Okay, so three women walk into a meeting.

One is in a navy blue suit, white buttoned blouse, sensible shoes and modest makeup.

The second woman has on a colorful v-neck blouse leaving little to the imagination, with a short, flouncy skirt and spiked high heels and has used a heavy hand with the makeup.

The third woman is comfortably dressed in blue jeans, a pullover sweater and no makeup.

All of the women come to the meeting well prepared and have experience, energy and ideas to help move the company in the desired direction.

Does how they have dressed influence the attention you give to them; or impact your ability to take them seriously?

A recent statistic in Entrepreneur Magazine says that 93% of managers say a person's style of dress at work influences their chances of earning a promotion.

Question: what does that mean, "a person's style?" Is the manager looking for the traditional navy blue suit or someone who mimics their own style of dress?

93% of respondents leave little room for doubt: dressing for success, in a world where business casual has become the norm, is still critical.

As a speaker I have been taught to dress up one notch from the expected dress of participants. Does the same hold true if you are vying for a promotion? If the accepted work attire is business casual do you sport a suit?

In the old days of my corporate existence, if you wore a suit to work people snickered that you probably had a job interview during your lunch hour.

So how do you interpret the statistic - 93% of managers make promotion decisions based on your dress? Do you pass judgment on a person's professionalism based on their attire?

Looking for a strategy for dressing to impress?

Deborah Chaddock Brown
Writer