What do you wear to class? On a date? What did you wear to your prom? What should you wear on a field trip to a business organization?

Although wardrobe in business has changed over the years, it hasn’t changed everywhere meaning a polo shirt and chinos probably won’t represent you well to most prospective employers. Most of my career was spent on the business side of the advertising agency business. I knew early in my career a gray flannel or navy blue suit and an appropriate shirt, tie, and shoes were appropriate. I was taught that by an executive at a corporation I worked at prior to working in the ad agency business. Before he taught me, I thought I knew better.

Your wardrobe can hold you back

I should not have developed my own “personal style.” And had I looked around at people above my level I would have made myself more aware of what to wear. After all, it’s often said “Dress for the job you want, not for the job you have. (Of course, this advice is situation-specific. If I was a graphic designer, my “personal style” might have been highly appropriate.)

Later in my career, it became acceptable periodically to wear a polo shirt with chinos on Fridays. The look was called “business casual.“ But because our advertising agency had a mix of clients from Wall Street to fine watch manufacturers, it was always safer to wear a finely tailored suit than business casual. It’s always acceptable to dress better than expected, but never acceptable to dress lesser.

Dress for success

Standards and customs regarding business attire evolve over the years. I learned the details of how someone with my aspirations should dress from a book that was popular in the early 70s. It was called DRESS FOR SUCCESS by author John Malloy.” There are probably other books like it available today.

But it’s not necessary to invest in a book. Just observing how supervisors and executives at corporations clothe themselves for business is equally as informative as reading about it from the book of a noted expert.

Dress at the level to which you aspire not for your current level. That’s a truth that has been handed down from generation to generation.

An irony of opposites

But here’s an irony. When I left my New York career and began teaching at universities, I felt a certain “distance“ between my students and myself. I observed how my students dressed for class and I started dressing similarly. I wore nice jeans and an untucked shirt with a collar. The result was remarkable. The walls of intimidation melted. I felt more comfortable and so did my students. In that case, I didn’t dress up, I dressed down!

In my program, I urge students to leave campus periodically to visit with executives and managers for the purpose of gaining career insights. Besides asking questions about their industries, corporations, and job functions, I suggest they observe how those executives dress when in their offices.

Invest in your future

I believe you’ll find it to be a good investment to buy some good suits, shirts, ties, and shoes once you understand how your most likely supervisor will dress (assuming you’ll pursue the business side of the companies you’ll visit or interview with. Future encounters with those executives, whether for informational interviews, networking, or actual job interviews, will help position you as a good candidate for a job–the same as a product’s package suggests the nature and quality of the product inside.

Getting a leg up on your perceived candidacy is an excellent reason to dress how you’re expected to dress rather than how you like to dress.