Do we still need a business dress code?

Some of us heard at least once ”Be attention how you will dress for your next interview. You have to look professional”.

We are not anymore the generation who likes suits, but during any business meeting, you have to dress properly.

The right attitude, combined with the right attire, can help you to set-up a proper collaborative environment with any type of client.

Every industry has its rules and every company has its dress-code. But what I've learned is that if you want to be safe with your attire you have to follow some rules:

• Don't exaggerate: after a meeting, you want to be remembered for the things you said, not for the overwhelming dress or accessories you were.
• When in doubt, follow the guidelines of standard business attire. A skirt or some pants with a shirt or a blouse never killed anybody. And it fits with most of the body shapes.
• Just a little bit of color: I am a big fan of cyclam or blue electric shoes. But I use to wear these colors only on shoes not only on the entire dress.
• Just a little bit of print: animal print, bullets or stripes can be used only as an accent of the attire; just one of them and being attention how we combine it with the color
• Skirts and dresses – choose them being attention for the color, the material, but more than this for the length. When you sit in a chair, you can asses if the skirt exposure too much of your legs. For your comfort, if you were a slit, try it centered and in the back.
• Shirts and blouses: it has to follow the body line and to be in line with the rest of your outfit. Avoid those clothes that show your shoulders, which are transparent or they show part of your bra.
• Shoes have to be nice and comfortable. Flat-shoes or stillettos don't feet well with a business outfit.

I admit that most of us want to dress up with something beautiful for them, not for the others. But while people have the right to express themselves, so businesses have a similar right. The way we dress definitely sends intended or unintended messages to the clients or to the customers. We need to remember every time that first impressions are important, and we only get one chance to make a positive first impression.

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