YES!  I am a strong believer that what you wear can actually impact your life.  Not that it is as important as how you live your life or things you do, but we are visual creatures – we have eyes and we are forever making choices on things but what we see.  Even the animal kingdom shows evidence of the impact of the visual……Aside from clothes, think about how things look affects your choices – pastry in a bakery display, the cover of a book!  The clothes you wear each day are your personal “book cover”, sending a message about who you are, at least who you are on that day. (It certainly isn’t always the same!)

This “cover” can affect your career, it can affect a company’s reputation/success, it can affect your personal life.  If you were looking for a wedding venue at upscale hotels and an event planner you met with was wearing open toe platform shoes, a short tight skirt and chipped nail polish, how would that make you feel?  Would you trust this person to pay attention to your wedding details?  No way!  This actually happened to me and my final choice of venue was handled by a woman whose attire reflected the business professional that she was.

My day job is managing and developing the business for a private nursing company.  The young woman in this photo is one of our nurses who was making supervisory visits to clients. (Soon to be a nurse practitioner)   In her previous visits to the office she would be returning from a hospital job wearing scrubs, fleece, and a ponytail – looking quite young, a bit sloppy,  and clinically focused.  I was thrilled to see her look for this supervisory role – she conveys maturity, seriousness, and professionalism.

Some people are perhaps more sensitive to this than others.  Some people maybe “aren’t into” clothes and see it as superficial.  That is certainly personal choice, but it doesn’t remove the reality that we are a visual society and others will still see you as you present yourself to the world.  Taking charge of your “book cover” can be empowering when it sends the message you want.  What’s your message???