THE blog for Women over 45! Our Giveaways are always over $50! We let younger people be our friends too!

Fashion Mistakes–Women over 45–2010 1st quarter Book Review

[ 0 ] March 22, 2010 | Shelley Zurek

3 Terrible Too’s that will Derail a Women’s Career.

Any of 3 fashion mistakes will derail a woman’s career faster than outing the boss’ new hairpiece, yet every office in America has these career-challenged fashion victims and someone should let them know it’s the number one roadblock to career success for women. Maggie Jessup, a personal branding expert and author of the new book Fame 101 (Sutton Hart Press 2010) does just that in her new book.

Every office in America has one or more women with the Terrible Too’s:

Too much style – They think insanely expensive, a big logo, and the latest New York fashion is right for a middle manager in Phoenix.

Some women in business believe that because they spend insane amounts to wear the latest styles from New York their career look just couldn’t be better. They’re wearing the Rolls Royce of outfits and if anyone doubts how great they look they must be mistaken because these are “this year’s colors” or “how they’re wearing slacks in New York” and after all, “they’re Jimmy Choos”. Unfortunately many of these styles only look good if you’re an underweight 6 foot 19 year old and very few women in business fall into this category. The style rule you must follow to look great and have presence is to make wardrobe decisions based on what looks good on you; with what’s in style only a secondary consideration.

Too young – A fifty year old insurance exec shouldn’t shop at Forever 21; no one will take her seriously!

This wardrobe trap can snare even the smartest of women in business and it is deadly for a career. A simple example will make the point. If you are a forty five year old office manager, don’t shop at Forever 21. For some reason a surprising number of women believe they can take off 10 years by dressing 20 years younger; when actually the opposite is true. It may be fun but you will never achieve the look you’ll need to be a leader in your field. The people who could put your career on the fast track won’t take you seriously. This is about appropriateness; dress just right for your age.

Too bad hair – A home perm, budget dye, and $20 cut will block the route to a corner office every time; moonlight if you must to afford the best appropriate cut.

We live in a hair-obsessed society; yours must be great or at least really good. Have you ever had someone look at your new cut or style and say “Ouch, that’s too bad?” Likely not, because even your best friend will lie to you about this career-builder or career-killer for women in business. So what can you do to get that great look? Follow a few simple rules: Never do a home perm, under no circumstances have your best friend dye your hair, if you have the same cut you had in high school it is wrong, and work nights at the Dairy Queen if you must so that you can afford a quality style, cut, and color.

Blogger Note: No compensation or products were provided in exchange for this review