To Keep Your Career from Getting Sunburnt
Previously, Joanne put together some summer time dress for success tips for women. So I thought I’d better put up some advice for men.
Sloppy R us
One of the main beefs we get from decision makers about men’s image mistakes is sloppiness (not paying attention to details like clothing fit, wrinkling, worn clothing and shoe polish).
Sloppy on Steroids
During the summer months, especially in Canada and the USA, sloppiness goes into overdrive. So here is some advice from your favorite corporate image consultants to keep your summer dress on track for success.
Five Summertime Tips for the Guys
Tip 1. Iron it out
The more casual your clothing, the more important that it be clean and well pressed. Good quality golf shirts are a great option if the collars don’t roll. Remember an iron isn’t just for the fairway.
Tip 2. To tuck or not to tuck
Many shirts these days, especially those with a straight bottom are designed to be worn outside the trousers, but more than a few decision makers confide to us that they find this look sloppy.
Tip 3. Short time?
In almost all professional offices shorts are a big CLM (Career Limiting Move) except in Bermuda where they wear them with weird long socks. If you are in a situation where shorts are appropriate, as one of our professional engineering CEO puts it, they should be ‘Pebble Beach worthy’.
Tip 4. You-go cargo pants
Cargo pants, either they go or you go. Too many pockets and bulk for the office. Khakis, chinos or casual flat fronted pants (and we’re seeing a lot of colorful pants for guys this year) are a better choice and then you won’t be tempted to pack an entire survival kit in your pockets. And have you ever tried to iron cargo pants?
Tip 5. Aloha dude, that shirt’s loud
Loud Hawaiian or wide-striped shirts just aren’t business class. You can’t throw a sports jacket on over them for that unexpected meeting (well okay, technically you can but, as your image consultants, we’re telling you, you shouldn’t). Plain colors or smaller patterns are your best move.
Bonus dress for success tip
Use our advice to enjoy the summer without undermining the power of your image. And keep in mind one of our best dress for success tips for enhancing your career – no matter the season always dress at the same level as the top 25% of your colleagues and peers.
Free Tip sheet – Top 10 SUMMER WEAR DOs and DON’Ts pdf
Click here for the blog – Top Five Summertime Image Tips for Women
Great minds think alike! Check out Terry’s latest blog which was inspired by the photos of Bermuda Shorts. https://styleforsuccess.com/blog/do-bermuda-shorts-look-weird-in-the-office/
Geeze. That Bermuda style just makes them all look like they forgot to put on pants before they left home. Weird.
My favourite office dress code story is when one of the men on our team tried to justify wearing tank tops to the office because our boss (a woman) did — and he meant the camisoles that she wore beneath her suit jacket, the latter of which she occasionally took off at her desk. Nice try, dude!
Hi Dave and Dwight. I love hearing from you guys. Yes, most men should cover their legs especially at the office.
Dwight, your Australian shorts comment got me curious. I did a Google search and didn’t find much on Australian version, but did find a ton of images for the Burmuda shorts with long pants, jacket and tie.
Here’s an link to an image and to my Canadian / North American eye it just looks weird.
What do you think? http://www.the-journal-of-style.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/bermuda-shorts-businessmen.jpg
P. S. – re football Stamps vs Roughriders – what can I say, I’m an Edmontonian, thus an Eskimo fan.
🙂
Most guys should cover their legs period.
We used to have an employee that insisted that he had to wear shorts in the summer because of a medical condition. I told him that he could wear dress shorts (down to the knee) and long dress socks. This is the acceptable hot weather wear in Australia where dress codes are a lot more common than they are in North America. He was unimpressed but I really didn’t need to see his hairy legs and tattoo. That being said we tend to relax our dress code for summer a bit. I still tuck in my short sleeve shirts even if they have a straight edge. Finally we allow the employees to wear Saskatchewan Roughrider gear on game day. Go Riders! Terry: How did you like the way they handled the Stampeders on Sunday?