Page 174 - The New Articulate Executive_ Look, Act and Sound Like a Leader

HOW TO DRESS 165

lowing our advice. But you can also see these people, some-
times three in a row, wearing white shirts, red ties, and dark
suits all at a table facing the camera in a “Today Show” inter-
view, for example—and you almost expect one to cover his
eyes, another his ears, and the other his mouth. So the “power
dressing” combo of yesteryear (red tie, white shirt, dark suit)
may not be the ticket for the twenty-fi rst century.

Keep in mind that the suit jacket comes off and the sleeves get
rolled up when you want to give a nonverbal message of informal-
ity—down on the factory floor, for example. Presidents Barack
Obama, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush always knew when to
ditch the jacket.
The bottom line is that common sense will dictate what is appro-
priate. Polyester and pastels are probably best left out of any haber-
dashery equation (if you look like a lawyer or banker you might be
forgiven, but a leisure suit, particularly in a business setting, can be
seen as a crime against all reasonable definitions of good taste).

We should note here that good-sized portions of the U.S. Mid-
west view pinstripe suits and the like with special disdain, so a relax-
ation of the previously suggested guidelines might be in order
depending on the particular location in which you fi nd yourself
speaking. It might even be a good idea to ask the opinion of someone
who is going to be in your audience and let his or her suggestions
guide you. (I remember being told by more than one person in the
Midwest that I looked exactly like what I was—an Eastern Ivy
League city slicker. I needn’t add that this sort of thing does not sit
well with a great many people west of the Hudson River. The fact
that I did not necessarily sound like a city slicker—particularly a
New York city slicker—held little sway with these good people, and
I’m sure they put me down as someone capable of a good bit of
white-collar crime.)
In the South and the Southwest, where the weather is warmer,
fabrics get lighter. The darker colors of the Northeast power corri-
dor (Washington–New York–Boston) tend to fade the farther west