What Is the Business Professional Dress Code?

In the world of business, first impressions count just as much as experience and ability. What you wear communicates that impression even before you say anything. Are you neat or careless? Well-groomed or sloppy? Do you look competent and successful or incapable and inept? The way you dress can play a big role in your professional career. Part of the culture of a company is the dress code of its employees. Some companies prefer a business casual approach, while other companies require a business professional dress code. Fortunately, the rules of business attire are explicit and easy to follow.

Men should wear business suits. Start with a solid or pin-striped navy blue or gray suit using good-quality materials in a conservative and classic American cut. Your jacket sleeve must end at your wrist bone. Your shirt must be a blue or white in a solid or minimal pattern with long sleeves extending about 3/8ths of an inch beyond the jacket sleeve. Stay away from large beer logos and animal prints.

Wear well-polished, lace-up leather shoes in black, dark brown or burgundy, with dark, calf-length socks. Your belt must match your shoes and have a small, conservative buckle. Keep jewelry to a minimum with a high-quality watch and a wedding or engagement ring. Leave earrings, gold chains and flashy bracelets to Las Vegas types. Your hair must be short and conservatively styled. If you must wear facial hair, keep it well-trimmed and groomed.

As with men, keep what you wear conservative rather than fashionable. You want people to notice your work and not your figure. Start with a well-tailored pantsuit or skirted suit in a high-quality navy, dark gray or black fabric. The skirt must end within an inch of the knees. With a blouse, you have more leeway with colors than men do with shirts. Never show cleavage; you want associates to be looking at your face and not your chest.

Wear closed-toe leather shoes with low heels rather than high-heels or flats. Your safest bet for hosiery is flesh-colored rather than dark or light. Make sure that your undergarments don’t show through your clothing. Wear minimal jewelry such as one subtle ring on each hand at most, and one small earring per ear, in gold, silver or pearl. Keep your hair well-styled and controlled with simple, subtle hair accessories, if any. Avoid heavy perfumes. Your makeup must be simple and sparse. Rather than bright colors, wear light-colored day makeup in shades that flatter your face under fluorescent lights. Trim your fingernails short so you can type with your fingers rather than your nails.

As for bags, use a briefcase or handbag that is big enough to hold all your business tools, but light enough to carry conveniently. A metallic pen and pencil set in gold and silver is a final touch for whenever you sign a contract or business check.

1. The way you dress cannot play a big role in your professional career. ___

2. Part of the culture of a company is the dress code of its employees.______

3. Men should wear jeans and colored shirts.__________

4. You want people to notice your figure and not your work. _________

5. Keep your hair well-styled and controlled with simple, subtle hair accessories, if any. _________

6. Never show cleavage; you want associates to be looking at your face and not your chest.________

Lesson 4.1.2. The Periods of Fashion Development

Vocabulary practice

Ex 1. Look at the words in bold in exercise 3 and try to explain them.

Ex 2. Fill in the correct word from the list below. Use the words only once.

code, competent, casual, well-tailored, inch, light-colored, professional, materials, pin-striped, well-trimmed, cleavage, closed-toe

1. look ……………… 2. ………………… career 3. dress …………….. 4. ………………. approach 5. …………………. Suit 6. good-quality …………..

7. keep it ………………….. 8. …………………..pantsuit 9. …………..of the knees 10. show ………………… 11. ……………….leather shoes 12. ………………….makeup

Ex 3. Fill in the correct prepositions, then choose any three and make sentences.

1 in the world ……business; 2 a big role …..your professional career; 3 part …..the culture; 4 easy ……follow; 5 start ….a solid suit; 6 sleeve must end ….your wrist bone; 7 stay away ….large beer logos; 8 your face …..fluorescent lights.

Grammar in use

A compound adjectiveis formed when two or more adjectives work together to modify the same noun. These terms should be hyphenated to avoid confusion or ambiguity.

 

Stress in Compound Adjectives Generally, primary stress in two-word compound adjectives is on the second component. Both parts of compound adjectives are stressed. dark-green, old-fashioned, good-looking

Ex 4. Insert the appropriate compound adjectives.

1. I have just discovered an insect with many legs that eats fungus in my carrot patch.

I have just discovered a _______________________ insect in my carrot patch.

2. It has red knees and flat feet.

It is _________________________.

3. My professors refuse to believe in my discovery because they have narrow minds; besides, these old fools drink carrot juice!

My professors refuse to believe in my discovery because they are ______________________; besides, they are _________________________ fools!

4. The surgeon pulled out a worm that was thirty-five centimeters long.

The surgeon pulled out a _______________________ worm.

Ex 5. Convert the descriptions of the underlined noun phrases into attributive adjectives.

1. Her daughter is a ping-pong player who slams hard. She has a...

2. It looked like a trophy that had been hard to win. It looked like a...

3. Our sumo champion weighs 200 kilograms. We have a...

4. After that T.V. program, our baby’s hair turned green. We now have a...

5. The tail of the lizard I caught was three feet long. I caught a lizard with...

Ex 6. Read the text in ex.3 and explain the words in bold.

Ex 7. Read the text again and make glossary.

Lesson 4.1.3. Fashion of the Future

Speaking

Ex 1. Describe the people’s appearance in the pictures. Which style do you prefer?

 

Ex 2. Read the following article and fill in the table below. Then say what characterizes each fashion.