Aiming to educate students on how to dress in the professional world, the Career Development Center hosted a fashion show in Talley Student Union in collaboration with Macy’s this Monday. About 200 students attended the event. Marcy Bullock, director of professional development, administered the evening event in the Talley Coastal Ballroom.
“We’re going to help students understand the difference between business casual and professional attire,” Bullock said.
In many situations, students may be confused about what to wear to portray a good first impression and image.
“We mostly came up with [the fashion show] because we heard from recruiters who are hiring managers or college graduates that students don’t understand what a professional image is,” Bullock said. “So we had Macy’s sponsor the show so that we could communicate that to students and help them to make that great first impression.”
The fashion show included a presentation by two speakers in the professional and fashion world. The two speakers were Saisha Delevoe, sales manager at Macy’s in Miami, Florida, as well as April Clark, who has written three books on fashion including, “Are You Going to Wear That?” Career Development Center ambassadors modeled the outfits that Macy’s provided.
The different categories covered during the show were attire for business casual, business professional, casual Friday, holiday party and the job search/interview.
The student models for the show, Precious Bass, Holton Ramoin, Sarah Bowman, Matthew Pless, Kelly Doss and Prem Shah all wore various looks for the different categories.
For business casual, Delevoe and Clark recommended women wear either pants and a blazer, or a pencil skirt and a fun blouse.
“Guys can wear slacks or chinos and a collared shirt,” Delevoe said. “Absolutely no jeans or sneakers.”
For this category, student model Bass, a senior studying English, wore a floral multi-print top and black pencil skirt with simple jewelry. Student model Ramoin, a senior studying business administration, sported a white classic button-down, a tie, black dress pants and a brown leather belt, along with brown leather shoes.
“You can have fun with color and prints, but make sure everything stays professional,” Clark said. “It’s okay to have a fun top, but balance it out with a solid color bottom and brown or black shoes.”
The next category, business professional, had looks suitable for accounting, finance and architecture majors.
“No options when it comes to suits,” Clark said. “You have to wear a tie.”
Student model Shah, a senior studying mathematics, wore a Tommy Hilfiger suit, and model Bowman, a senior studying communication, wore minimal jewelry.
“Save the chandelier earrings for after work,” Delevoe said. “For men, make sure you have a key suit, something very basic like black or brown.”
Casual Fridays do not mean it is acceptable to wear a Wolfpack T-shirt to work, according to Delevoe.
“You can have a laidback feel, but stay professional,” Delevoe said. “A slightly dressier version of your most casual look.”
For women, Delevoe and Clark suggested to elevate their go-to pair of pants with a fun pair of ankle boots. Whereas, for men, to dress up their favorite pair of jeans with a blazer.
Student models Pless, a senior studying mechanical engineering, and Doss, a senior studying mathematics, both wore black pants. Pless had on a light blue Ralph Lauren button-down while Doss was dressed in a red Calvin Klein shirt with matching flats.
Delevoe encouraged men to wear tuxedos to holiday work parties, while women had options of long dresses, dressy separates or a formal cocktail dress.
The last category was for the job search/interview. Delevoe and Clark said students should dress conservatively, dress for the industry and wear flattering colors. They said not to dress too casually, wear distracting clothing or “forget the fit.”
“For the interview, wear a dressier version of your industry,” Clark said. “Then, when you get the job, you can revert a little more. This is the most important stage, so make sure have a professional and appropriate appearance.”
Clark’s top business wardrobe was a black, brown or gray pant suit for women and a black or navy suit for men.
The major brands worn were Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, Perry Ellis, Ryan Seacrest and Tommy Hilfiger.
Bowman said she liked the outfits she wore from the fashion show and that she would wear them in a professional setting. She said her favorite outfit was from the interview/career fair outfit, which included a pale pink blouse with cap sleeves and a black knee-length pencil skirt.
“What you wear to work doesn’t totally define who you are as a person,” Delevoe said. “It reflects you. If you don’t care about your appearance, superiors and clients may assume that you also don’t care about the job. Choose wisely.”
Students can take tips learned during the fashion show and use them toward the impending college career fairs this fall. The fair schedules can be found on the Career Development Center website.
The event was added to the Career Development Center’s LAUNCH series to help students know what is appropriate to wear in certain professional situations.
“I did the LAUNCH series last year, and it really helped for career fair, so I’m glad to be participating again,” said Derrick Sufczynski, a junior studying materials science and engineering.
Each LAUNCH topic is presented twice, Mondays at 4:30 p.m. and Thursdays at 6 p.m., and lasts for about 50 minutes.
“If you attend six sessions you can receive a professional development certificate signed by the dean that you can document on your resume, which gives you an edge in the competition as well as a meal and a t-shirt,” Bullock said.
Students can register for various sessions such as resume building, Linked-in, interviews and more on ePack.
Career Development Center Fashion Show Gallery
http://www.technicianonline.com/features/collection_064b1c4a-5c0f-11e5-b75c-539ceca7839c.html
Precious Bass a senior studying English, models at the Career Development Center fashion show. The fashion show partnered with Macy’s who had speakers at the event and sold all of the clothing modeled after the event.
