Dress Like An EGYPTIAN
Dress Like An EGYPTIAN
by Bill Knell
A few years ago I met some of the Board Members of a small corporation. They wanted to pick my brain and I was happy to share my business knowledge, philosophy and experience with them. The first thing I noticed was the way they dressed. Our meeting was casual, but they dressed like they were going to play golf or tennis. Their choice of clothing left me with an immediate bad impression. As Board Members, everything they wear, say and do reflects on the Business they represent.
Clothing is as old as Humans. Anthropologists tell us that Stone Age peoples used animal skins and leather to make clothes. My guess is that some of them looked better than those Board Members! They also say that the earliest woven fabrics have been found in Nahal Hemar Cave and have been dated to be 8,500 years old.
Ancient Egyptians may have been some of the first people to produce and use intricate woven fabrics in a wide variety of colors. They created all sorts of designs that were indicators of wealth, status and religious zeal.
At some point in the past the appearance of clothing became as important as its utilitarian use to stay warm or cover our bodies. That appearance sent an important message to those viewing it without the wearer having to say a word. The same is true today.
Every generation has their own idea of what's HOT and what's NOT. They also decide what's appropriate for a certain occasion, and what is not.
With those ideas come certain expectations that we should dress a certain way to fit the occasion. You wouldn't wear a wedding dress to a business meeting. You wouldn't wear a business suit to a picnic. Sometimes what seems cool and hip to us just doesn't apply to what we're doing.
When we dress inappropriately, with others around, it instantly creates a bad impression. It says that we didn't care enough to wear an event appropriate outfit, we preferred comfort over style, or we were just CLOTHING CLUELESS. In a society that increasingly encourages people (mainly women) to show more and wear less, and replace proper business wardrobe choices with casual wear, many sensible people find themselves between a rock and a hard place.
I always encourage people to wear occasion appropriate outfits and be more interested in dressing to impress, rather then fitting in with a crowd that's going no where fast. There are exceptions. Working at a place like Google or some start-ups may compell you to dress to match the employee norm. That's not the situation in most corporate environments.
Remember that people are not always going to speak their minds about any wardrobe blunders someone makes; but they are certain to notice and that can mean your loss of opportunities to others who care about what they wear. If Egyptians could dress to impress and send a message about themselves, so can you.
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