Business Attire

What are the factors that contribute to a successful career for a woman, apart from qualifications, skills and expertise?   A well-thought through clothing style is indisputably of great value.

Women in  accountancy, banking, insurance and law require suits:  jacket, skirt or trousers with a blended tone or bright shirt or top to enliven the sober suit. It is a good idea to match your bras with the same colour as your  shirts wherever possible, otherwise  nude underwear will always blend.

On the other hand if a woman is employed in the non-uniformed caring sector, perhaps as social worker or counsellor, then non-threatening colours such as navy co-ordinated with white are appropriate.  However, a colourful top will not go amiss and will serve to cheer everyone up and win the confidence of clients.

Those women in marketing, management consultancy and public relations who regularly meet clients will impress with mid-tone neutral colours for their suit but when undertaking a presentation, a power red jacket is perfect.

If selling direct to the public then the client group must be considered.  If the product is serious such as IT software or medical supplies, a ‘user friendly’ look is required.  Therefore, tops or shirts in soft pastel colours along with blended neutral colours for jackets, trousers and skirts should suffice.

Teachers should wear tops of interesting colours and textures to hold their pupils’ attention.  A flashy orange top will distract.  Those working in advertising, media, retail or travel must look fashionable, therefore a chic jacket and stylish top or shirt are ideal.

Dressing for business involves following guidelines.  We may want to impress our employer and colleagues by wearing dazzling dresses and lots of make-up but this is neither the time nor the place.  According to a recent survey, a third of company bosses were of the opinion that in the office, their female colleagues are wearing too much make-up.  The conclusion the pollsters made was that women want to impress and choose bright red lipstick, heavily made-up eyes and far too much blusher in the belief that this will do the trick.  This is ill-advised because a night out will not therefore provide the opportunity to look much different.  The Welsh singer, Katherine Jenkins, attended the 20th Unesco charity gala recently attired in a wonderful, black printed evening dress in which she looked stunning and her bold red lipstick and dazzlingly made-up eyes were absolutely applicable.

Meanwhile, back in the office, if we are trying to establish ourselves, classic clothes will impress most, combined with a modest amount of make-up and jewellery.  We all genuinely want to give our best impression at work.   It is best achieved by looking well-groomed in a skirt and shirt.  However, expectations vary and in the creative arts or fashion industry, a black skirt and neat top may look too corporate.

Football star David Beckham has been successfully persuaded by his popular wife to enter the world of fashion. According to reports, former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham has convinced her husband to launch his first ever men’s line of sharp suits and evening wear under her fashion label. These products are said to be fitting in time for winter fashion collection which will be launched later this year.

Sources revealed that the 35-year old football icon has already started working on a collection for Autumn/Winter 2011. The source added that Victoria has been persuading her husband for quite some time and eventually the hunky football player relented.

Victoria believes that her husband has the eye for fashion and it would be fitting for him to make use of this talent. She already hired a team of employees to work with him on the new line.

Men’s fashion has taken the backseat all these years due to the increasing interest in the women’s side with clothing lines offering the most diverse and colourful products. Classically, mens fashion has revolved around basic suits, shirts, ties, etc, and with not much imagination invested in more casual wear. However, men are increasingly expressing an interest in the desire to look good when they go out, so the male fashion industry has seen a surge of designers branching out in this line of business to meet the growing demand.

Islamic Design House Managing Director Harun Rashid said that even though they are creating a larger number of male fashion lines these days, they are still creating these products that would still target the female population. Rashid said that men rarely buys for themselves and their wives or girlfriends will end up to be the ones to do this rather daunting task, and this is despite online-shopping become much more common-place.

Islamic Design House has been designing products that have both the East and Western culture embedded in every item. The company hopes that their initiatives will bear fruit in the near future.

A group of academics at an Irish university are scheduled to develop a line of smart clothes that will surely help the elderly with their daily activities through the aid of technology.

According to reports, the researchers from the University of Ulster are now looking into making hi-tech smart clothing where they could place electronic devices into the clothing that will provide valuable information such as the heart rate and timetables when the bus will arrive and many more. The project is set to last for three years.

The New Dynamics of Ageing Program is said to be funding the research and the team will get valuable assistance from a number of universities based within United Kingdom.

The Computer Science Research Institute in the University of Ulster is currently working on “assistive technologies for independent living and healthcare monitoring.”

Professor Bryan Scotney said that intelligent data analysis will take place once the technology is finished. The user-friendly smart clothing will feel as comfortable as the ordinary ones.

One of the teams helping this undertaking is the Smart Clothes and Wearable Technology group at the University of Wales.