I have been told that in professional contexts, the goal should be to dress conservatively and unobtrusively so your clothes are the least interesting thing about you and the focus remains on your work. I don’t disagree with this statement, but I don’t want to look sloppy or bland. How can I dress in a manner that places style in the background but doesn’t ignore it entirely? — Maria, Boston
This is a misinterpretation of the situation, a sort of inane inverse of the adage that children should be seen and not heard. It suggests that adults should be heard but not seen, and in an increasingly visual world, that idea is a nonstarter.
The issue is not that you don’t want to be noticed for your clothes — it’s that you don’t want to be noticed for the wrong thing about your clothes. You don’t want your clothes to be so loud or crazy or otherwise distracting that they become the only thing people remember or talk about after an encounter.
You do, however, want your clothes to help you be memorable. As much as they shouldn’t suck up all of the attention from those around you, they shouldn’t be so boring that you fade into the background, or so banal that they make you seem thoughtless and uncreative. That actually makes your job harder. It’s difficult to make a point, or be convincing, or get people to buy your ideas, if they confuse you with the wallpaper. Or a sofa.
Instead, the goal should be to get your clothes to convey a vibe: confident, pulled together, unique, professional. The focus should be on style, not fashion.
That may seem semantic, but it’s not. Style is about consistency and commitment to a concept; fashion is about constant change. Style means dress that is mostly unidentifiable, that doesn’t have logos all over it or seem immediately associated with a specific decade. It doesn’t have to be fancy, but it does have to be considered.
Think, for example, of Steve Jobs and his Issey Miyake mock turtlenecks and jeans, or of Katharine Hepburn and her men’s wear tweeds. Both managed to suggest that their minds were on matters other than dress specifically by dressing the same way every day — and look great while doing so. That is why the two have stood the test of time as sartorial reference points. Their clothes said something about their broader value systems.
How you get to that point — how you develop a clear personal style — reminds me of something I read recently about dance: essentially, that it is the art of making the effortful look easy. What that means for you may seem hard to figure out, but the good news is, you only have to do it once.
I asked Victoria Beckham — who had her own period of being remembered for the wrong thing (those purple wedding outfits!) and has since matured into an easy style of loose trousers, button-up shirts and jackets — what she would suggest. “Tailoring,” she said. “It’s the easiest way to feel confident.”
To that I would add an actual tailor. The right ’fit is unquestionably a secret of great style, since it stops you from fiddling with your clothes — tugging on hemlines, adjusting waistlines, pulling at sleeves — and thus adds an element of comfort, which is also critical. And don’t forget that materials and preparation (ironing!) matter.
After all, if attention to detail, as well as big-picture thinking, is part of the job, it also has to be part of the look.
Your Style Questions, Answered
Every week on Open Thread, Vanessa will answer a reader’s fashion-related question, which you can send to her anytime via email or Twitter. Questions are edited and condensed.
The post How Do I Balance Being Fashionable With Being Professional? appeared first on New York Times.
