You are what you wear in business

By Agni Amorita

JAKARTA (JP): MC and TV presenter Erwin Parengkuan has a young executive friend who works in a small fully air-conditioned office.

"His office was very, very cold," said Parengkuan. His friend started wearing a suit as his everyday office attire.

People began to assume that the man worked for a trusted company, thanks to his "very serious" clothing.

His company became bigger and more popular as more people put their confidence in him -- just because of his clothes.

Erwin told the story when he moderated a talk with fashion expert Irma Hardisurya in Jakarta's Plaza Indonesia last Friday.

Irma said clothes should reflect our position as professional workers. "Because we are considered a product, we have to know about our packaging as well."

What she called "professional dressing-up" is a functional outfit according to a person's rank and profession, plus practical and comfortable elements. This means that those provocative miniskirts or fashionable dresses should be avoided.

"Those outfits will not guarantee comfort both for us, as the one who wears it, and others who see it."

Irma, a Miss Indonesia in the mid 1970s, added that doing business in Indonesia required one to fully respect the traditional values and take into consideration the other people's perceptions about the way we dress.

"Miniskirts are still fine, it can still give a professional impression as long as the skirt is no more than five centimeters above the knee."

Irma said dark suits were recommended. "For business, navy blue is always correct." She said lawyers liked gray.

She advised men to avoid bold stripes on their shirts. Button- down shirts in plain colors are the perfect choice because they match with ties of every color.

"For male executives, ties are the solution to release their fashion expression without the risk of losing credibility."

The first part of smart dressing is to collect basic suits in classic styles. "This means that we must own a simple suit in neutral colors like dark, navy blue, dark brown, beige and gray."

The simplicity in detail can be explained for males by choosing single-breasted suits instead of double-breasted ones "because it will give him a slimmer, more powerful and elegant look".

She said that to make a powerful impression in our field, it is better to have a few top-class outfits than many cheap ones, the ones we usually buy on sale because of emotional reasons.

"This kind of outfit usually just ends up in your wardrobe. Ultimately it ends up being more expensive because a quality outfit can be worn as many times as we like," Irma said.

A few classic suits in basic colors are the foundation to move ahead in exploring fashion.

"Actually,it is very simple -- just follow the rules as I said previously, then add a little touch by concentrating on one detail, for example by adding a scarf, and you will have a new, fresh look without losing a smart impression as professional female executives."

She extolled the virtues of the scarf.

"Just pick those made from light material to give a more mature look, because if you tie a stiff scarf around your neck, instead of looking more professional, people will ask whether you have a cold."

Accessories can be the tool for some professionals to show their status.

"Pearls come highly recommended," she said. "On the other hand, ethnic accessories like those made from seashells or glittering colored earrings should be worn only for parties or casual activities. In our professional activities, we should make people concentrate on us, and not anything that we wear."