism its a totally different kettle of fish, the formal suit, hard soled shoes, solid color dress shirts and smart ties, are, I hate to say, a must. Remember, you are no longer just a hack when you walk into a bank office, you are in their world now and they will judge you accordingly, like it or not. Following a few simple rules makes all the difference in the world. Hey, if a nice suit can open doors for you why not wear one, tailor made preferably, made to fit for maximum comfort.

What, you may ask, prompted me to write on this topic on my blog? It was a book I spied in a library which I am busy reading this weekend. The title included the word ‘Power’, so, like all Lebanese males this word alone was enough to get me to reach out and pull it from the shelf. Ironically, unlike most useless self help books this book actually touched on a subject that has long frustrated me: what to wear for work.

“Casual Power: How to Power Up Your Nonverbal Communication and Dress Down for Success,” by Sherry Maysonave, is the book, in fact it is THE book, definitively, that any and every working drone should read. It will likely change your life for the better. I have never written book reviews on this blog before and this is not one since I only finished the first chapter, but I can tell (I've jumped ahead a bit)it’s packed with sound advice. Well, at least my tailor will be happy with Ms. Maysonave, even if I am a little poorer for having read her book.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Adultery and the western media's attitude towards Dubai

Here we go again... another British woman charged with adultery in Dubai and the whole of the British and UAE press jump all over it as if its the scoop of the season. I wonder what readers think and in particular British readers? Do they feel ashamed that a compatriot is behind bars because she could not control her animal urges? Well they should be, because this is far from a crime she committed against her husband, with whom she exchanged marital vows, it is a crime against the laws of the UAE. It shows a total lack of regard and respect for the traditions of this conservative Muslim country and it is a slap in the face of every Emirati. Why does the press seem compelled to give such people extensive coverage? One hopes to enlighten the British public as to the pitfalls of sleeping around and its legal repercussions, but in truth its all about money, headlines and a public hungry to devour such shameful scandal. The press are complicit with the mob in elevating such individuals, who
Read more

Orosdi-Back: A lost Beyrouth department store from an elegant age

Image
My mother told me it was located on ‘ Banks Street ’ in Down Town Beirut , the road that leads up to Riad el Solh Square . On most maps the street is also named after Riad el Solh. The store was located opposite Bank Intra, or so I was told. Presumably the location of the store was indicative of the high end goodies on sale inside. The closest comparison to Orosdi Back is the old Allied’s department store in Dubai , for those who remember Dubai in the 1980s. But Orosdi Back was a store from a different age, an age of elegance as opposed to the vulgar modern excesses of the nouveau-riche, something Beirut ’s Down Town is synonymous with! A wonderful blog dubbed ‘language hat’ published some information about the founders of this chain of department stores. According to the blog the chain of stores came about as a result of a partnership between Adolf Orosdi, a Hungarian army officer and his sons who opened a clothing store in Galata in 1855, and the Back family, who were Austro-H
Read more

Lebanon searching for deliverance from the wolves of war, chaos and collapse

Image
There is little to do in Lebanon, little paid work to be done, and what work there is, is pointless and poorly paid. Here we live in the hope that we shall eventually be delivered from the monsters, the wolves of our Lebanese government, Cabinet and Parliament and all the power-brokers that manipulate our lives. I once asked a political science professor “why do politicians always wear suits and ties?” He answered jokingly: “so you don’t see their snake’s skin”, I guess if they wore hats it would be so we don’t see their devil’s horns, or is that meant only for men of the cloth…?   Regardless of which political side you ask about our country’s future, the answer would likely be the same, that things are looking bleak and the blame is always laid at the door of the “other side”, because your interlocutor will never make the mistake of accepting that his/her side shares any of the blame for catastrophe. Lebanese society remains highly polarized politically and ideologically. Archaic reli
Read more