Dressed to impress




A friend has asked me to sit on a mock-interview panel tomorrow and Friday for graduating journalism students at the college where she teaches. We all know the rules when it comes to dressing for job interviews. Dress for the job: city = suity, creative = something with more snap, crackle and pop, don’t wear jangly jewels, do iron your shirt, etc, etc. But what if you’re doing the interviewing?

I must say I do enjoy a bit of role play and on this occasion I’m to be cast as the ‘serious, scary, external interviewer’ (the other panel members are tutors at the college). All well and good except I got a text this morning casually mentioning that I will need to ‘dress a bit smart’. Ah, I forgot that small matter. I’d figured a dark-jeans-loafers-and-jumper ensemble might suffice but now I’m feeling doubtful. Other than jeans I have chinos which are quite wide in the leg so only work with Converse (too casual) or black Gap cigarette trousers which I can wear with my Bass Weejun loafers. Would a jaunty sock be too much? Then I surely need a smart jacket, and I do have a very nice black Helmut Lang blazer – but it’s not an exact match with the trousers, is that a big no-no? The top doesn’t pose too much of a problem. If I go smart on the trousers, jacket and shoe, I think I can loosen up on the top so I’m thinking trusty Marimekko two-tone stripe top for the smart-with-a-beatnik-edge writer look.

That just leaves Friday to worry about. As a rule, I don’t do smart dresses but I do have my H&M jersey stripe affair which is a good standby for ‘smarten up a bit’ occasions. This would go nicely with my Dexter boots, grey ‘school’ tights (Burlingtons, still going strong from some long lost magazine fashion cupboard) and aforementioned Helmut Lang blazer. To accessorise: my Celine bourgeois bag and Herve Chapelier tote.

I wonder what the students will wear?