If you never wear skirts, and feel like you're dressing in drag wearing them, then go for slacks. A lot of women I know wear them in preference to skirts, it won't 'out' you. No denim or corduroy, go for something smooth.
Blouses should either be button-down, or of some sort of obviously-nicer material. Solid colors are easier than trying to decide what patterns are okay. And whether you usually wear one or not, a bra is pretty much mandatory.
If you have piercings on your face other than in your ears, either take them out or at least put in something as unobtrusive as possible. If you have tattoos, try to choose clothing that hides them. If you usually punk out your hair, keep it subdued. We had a lady show up to fill out an application recently who had at least eight piercings and her hair was like a cockatoo!
Watch out for dryclean-only labels! If it's cheap enough, you can take the chance and throw it in the washer anyway, sometimes they're fine, but if you don't want to end up spending more on cleaning bills than the blouse cost in the first place, best not to have to dry-clean it.
You also have to consider what sort of things you'll be doing in these clothes. As a vet, I end up on the floor with my patients every day, so skirts have too many potential problems. Likewise I can't wear anything too constrictive because I have to move freely. If I were working around machinery, I'd be more concerned with loose clothing getting caught up in something, so I'd probably have to lean more towards less loose-fitting tops.
And if you're going to a job interview, dress for the job. When I'd go on interviews for vet jobs, I'd have scrubs in the car to change into if they wanted me to join them in surgery or somesuch. |
