What Not To Wear!

What Not To Wear!

What exactly is Business Casual Attire or Professional Attire?

These two subjects are commonly confusing especially today more than ever. But what exactly do they mean? Business Casual Attire is a common practice in business to appear casual but presentable (slacks, dresses, skirts, and blouses). Professional Attires is to enable our employees to project the professional image that is in keeping with the needs of our clients and customers to trust us (Business Suits).  We see fashion ads that say be hip and in style for work but is that really right for what we do in the Multi Family Business, in my opinion yes. It is okay to be fashionable but with taste and class in all areas of our appearance. We all know that what you might wear to the club the night before is not business casual or professional attire…right? So why would you wear it to work…trust me I have seen this over the years happen.

 I want to share some basic guidelines that I have found to be useful and if you have someone on your team that may not be following the company policy on dress attire this may be a nice helpful way to get them on board!  I have five very simple rules:

 1.) If the valley is showing between the mountains when I bend down or you’re looking straight at me then I need to have a Cami underneath.

2) If I have a plumber’s crack in my pants when I sit down then I need to one; go up a size or two; get a belt.

3) Always have a crease in your trousers (If you don’t know how to then go find someone to show you).

4) Hair is to be tasteful.. I know we all love Rihanna’s Style or Kristen Storm (Twig light girl?) but we need to remember that we are professionals and our hair styles need to be neat and clean.  Hair Color should be tasteful think of where you work before you get your hair done some weird wacky color. Don't be afraid to ask for help in this area sometimes someone else’s eye for color maybe just what you need. Oh please no wet hair to work you look like a drown puppy dog …seriously.

 5) Makeup is never to be over done. If the color looks like you belong at a club (example: black, blue, purple, or lime green eyeliner or shadow) don’t wear to work its distracting to the selling of the community. Ask a makeup expert at the local malls tell them what you need it for they will help you with a nice style. Your makeup should complement your features not cover them up. Ever heard of the saying less is best...

Those are just some helpful tips of mine that I keep in mined. I also feel that every man or woman should have at least two business suits in the closet. I know that when times are tight we don’t have the money that is why Good Will, JcPenny’s, Ross Dress For Less, Marshall’s are great places to fined good quality clothes at a great price.

Remember when our customers walk into the Leasing Office we are the first ones they see. Appearance is everything, how we dress and present our selves is how they view the property. Trust me on this one I have seen it happen. If you don’t believe me try an experiment for a week and see what happens. We tend to buy from those who look professional and put together all the time. Its just human nature!

I have included some links for articles on helpful guidelines and some pictures. Hopefully this helps! I really feel like we need to stand out now more than ever with the summer season coming to a close.

http://humanresources.about.com/od/workrelationships/a/dress_code.htm

http://humanresources.about.com/od/workrelationships/a/dress_formal.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_casual

Jolene Sopalski
Leasing Specialist
WRH Realty Services
www.wrhrealty.comJolene.Sopalski@gmail.com


*originally posted on Multifamily Insiders Jul 2010*