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| Mom never stops being your mother |
First, you want to pay attention to what you look like when you're out in the world, don't you? Don't be mistaken about this.
It doesn't matter whether you have a low wage job or a high end salary, dress for success works in two ways:
According to Randall Hansen, a professor of business at Stetson University in Deland, Florida, "The basic mistake people make is underdress… even when it's okay to dress down." Don't. Always look your best, because you always want people to think the best about you.
1. If you're a man and you want to present yourself as a rising star, you always want to look your best -- no matter what your age is or what your current job is. A person of good character always looks "collect-the-compliments" good.
2. Even when "Dress Down Friday" might be an attempt to loosen things up in the work environment, don't fall for the "test." Best tip. Always dress well even on dress down day.
3. Dressing well isn't difficult. Dress as you want to be thought of: Serious, professional, upward-bound and ready to meet customers. Even when you have other plans for your future paychecks, start now to form the right mindset.
4. For example, men can't go wrong with a button-down shirt, polished black shoes, a blue, black or gray jacket, slacks that complement the jacket and a conservative necktie.
The traditional look for women includes a skirt that hits the knee, slacks or perhaps pantsuits, simple jewelry, a little makeup and polished flats or moderate heels.
5. If you aren't sure how to dress, kick it up a notch. It's better to be overdressed than underdressed. You want the people you work with to think you take the job seriously. Grubby clothes suggest an inappropriate view of the world. It dilutes confidence and erodes how people see you. For example, if you aspire to be a manager, dress like the managers.
Here's a money-saving tip on how to dress for success. My honey and I were reviewing our cost-cutting progress this morning. Last year, we decided to get serious about saving money. More to the point, we took at look at what we've spent money on in the past years and jumped out of our skin. We do NOT want to waste our money. We needed to stop making excuses like "I work so I have to spend X dollars on my clothes." Really? No, not really. When we got honest with ourselves, we discovered there was a lot of wasted spending.
One of the things we did was stop going to the laundry/cleaners for clothes that I could iron here at home. Last year alone, we stopped spending almost $720 simply by ironing shirts, blouses, tablecloths and other "not-necessary to go to the cleaners" clothes. That's a tidy annual savings, isn't it?
It is incredibly easy to iron shirts, for example. Start with Black & Decker D2030 Auto-Off Digital Advantage Iron
.Okay. Next. It's takes some people minutes. It takes me 3 to 4 minutes per shirt. There's really no reason not to bring home the ironing when it takes little time and is easy enough anyone can do it. Save that money. Here's how to iron your clothes:
1. Check the label for washing and ironing instructions.
2. Set up the ironing board.
3. Add water to your iron, plug it in and set the temperature.
Of course, you took your clothes to be ironed out of the dryer right away and hung them up. So next, get a shirt (for this example). Shake it out. Spritz it with a spray bottle of water. Lightly spritz it. Very lightly. You don't want the shirt to be "wet" per se.
Okay, lay the shirt on the ironing board. Start with the collar. Iron the collar from the tips toward the inside. I do it this way so that those little wrinkles that sometimes show up on the collar, don't.Next, iron the cuffs and sleeve, both sides. They each shoulder yoke. Finally, iron the bodice, back of the shirt, and the front of the other side of the bodice. Carefully iron the "placket" (part where the buttons are) steering the hot iron around each button being careful not to touch the buttons. They could break or damage the face of your iron. You're done.
Hang the shirt on a hanger immediately after ironing to keep new wrinkles from forming (and don't forget to unplug your iron).
a) Always put your iron on the recommended setting for the shirt's material (cotton, linen, poly-blend). When in doubt, use the lowest setting.
b) Spritz hard-to-smooth wrinkles, then iron over the area again.
Dressing right creates credibility. You know this from your own experience watching political debates on TV. Think of the experts from opposing sides who have made good points during an exchange, but you remember what one said simply because that person was better dressed and came across better on screen. Think about how much a person's clothes make that difference. What if one of those debaters was dressed poorly? Would that have an impact on you?
Dress for success, save money or better yet -- don't waste money taking clothes to the laundryman at your local cleaners when it's fast and easy to iron your clothes yourself.