wardrobe and the job search

With a steady paycheque not coming in right now, I'm not really inclined to be buying to many clothes right now. Makes sense, right? The issue there, of course, is that I now need new things from my clothes, and I'm no longer sure that my closet provides.

For the past eight months, jeans and a nice shirt were considered appropriate work wear. Of course, I love dresses, so those played a fairly large role in my everyday wear, as they always do.

On the job hunt, though, that doesn't quite fly. Not only would it be terribly unprofessional to show up to an interview, or drop off resumes, in (nice) blue jeans, even worse it doesn't make me feel powerful and compentent. In my mind, a good interview outfit feels like a uniform or a suit of armour. You should feel powerful, strong, compentent. The message that's coming off should be that this chick is professional and she can do the job you need her to.

Jeans don't do that. Even dresses, don't always do that. I do love me a dress, and think they are a great choice for office wear as they can be played up or down, formal or informal. In an interview, though, I don't want anyone noticing my personal style or cute shoes or anything. Instead I focus on coming off as polished and professional. Nothing does that like a suit (or, failing a suit, a great pair of slacks and a blazer. Even a skirt and complimentary blazer seem more dressed up to me than a dress and a blazer).

Issue: I don't have a single pair of dress pants that properly fit. I've lost a fair chunk of weight since I started my last position, and have gone down something in the range of two dress sizes. Or so - I haven't bought clothes since .... July? I'm not sure entirely where I fit on the clothing scale anymore. Plenty of pieces in my closet will still work - dresses are forgiving to weight loss, as are shirts and blazers (maybe it's just because of my chest? It always necessitates something bigger than the rest of my body). Pants, though, are an issue.

So I will be buying some kick ass interview pants today. Something that makes me feel sharp and powerful and in control. Maybe a great dark grey, which I almost think of as more of a staple than black.

There's also a glimmer of hope in my mother's house: there should be a suit, in something resembling my size, hanging in my closet. She's going to check, and if it's there she'll bring it for me to pick up sometime next week. I should have looked while I was home for Christmas, but wasn't thinking of it.