Elegance Returns!
The Rules of Business Etiquette
Appropriate Work Attire
The devil may wear Prada, but this year’s women interns, summer associates and new hires should take work attire cues from Valentino’s spring ready-to-wear collection.
No, I’m not suggesting that you top off your student debt with a little fashionista debt. However, take a look at the calf-length dresses, high necklines and long lacy sleeves that anchor the most recent Valentino collection. Even a casual observer of fashion like me can’t help but notice that Madonna-in-your-face-sexy seems to be heading out while discrete draping moves in.
“[C]overing up seems way sexier and far more modern than baring it all,” writes New York Times fashion writer Suzy Menkes. http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/19/a-modest-proposal/
Menkes adds:
The word that best describes [the Valentino collection] is so ancient and out of fashion that it requires a good dust off: modesty. Yet this is not a sackcloth-and-ashes denial of sexuality but rather a fresh take on the female factor. The modern woman is not prudish about her body. She just may not want to put her erogenous zones on display. There has always been an eroticism attached to what is behind the veil — not least in Italian art.
Pre-recession, loads of employers complained about low-rise pants that so many women interns, summer associates and new hires wore into the office. Too often, those slacks revealed the waistband of the wearer’s thong, creating the “whale tail” effect. Last summer’s big complaint involved interns and summer associates wearing sundresses sans sweaters or party clothes to the office. “They look like they’re headed to cocktails instead of work,” one of my contacts complained, and that violates all the rules regarding officeattire and business etiquette.
By the way guys, you don’t escape scrutiny. I’ve lost count of the number of employers who say too many young professional males dress no better than the bikers employed by the average messenger service.
But let’s return to Valentino. Menkes notes, “The truth is that it takes a certain courage and conviction to try simple, covered-up clothes. Whereas baring it all looks increasingly like yesterday’s trend.”
What Do You Need to Know?
Interns, summer associates and new hires take note: Elegance is back! When choosing an outfit for work, think class over grunge, covered-up over revealing, and you won’t go wrong.
comments powered by Disqus
