People notice everything about what you wear, especially during business meetings. Even when your office has a casual dress code, you’re expected to look professional during meetings.
Whether your business meetings are formal or casual, here are five fashion faux pas that will raise some eyebrows.
- Broken acrylic nails
Having acrylic nails is common. In fact, after a while, it’s not that hard to type with fake nails. However, having broken nails will stand out during a business meeting.
When you choose to wear fake nails, you need to take care of them and make sure they don’t chip or break. If you can’t get your nails fixed before your business meeting, it’s better to remove them completely.
Removing acrylic nails isn’t hard, and you can do it in the bathroom at work if you must. However, it’s easier to do at home when you aren’t pressed for time. All you need is time, patience, and the following supplies:
- A bowl
- Some foil
- Cotton wool
- Petroleum jelly
- 100% pure acetone
- Some hand cream
- A manicure set
If you’ve never removed your own nails, you should practice before attempting to perform this task since it isn’t easy to do at the last minute.
- Obnoxious nail polish
You might love having bright salmon-colored nail polish, but your boss and coworkers might find it to be an eyesore. While self-expression is valuable, it’s not usually well-suited for the office.
Employers don’t have to allow for self-expression. In fact, many workplaces actively discourage self-expression because it distracts workers from their duties. At least, that’s what they say.
Either way, you’re stuck adhering to your boss’ rules and if your boss thinks your nail polish is obnoxious, you’ll need to wear a more conservative color for business meetings.
- Wearing the same outfit to every meeting
You probably have several different outfits you wear to work. If you normally vary your attire, it would be a crazy coincidence if you happened to wear the same outfit on every meeting day.
Although unlikely, it’s possible. And if you do wear the same thing to every meeting, people will notice and they’ll talk about it, too.
Make it a point not to wear the same outfit to every meeting. Get a calendar for your bedroom and document what outfit you wear to each meeting. That way, when it comes time for the next meeting, you can make sure you don’t wear anything you’ve worn to the last few meetings.
If you have formal meetings that don’t take place during a normal workday, consider investing in several high-quality suits or casual outfits specifically for meetings.
- Showing up to meetings in sweatpants
When you work from home, it’s easy to slip into the habit of wearing sweatpants while you work. There’s nothing wrong with that. Some people say productivity decreases when you don’t dress up, but that’s not true for everyone. Still, sweatpants aren’t appropriate for business meetings.
If you’re a remote worker, don’t show up for office meetings in your sweatpants. You might be okay if your entire office wears sweat pants, but that’s probably not the case.
At the very least, get a good pair of jeans, a nice belt, and a button-down t-shirt. If other people wear tennis shoes, don’t worry about getting dress shoes. However, if you notice people shifting toward suits and ties, don’t be the only person wearing jeans.
- Letting your socks show
No matter what clothing styles are in fashion, it’s never okay to let your socks or ankles show. There’s just something strange about seeing someone’s tube sock showing through the bottom of their pant leg. Seeing an ankle sock and a bare leg is even worse.
Hopefully, your pant legs go all the way to your shoes and you’re not walking around the office in high waters. If you are, get some pants that fit properly. Cropped pants can be fashionable, but not with a suit and not as office attire.
You might have pants that keep your ankles covered while you sit, but if your socks show when you cross your legs, don’t cross your legs. Keep your feet flat on the floor and spare people the view of your socks and/or your ankles.
Fashion is everything in the office
Whoever said you should “dress to impress” forgot to add that during business meetings, you should wear what your boss considers impressive. Most bosses prefer employees to dress conservatively so as not to draw attention to themselves. Stick with office attire that goes unnoticed. Less is always more.
