The Office

You ever notice the guy in the office that doesn’t look like he should be wearing a suit?  It fits poorly, it’s baggy in all the wrong places, tight where it shouldn’t be or maybe his tie is just plain ugly.

Now despite what you may think, it’s not because the poor guy isn’t a Calvin Klein underwear model, he just doesn’t have any direction with his business attire.  Maybe he’s like me and he just prefers the feel of his favorite shirt that’s been washed a million times and the pair of jeans that haven’t seen the spin cycle since Tony Danza was asking “who’s the boss?”

Well you’re in luck because the both of you are going to learn what it takes to look sharp in a business setting.  We tracked down some well-dressed students at San Jose State’s PR Day, who were all dressed up to listen to keynote speaker Debbie Frost, communications director at Facebook, among other top-notch Bay Area companies in attendance.

Employee of the Month

First up is Carmen.  With her chic haircut, glowing smile and bow-studded top, it’s hard not to be reminded of Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany’s.

She mentioned that her coat was going to be put to good use while she pounds the pavement of New York City visiting friends.  Watch out Carmen, Mr. Peppard might mistake you for his ol’ co-star Audrey.

Victoria has business attire down pat.  Understanding that it’s not the same as dressing for the club, she has on neutral colors in an outfit that won’t go unnoticed.  Classic accessories like studded earrings follow suit with the understated, yet stylish look of Victoria’s outfit – nice job, very put together.

Not least is Justin.  His tweed pants and silk tie incorporate details that separate his outfit from the next office drone.

Justin isn’t afraid to use color to make an otherwise subdued outfit pop.   Bonus points for the tennis bag, it brings me back to the days when Andre Agassi had hair.

Laws of Definite Proportion

All three SJSU students were models for proportion.  You see Audrey err, Carmen play with it using her coat with a flared-out bottom mixed with close-fitted pants and ballerina flats to finish it off.

Victoria utilizes a long-sleeved blouse with a knee-high pencil skirt for a put together contrast.  And somehow Justin’s square-toed footwear and jagged hairstyle make for interesting dimensions.

There it is, a tutorial on what you can do to spice up your business attire, a little play with proportion goes a long way.