#122 What to WEAR at Work

What to wear to work? Your clothing communicates a lot about you, more than you probably think! Andrea shares what some of the research says about how we dress and others’ perception of us. Then she shares some do’s and don’ts  when choosing your outfit. Here’s a question: what’s your most successful, happiest self wearing to work in five years?

CONTENTS

* Resources

* Transcript

RESOURCES

Talk About Talk

Website: TalkAboutTalk.com

LinkedIn: Andrea and TalkAboutTalk

Weekly Communication Skills Newsletter – https://talkabouttalk.com/blog/#newsletter-signup

Email – [email protected]

Academic Papers

Good looks and good practice: the attitudes of career practitioners to attractiveness and appearance – https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03069885.2016.1237615

Clothes make the leader! How leaders can use attire to impact followers’ perceptions of charisma and approval – https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0148296320307797#b0490

The Influence of Job Candidates’ Physical Appearance on Interview Evaluations – https://econtent.hogrefe.com/doi/abs/10.1027/1866-5888/a000223?journalCode=pps

Dress, body and self: research in the social psychology of dress https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40691-014-0020-7

What to wear? The influence of attire on the perceived professionalism of dentists and lawyers https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jasp.12136

City Employee Perceptions of the Impact of Dress and Appearance: You Are What You Wear – https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0091026013495772?journalCode=ppmd

TRANSCRIPT

I have a question for you.  What are you wearing? Or more importantly, what are the clothes you’re wearing signalling or communicating about you? 

If you’re listening to this podcast, I’m guessing you believe me when I say that how you dress communicates a lot.  In both personal and professional contexts. But I also bet that you underestimate how much your physical appearance matters. 

Here’s the thing. According to research, your physical appearance, which includes your clothing, is the #1 most influential factor in employee selection, more important than other verbal and nonverbal behaviors like the things I just mentioned.

If we’re going to be effective communicators, we need to talk about our clothing.  Let’s do this.

I’m not a stylist.  I’m not going to tell you what brand of what shirt to wear with what pants and exactly how to style it.  I am going to share with you some factors to consider when you’re dressing yourself for work – when you’re shopping or when you’re looking at your closet and deciding what to wear.  What you wear signals or COMMUNICATES many things  I’m also going to share with you some of what the research says about that.  It’s fascinating!!!

First though, let me introduce myself. My name is Dr. Andrea Wojnicki and I’m your executive communication coach. Please call me Andrea!  I’m the founder of Talk About Talk,