Dress for the job you want
This is good advice for the workplace, yes, but what if we zoom out? This concept is about embodying your growth. Wearing the woman you’re becoming.
During one of my late term college classes our teacher had a sign taped on the studio glass that said: ‘Dress for the job you want, not the job you have’. A quote used by author Austin Kleon in his 2012 book ‘Steal Like An Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative’. I was in college in the early 2000s, I’m not sure who said it before Austin. But there it was - a message meant to prepare us for our interviews and careers. I should add I was in school for radio broadcasting, many of my classmates laughed at the quote citing the old adage ‘but I have a face for radio, no one will see me’.
Later in my career as a radio personality, I was co-hosting a morning show on a large country station, after years of being required to wear ‘station gear’ (read: logo t-shirts and polos) to events and live appearances, I had a boss who gave me advice that I have carried with me. He told me: you have to dress the part. He said: to your listeners you are a personality, they listen every morning and feel like they know you. When they meet you in person, now they’re connecting an image to the voice - use your style to paint the picture of who you are. So, I ditched the oversized gray logo t-shirts and embodied the character I wanted to be perceived as. Looking back, I can see this was a turning point in my career. An expansion.
Dress for the job you want.
This is good advice for the workplace, yes, but what if we zoom out? This concept is about embodying your growth. Wearing the woman you’re becoming. It’s expanding and allowing your outward appearance to match what is on the inside. It’s intentional, but it doesn’t have to be complicated.
It’s a change of perspective - so many things are, aren’t they? When you start looking at what you wear as an expression of who you are rather than ‘just clothes’, this puts the ball in motion for an elevation.
Here’s what I mean. I used to buy new clothes all the time. A store would put out new arrivals. I would see something I thought was cute and I would buy it. Without thinking about how I would feel wearing it, how the item worked with my other clothes or what it said about who I was. This led to a closet overflowing with clothes, a feeling that I had nothing to wear and over consumption of low quality items I wore maybe a handful of times. I wasn’t intentional about my choices - at all. It was always ‘just clothes’ - not a thoughtful expression.
I needed direction. Leadership. So, I became my own Chief Wardrobe Officer. I developed a mission and vision for my wardrobe through style adjectives that describe how I want to feel in my clothes. I took control of the day to day operations by streamlining how I store and organize my clothes and accessories. I provide financial oversight by setting a budget of how much I want to spend on clothes each month or quarter to limit mindless consumption. I implemented core values for building a conscious closet that prioritizes sustainable brands and buying second hand. I network with a local fashion community and I allow growth and change when it feels like it meets my goals.
My self-appointed title of CWO started as a cheeky joke at work. But it got me thinking, what if we did manage our closet through a business lens? Could it help us be more intentional and feel more aligned with what we wear? It has for me.
Successful C-Suite executives aren’t haphazard or blindly following what everyone else is doing. They are strategic and innovative. They boldly seek opportunity. Dress for the job you want is a set of principles that keeps you continuously moving forward with intention. It requires you to pause and ask yourself ‘who am I and who do I want to be?’
If you want to become the boss of your closet, you need a plan. Start by going inward. Not into your closet, into yourself. Who are you? How do you want to feel and what story do you want your clothes to tell? Make a list of adjectives that represent how you want to feel. Narrow it down to your 3 top style words. Marinate on those words for awhile before you buy/donate/purge anything. Try them on if you will. You’re building a framework for your personal style.
Will changing your clothes (or the way you view your wardrobe) actually change your life? Not by itself, but I do believe that when you approach style this way it changes the way you show up. The way you carry yourself and the confidence you have to reach new heights.
Is it time for a promotion of your own?