Spring is one of my favorite seasons of the year. The temperature is usually very pleasant, and I can finally shed my heavy winter clothes. While I love this time of year, it can be a nightmare for businesses because with warmer temperatures, come some highly inappropriate business-casual work attire. Don’t get me wrong — there are some benefits of business–casual dress code at work, such as employees feeling more relaxed and the ability to focus more on tasks. But during warmer weather, some employees can become too relaxed, so below are my do’s and don’ts for springtime work attire:
- Do dress for the job that you want.
If you are eyeing that big corner office you should think about the fact that people judge you based on what they see. How you present yourself is always important. You can be the most talented person at your job, but if your clothes are sloppy or too revealing you will most likely be skipped over for promotions. Do not let the warm weather sway you into becoming too relaxed with your clothing at work. A helpful tip is to dress more conservatively than trendy at the office. - Do play around with color.
It is true that flashy clothing should be for the nightlife, but that does not mean we must only wear traditional colors such as black, grey, khaki and blue at work. Spring is a great time to play around with color. In fact, the Pantone color of the year is a beautiful yellow-green color that invokes a feeling of peace, so why not incorporate this beautiful color into your wardrobe to spruce up your work wear? - Don’t dress for the season at work.
Spring clothing is my absolute favorite. I love shorts, sandals and sundresses, but they are not appropriate for work. Many businesses have adopted year-round business-casual dress codes, but hot weather always brings with it some major dress code violations. T-shirts should never be worn in the workplace unless it is for a special occasion or part of the uniform for the job. Tank tops and shorts also should be avoided since people may not take a person seriously who is dressed like they are on their way to the beach. - Don’t go overboard with accessories.
I am an accessory queen or at least a princess. I got my first job at 17-years-old, and one day I must have put on every piece of jewelry I owned. Thankfully, a kind woman pulled me aside and had a talk with me about how to dress at work. Spring always has the most beautiful colors and accessories which can tempt us to go overboard with accessorizing. It is best to keep it simple, or follow Coco Chanel’s rule about accessories which is to look in the mirror before you leave the house and take one accessory off.