By Guest Columnist, Jan Andersen
I’m cheering from the retiree sidelines as guidelines for appropriate professional dress are becoming less formal. I’ve insisted for years that there must be a way for women to be comfortable and have a personal style while dressing professionally. I was lucky to have Kelly guide me in the early days of both of our businesses.
When I returned to Kalamazoo in 1996 to open my own company, I was SO done with years of pantyhose, suits, structured jackets and heels. When I met Kelly, I had a closet full of basically professional but completely disorganized clothes of all different colors and styles. I never was really interested in shopping or fashion (the “whatever’s on sale” syndrome). So Kelly was the first person who pointed out to me that my wardrobe could be an organized, effective and even (gasp!) fun way of creating a comfortable professional/personal brand.
When we met for a closet audit, I told Kelly my only absolute requirement was that I needed to be able to walk confidently into board rooms — but I wanted to never wear pantyhose again. She was up to the challenge. Along with a closet audit and consultation, she did a color analysis (what was THAT?) and a personal style assessment.
As a Deep Winter, I ended up choosing black as my wardrobe core color to work with. My style preferences ending up being a mixture of natural, artistic and classic. So Kelly salvaged some of my basic pieces, and then showed me how to punch up/personalize my look with scarves and interesting jewelry. Because I’m comparatively tall, I could wear calf-length skirts, pants, unstructured jackets and flats successfully. Initially, I kept a couple of classic pantsuits “just in case.” But they eventually disappeared along with the knee-length skirts, heels, really awful blouses and, oh, did I mention pantyhose?!
Here are some of Kelly’s top tips for dressing for comfort and success:
- Know and understand who you’re going to be working with, where, when and why — also what you want to achieve.
- Determine what types of dress are appropriate for you professionally. (E.g., What is your corporate culture? What stage are you at in your career? How do you want to be perceived by others?)
- Be true to yourself. Take the time to think about and understand your style traits, best colors, preferences and what clothes you actually feel most comfortable in.
- Grow clusters of garments that work together, beginning with two or three core colors (e.g., navy, grey, brown/taupe or black) that can serve as a foundation to build from.
- Decide how you’d like to finish your look: shoes, grooming, makeup, jewelry and other accessories.
Dressing for comfort might take only a few simple wardrobe tweaks or it might be your time for a big transformation. But even a big change doesn’t need to be expensive if you’re strategic about it. If you’d like help, contact Kelly. I’m very glad I did. And I’ve never worn pantyhose again!
Jan Andersen
Owner, Beyond Words, Inc. Jan Andersen, now retired, is the owner of Beyond Words Inc., in Kalamazoo.
