How to Dress for the Workplace - Essential Tips for the Working Women

Workplace fashion is a very subjective issue. While men are relatively immune to it (usually), women are more affected by it. This is simply due to the greater variety of work wear that women have access to and, no offense, greater implications on what they wear due to their different body make up.

Workplace fashion, if done wrongly, can do a lot of things. For one, it will invite unwanted attention. Dress provocatively, and male colleagues might think that you would be open to invitation to dinner, and perhaps more. Female colleagues, on the other hand, would react the opposite way, feeling that you might be trying to gain the favor of the male staff, or (God forbid) even the boss. Unwanted attention gained, will definitely lead to unwanted gossip about you. And the way gossip goes, your reputation will be hurt, and you will be renown in the office for deeds done and deeds claimed in your name by the gossips. All this boils down to the nature of office politics, and the dress code is unfortunately an integral part of it. If you were familiar with the game, you would be familiar with the limits of how you can dress without starting a verbal civil war in your workplace. For the relatively newly recruited, take heed.

For starters, know clearly what the office dress code states. Depending from place to place, the dress code will vary from smart casual to formal. These you have more room to work with. Other dress codes are more specific, such as requiring a collared tee or stating that you have to wear heels to work. Check on accessories as well - some companies frown upon facial piercing and excessive jewelry.

Work places have dress codes for a reason, especially for service industries. What you wear reflects your level of professionalism with which you do your job, as well as tells on how your company views itself and its employees. Customers will like you better if you are appropriately and neatly dressed for the job, as compared to being indecently dressed, which might cause some to be uncomfortable with you or even sexually harass you.

Choose, instead, the moderate approach. Wear a conservative dress, or a shirt and pants. If you want to get more creative, you can shop around for more ideas. Great sources of work place fashion ideas are magazines and the Internet. Mix and match, but keep in mind that your goal is not to stand out (like a sore thumb) but to appear professional and, if you manage to pull it off, exude a subtle charm.