How To Dress For Work For Women (First Day Of Work Outfit)

Congratulations! You’ve just got your dream job! But do you know what should you wear on your first day of work?

“As a young career woman working at a new startup, should you be wearing smart casual? Or business formal?”

Your first day at a new job is the best time to make a good impression. Knowing how to dress for your new job is just as important as knowing what to wear on your first date.

Although, the right clothes for a new job largely depend on your company’s dress code.

Career experts at HQHIRE will like to share our thoughts on styling tips for women starting a new job.

“Starting your career on the right foot can help you propel your career to even more possibility.”

– Ricky Thomas, Headhunter.

Your choice of color for your outfit can be just as important as well.

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What To Wear On The First Day Of Work For Women

A first impression is key, especially on the first day of work. You want to come across as confident and professional.

The best way to do this is by looking at the part. What you wear can say a lot about you and first impressions are everything.

Here are some guidelines on what to wear for your new job.

1. Business Formal Wear For Women

Looking presentable may leave a good impression, but looking professional will give a lasting great impression.

The trick is to understand that your professional appearance goes beyond what you wear. Make sure that your nails are trimmed, your hair is done, and never overdo your makeup.

Of the five senses of humans, smell plays an important role when giving others a good first impression.

“Take a nice bath before the start of the day. This is the best way to start your first day at work.”

Women’s Formal Business Attire includes the following:

Suit

Business Formal suits are perfect for almost every lady working in the financial sector. A suit dress, pants suit, or skirt suit, includes a matching suit made of matching material and color that is intended to be worn together. Perfectly tailored, a business formal suit is a perfect way to introduce extra refinement into your wardrobe. 

Recommends: Dark color suit, as it gives off the vibe of confidence and maturity.

Tops

Tops should include neat button-down shirts or blouses with a blazer. With conservatives cut, it should not be too tight or too loose. Make sure you’re physically comfortable and confident in whatever you choose. If you are still unsure, it is the type of clothes you will wear when you are seeing your mother-in-law.

Recommends: Keep your day one outfit relatively simple. Go for light colors such as white.

Dress Shoes

Dress shoes include formal flats, heels, oxfords, or loafers. Wear closed-toe shoes or peep-toe shoes and heels that are less than 3-inches. Choose something that is comfortable and professional.

“A woman can carry a bag, but it is the shoe that carries the woman.”

Recommendations: Go for dark-colored shoes that fit your feet. Flats or heels that are 2-inches or less are the best because you will never know how much you will need to walk at your new job.

Accessories

Accessories are optional, but when choosing one, remember to accessorize with something simple. Simple jewelry and belts can make you look great on most occasions.

Recommendations: A simple earring or necklace can help to make you look fresh and warm. But if you wear something too extravagantly, or expensive, this can sometimes hurt your career.

Profession: Bankers, Insurance Agents, House Agents, Sales, People Managers, Executives, etc. 

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2. Smart Casual Business Wear For Woman

Smart casual business wear allows you to put in more personality into your style of cloths. Although it is much more relax than business formal, but how to dress for your new job is actually beyond the work outfit that you wear.

It is true that wearing smart casual allows you to feel more like home, but our experts says,

“It is just as important to be aware of how you present yourself beyond what our naked eyes can see.”

Are you wearing too much perfume? Or does your breath smell like coffee?

Woman Smart Casual Business Attire includes the following:

Tops

Blouses and button-down shirts are perfect for woman who wants to wear something causal while looking semi-professional. No matter what tops you choose, conservative cut is a must.

Recommends: Solid color is the best when you are choosing something to wear for work. You can choose a light color blouse such as white, or give a slightly more matured vibe when wearing black. Whichever color you choose, wearing something cute does not fair well with your first day of work.

Polo Shirt

A Polo shirt is another great option to wear for companies that allow casual attire. A shirt with a collar coupled with a neckline and three buttons. These shirts are usually short-sleeved and sometimes come with an optional pocket on one side of the chest. Designed and used by polo players in the 1920s, these shirts are usually buttoned to the tops and worn for semi-formal events. 

Recommends: Plan a colored polo shirt that makes you look approachable and young. Light colors work wonders on some occasions, especially in the creative industry.

Denim

Denim is a strong cotton fabric that is stylishly rugged, twill weave woven, which creates a subtle diagonal ribbing pattern. Strong and durable these fabrics are used to make many other things, including jeans worn by your favorite artist.

Recommends: Light/Dark colored navy blue denim gives a vibe of creativity mixed with professionalism. Never wear any tattered jeans, though fashionable, an employee wearing worn-out pants doesn’t look good on the company.

Bottom

Twill or cotton skirts, pants, or dresses that fall below the fingertips are some of the top favorites for women wearing smart casual attire. When worn right, it is the perfect harmony with style and professionalism. But remember, never wear a skirt that is too short, or rigged and torn.

Recommendations: Go for plain color. The dark color is perfect for a financial institution and bright colors are best for the creative industry.

Accessories

Accessories are optional in many workplaces, but when choose to wear one, remember to accessorize with something simple. Simple jewelry and belts can make you look great on most occasions.

Recommendations: A simple earring or necklace can help to make you look fresh and warm. But if you wear something too extravagantly, or expensive, this can sometimes hurt your career. 

Dress Shoe

Shoes can include flats, loafers, mules, boots, or heels. Rejoice! You will have a huge range of options to choose from when choosing the right shoe to wear.

But the key is,

“Wear closed-toe shoes or peep-toe shoes.”

Never wear flip-flops, sandals, or sneakers to work. Choose something that is comfortable but professional.

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a pair of fabulous shoes.”

Start your journey on the right foot always.

Recommendations: Shoes of any color are mostly acceptable, but avoid any shoes that have sparkles or attract too much attention.

Profession: Designers, Artists, Engineers, Computer Engineers, IT Personnel, Telemarketing, Virtual Assistants, Social Media Experts, Start-ups, etc. 

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What Color Should A Woman Wear On The First Day Of Work?

Be colorful but conservative. Being your first day of work, you may not need to dress as neutrally such as blue or black, as you did during your interview.

On your first day of work, you can choose a color that you feel comfortable with and that gives you confidence. 

Best colors to wear to the office

Studies have shown, colors can greatly affect our moods and the way other people respond to us. With the correct use of colors, we can choose to wear outfits with colors that can help us in creating a great first impression at work.

Blue Outfit

Most shades of blue are a great choice to wear, depending on your position in the office. If you are in the managerial post, choose darker shades of blue, otherwise, most shades of blue are commonly acceptable.

Blue is a color that represents trust and wisdom.

In our daily life, blue is often associated with the color of the sky, lakes, and oceans.

Blue is good for us to calm our emotions.

Blue has a calming effect as the color blue is often seen as a sign of freedom, stability, and reliability.

Blue can help you to calm your nerves on your first day of work. Or if you are in a drama-filled workplace, blue is a great color of choice to calm the tension at your workplace.

Green Outfit

Dark green color can be a good choice to wear to your office.

Green is a color that represents safety, freshness, and harmony.

During our daily life, green is associated with the “go” signal for the traffic light, and the “correct” indication when we get an answer for a quiz right.

These are all great characteristics to associate in the workplace.

Scientifically, green color is the least straining to the eyes thus, our nervous system can relax when seeing the color green.

The green color helps to calm us down.

Black Outfit

All shades of black are great choices if you want to show that you mean business.

The black color at work symbolize power, leadership, and authority. It is a color for high-level executive and managerial roles.

Black can also give the feeling of mystery or seriousness.

For most formal events and meetings, wearing a black suit with some hint of blue or green can do wonders.

How To Make A Good First Impression In A New Job

Go Beyond Looks

When you see something, your brain will start to process, you think and then you react. Our sense of smell plays an important role when forming the first impression of others. There is no thinking, no reasoning, you just react.

So how smell affect us?

You meet someone who smell pleasant, you will immediately find this person more attractive and warm.

But when someone with a bad breath talks to you, your immediate reaction is to move away to a ‘safe distance’.

It’s not that you are being rude, it’s just that the smell just overpowers you. 

Our experts says,

“When you have a split second to make that first impression, your scent matters.”

A great personal hygiene, is the first step to a great scent that is both welcoming and appealing.

“First impressions are everything.”

Wear Cloths That Brings Confidence

Wearing the right attire “business formal or smart casual” is important for the right occasion. But wearing an outfit that’s comfortable, neat, and well-tailored will give you the confidence you’ll need on your first day of work.

It can be a simple blouses, or even a suit dress, if you want to look good and  presentable, wear cloths that fit well and look fresh. Sometimes buying that new blouse or shoe can be the best investment you can make for your first day of work.

“The dress must follow the body of a woman, not the body following the shape of the dress.” By Hubert de Givenchy

Learn to Iron

What you wear don’t need to be expensive, but it have to be neat and clean. Winkled and messy cloths scares even kids away.

Although, ironing sounds like a foreign language to some. Learning to iron your cloths so you will look fresh and professional can be the best skill you’ll learn today.

A recent survey shows, “43% of all hiring managers will not consider promoting an employee who wear winkled cloths.”

Surprised?

You shouldn’t because our experts say, “Being well-dressed is a beautiful form of politeness.”

Although, ironing is becoming a lost art, learning how to iron from the master (YouTube) can be as simple as clicking the play button below.

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