BBC Business Pages claim Image is Important!

What we wear is important.

• it affects how we feel about ourselves
• it affects how others see us
• our clothes and body language communicate messages
• whether you acknowledge it or not, how you dress affects your success at work
• this is actually a serious topic for both men and women

  

Three friends, knowing of my interest in style and clothing for work, sent me this BBC Business link on how what you wear may affect your career. It’s an interesting article. When our clothes are neat and orderly we behave more neatly and orderly – making the case for work wear. It quotes some research done by Karen Pine a psychology professor:

“People unconsciously take on some of the characteristics and attributes associated with the clothing. Just this year my research found that wearing a Superman t-shirt affected how physically strong people thought they were and how superior they felt to others.”

How we dress also affects how others see us. Unfortunately if you wear a cheap suit, or provocative clothes, you will be taken less seriously at work and will struggle to get promoted. An interviewer, and anyone else we will meet, will take a view on us, based largely on what we look like and how we behave in the first 30 seconds! You know this already. But what I found very interesting was the research that shows what we wear influences how we feel about ourselves.

Have you ever felt miserable all day because you don’t like, or feel right, in something you are wearing? Are you aware of the feedback you get when you wear certain clothes? Conversely when we feel we look our best this affects how we behave – have you ever wondered why so many brides look radiant?  Our clothes affect our emotional selves. Being aware of this helps us master our own feelings, and helps us affect how others see us. This is not a corny matter of personal brand, as exemplified by Stuart Baggs on the Apprentice.

Self awareness leads to greater awareness of others. Being aware of what we are saying through your clothes, body language and approach to others, strengthens our ability to influence and control our own environment