Dress to Impress or Dress to Survive?

**Tim Elliott** (0:00)
This is the Morning Drive, it's Mira Business FM.
Back to office policies, slower hiring, a tougher job market, all changing more than workplace culture. They're changing the way people dress for work. Is what you wear becoming a career advantage once again? There's a question. Joining us to explain why your wardrobe could be shaping first impressions, very often does, shaping promotions and maybe even contributing to job security is Raluca Marcu, who is a Dubai-based image scientist. She's back with us again. Nice to see you.

**Raluca Marcu** (0:40)
It's great to be back.

**Tim Elliott** (0:42)
Good to have you here. So look, we've got this situation where corporate trends are shifting. Back to office mandates are kind of in effect. We're kind of heading back to work, I guess. The job market is definitely tighter.
Is power dressing making a comeback?

**Raluca Marcu** (1:03)
I wouldn't say power dressing is making a comeback.
At least not in a sense of corporate suits and formal dressing. But I see a smarter way of dressing. You know, people in unstable, uncertain times, they try to anchor in more clarity, safety, stability. So I would say they dress smarter, not as in a smart dress code, meaning, but smarter as in more intentional and more aligned with what they're trying to achieve. So if you think for a few years now, people were, you know, because of the blurred lines between the work mode and the home mode, most workplaces became a bit more casual or very casual even, some of them. But now, you need to actually be more visible and differentiate yourself in the workplace place because of the uncertainty and the, you know, lower hiring and all the situations.

**Tim Elliott** (2:21)
Yeah, that makes sense. So are you seeing more professionals maybe rethinking what they wear to work? We're making, I guess it's making more effort, right?

**Raluca Marcu** (2:31)
I think they do put in the effort.
If you remember, we used to say, dress for the job you want. But that would be valid in a stable job market. You dress for the opportunity. But today, I think we're moving more into dress for the trust you want, because you need to have a stronger way of showing up, way of making yourself unique.

**Tim Elliott** (3:08)
So purpose, really?

**Raluca Marcu** (3:09)
Yeah, more effort, more purposeful.

**Tim Elliott** (3:12)
Yeah, okay.

**Raluca Marcu** (3:12)
And more aligned with the role that you have, the authority of the role that you have, let's say.

**Tim Elliott** (3:19)
Okay. So the job market is tough at the moment, and hiring has slowed down. So when that happens, more people, I think, focus on updating their CV, their resume.
They sharpen their LinkedIn profile. We should also be looking at our wardrobes as well, because it's kind of like a representation. It's a physical CV, physical resume, isn't it?

**Raluca Marcu** (3:46)
It is. And I think a lot of people do that, and it's a great thing to do, because your visual cues and the way you show up accounts for a lot of the first impressions.

**Tim Elliott** (4:00)
Yeah.

**Raluca Marcu** (4:01)
But I would say for the job seekers to remember two things before they go building an outfit. So one is in uncertain times, people read faster.
They look for cues of stability, certainty, clarity.

**Tim Elliott** (4:24)
Okay.

**Raluca Marcu** (4:25)
So it's not like when everything goes right, people, someone may think, let me see the whole data set, or let me assess the context or the background. Let me hear the full story. Now people go into quick judgments mode, and they rely on what's immediately readable, which are the visual cues. So one thing, people read you fast. And the second thing, two things they first see in you is your face and your hands.
So your face, yeah, visible hands. So these two things being said, you need to make sure you have harmony and quality around your face, so whatever is on your upper body to have more structure, to be cleaner, better fabrics, good contrast, grooming.
So everything that frames this area, basically.

**Tim Elliott** (5:33)
Okay.

**Raluca Marcu** (5:34)
And then make sure you put your hands back on the table.

**Tim Elliott** (5:38)
Okay. My hands are there.

**Raluca Marcu** (5:42)
Visible hands. Make like hand gestures, because this increases the understanding of your message as well, and it makes you come across like more confident.

**Tim Elliott** (5:53)
I have to stop myself. I do that all the time. I'm waving my hands about like I'm an Italian man. And respect to all Italians, I don't mean that in a bad way.