Dress the Part

“If I give you this job, you’re going to have to dress better.” It was early in my museum career and I had just been offered a major promotion. So, I focused my attention on how I should be dressing, invested in a business wardrobe, and never looked back.

A couple of years ago, I was looking for someone to fill a highly visible position and brought a candidate in for a second interview. Great resume. Great phone interview. But the applicant showed up in clothes I would not wear to wash my car. Different generations have different ideas about what constitutes work-appropriate clothing, but this was something else entirely. I couldn’t even consider someone who would dress that way for a job interview.

A short digression: I’m at a party in Cambridge. A man I’d just met looks at me, tilts his head and says, “Let me guess. A position of responsibility in an arts-related organization.” I don’t remember what I was wearing, but obviously it spoke very clearly.

In fact, clothing speaks much louder than words. This spring, I led a couple of resume review sessions at a national museum conference. After one of the sessions, I spent a little time with a woman who was seeking a position in an art museum. Despite her impressive credentials, she’s offered volunteer opportunities and board positions, not the actual paying job she wants. This was easy to understand. Women who work in art museums tend to have a specific look, a certain style. This elegant, stylish woman in her pink tweed jacket and pearls looked exactly like a museum trustee.

Clothing is theater. The way you dress defines the role you play.