"Dressing for Success" can sometimes cause a lot of stress

Yes we have all been there the day of your first interview and you have nothing to wear. There is always that moment where you start to rack your brain for ideas of what would be acceptable. This deduction always eliminates 95% of your wardrobe then what? My main problem with being professional is the stress of finding something to wear. To understand why this is difficult you have to understand where I am coming from. On an average week I wear jeans minimum of three times a week and my shoe choices don't fall too far from that trend. I own 5 pairs of Vans shoes which if you don't know are skateboarding shoes ( a sport I do not partake in) and I always wear some sort of what I like to define as the "funky fresh random ensemble of clothing".

The bottom line is when it comes to outfit organization I am not your person to go to. The demand to wear professional dress does not fall comfortably into my lap. So what is a tyro professional suppose to do in a situation of impressing people? Wing it. Endorsing procrastination is not the objection here but encouraging commitment to spontaneity is. I find not over thinking is the key to feeling comfortable but also making sure not blinding going into something. So I do the three degree of check rule.

1. Run outfit in question in front of a family member. They will always tell you some criticism but also give you encouragement at the same time.



2. Take it to a friend. Friends will be the most brutally honest about the outfit out of the three options but in a nice way where you don't feel like you fail at life.



3. Mention it in passing to a superior. Most of the time these people know the expectations and can give you an outline to what you need to wear and what not to wear.

Touching base with these three people allows me to triple check my decision and I am OCD about having everything the way it should be. So yes dressing professionally is very troublesome for me I see it as a learning process of trial and error that hopefully by the time it really counts I will finally be able to dress myself. The one thing that a professional tyro like myself has to practice is making great first impressions because that can make or break a job offer. As time goes on hopefully dressing for success will become less and less stressful.