The Nuns Were Right!
August 13, 2003
As a past pupil of a convent school I always hated the over-extreme emphasis on discipline and worrying about school values. Bearing the uniform carried with it a responsibility, or so we were constantly told. There would be regular announcements on the intercom about girls being spotted around the area in various stages of 'undress' - socks down, blouse buttons open, with eyeliner on! These reports always ended with a statement about how important it was to look good and to wear the uniform with pride, because with it we carried the reputation of the entire school.
Looking good is so important. Working for yourself, you are free from having to wear suits to the office. Like every other business decision, you decide what approach you're going to take and live with it. I have a large wardrobe of grey and black suits (and matching court shoes) that I'm delighted to have retired. Suits were never my thing.
Working in an office where you have to wear a suit is draining on your clothes budget. I always felt I was shopping for 2 people - the soberly dressed week-day suit person, and the colourful strappy dress, low cut top weekend person. And never would the two meet, ie. I never quite managed to cross over clothes from my casual wardrobe to the work one. And when Casual Fridays came in - I had to run out and buy another wardrobe, the smart casual. My version of casual just wouldn't have been suitable.
Now I can wear whatever I like. However, I do make a point of getting dressed up every day. Not for me, the dressing gown and slippers! Even if I'm not having a meeting I still look sharp. The difference is that for me now, sharp means a feminine skirt with a - dare I say it - sexy low cut blouse, finished off with a pair of strappy sandals that never would have made it to the other office. I still look good, but in a way that I can express myself.
And this is so important. The amount of times in the past few weeks alone that I've simply bumped into people that I need to engage for business. How glad I've been that I'm not in a tracksuit. And how I've noticed that they take in how I look.
Dublin is a small city, and my advice to any aspiring entrepreneur is to remember that and dress for success every morning. The nuns were right. You are carrying a reputation on your back. And Brightspark is a definitely a well cut trousers, high heeled sandals, shimmery blouse kind of company. If you want to work with an egg-stained T-shirt, polyester tracksuit kind of firm, please log out.