With the lax dress styles of today, I often wonder what we’re teaching our daughters about dress?  Dress in the workplace?  Dress at church?  Dress simply to make a positive appearance?

In addition, what are we teaching them about themselves?  To make a statement by dressing sloppily with holes in the knees and butt, midrift showing, and deep cleavage?

What are we teaching them about modesty, professionalism,  and , yes, conforming to the dress code where they work?

It appears to me that women object more than men to having dress codes and complain, “That isn’t me.  They’re squashing my personality.”

I work parttime at a deli.  I must wear a shirt of a color that isn’t my best and has the store insignia.  I also must wear a cap or hair net.  These aren’t something I feel are “me.”  We also cannot wear jeans.  In order to have the job and the income, I “conform” to the store dress code and state health regulations (cap or hair net).

I’m probably not the only one who feels that if a person doesn’t care about their appearance, they, in all likelihood, don’t care enough about their work to do a good job.  This may not be the case, but it is the thought that occurs to many people.

The old adage is true, “You only have a few seconds to make a first impression.”  Let’s teach our daughters, and sons, to make a good first impression…in appearance and actions.

What do you think?

Relevant Post:  Because I’m a Woman Don’t Tell Me How to Dress!

(Amy Butler patterns image at Amazon)

I admit, my first thought at hearing there’s a Pet Fashion Week was one of… well, amusement. Really, an entire fashion event just for pets?

It’s true, and it’s in its third year! Pet Fashion Week will be held in New York City at the Metropolitan Pavilion (Japan just wrapped up their second one) on August 22 and 23. They’re currently accepting applications for display inclusion, which can be downloaded online.

Pet Fashion Week was created “to provide a gallery setting for the refined pet lifestyle professional to both purchase and distribute the very best products in the industry.”

The product lines that will be displayed include all the basics:

~ Apparel
~ Collars and Leashes
~ Toys
~ Foods and Treats
~ Bedding
~ Jewelry and Accessories
~ Fragrances
~ Grooming and Health Products
~ Specialty Items

The two-day schedule includes symposiums, awards, exhibitions and several challenges.

More info about PFW can be found at the website, or by calling 401-331-5073.

[image: flickr]

Food and fabric are two of my favorites things, but Japanese clothing designer Ritsuko Shirahama went a step further and combined the two during her recent Tokyo fashion week show.

Ritsuko Shirahama created clothing that was inspired by the colors, texture and shape of vegetables and fruit.   Taking it one step further, she then created entire outfits entirely made of fruits and vegetables!

It’s definitely worth taking a look at her collection - what a great way to look at fashion…

You can see some great photos of her collection online here and here.

image: Stock.xchg

I was in San Francisco last week attending a corporate training. Diane, our instructor happens to be a very talkative person who loves to share some stories other than the text book theories.

Besides teaching, she is also responsible for our department’s hiring effort. So here are a few stories she shared with us:

Stupid Interviewee #1
The guy had a great resume, but when he started talking, Diane noticed that the guy had no clue of what we are doing for a living. He couldn’t even spell our product’s names. Finally, after a few rounds of Q&A, the truth was out. He was a bartender who was lucky enough to get a hold of a copy of our typical resume. “But I can make anything..” the bartender argued. Well, sure enough, he ain’t gonna know how to shake up the WebSphere Integration Server. Sorry Dude.

Stupid Interviewee #2
A few minutes into the friendly pre-interview small talk, the interviewee flat out said to the interviewer, “I am only interested in Director level of jobs. If you can’t offer me the higher position, our conversation is over. “ Wow, chill out buddy, you are the one who is coming here for a job. Well, the part we couldn’t understand was that the job description clearly stated the job title. If this director-wanna-be can’t even read plain English, at least have a director level of manner and finish talking to the person, especially the one who is potential going to hand out the job

Stupid Interviewee #3
Diane, my instructor is a very experienced architect on the team. She may have a sweet 16 year old voice, but she’s been in the field for longer than I have. When she was interviewing a guy who seemed to be a real good fit, the guy started to educate her about the product we are offering. Diane kept telling him, ‘I know this product. I have been working on it for a long time. Let’s get back to the interview questions..” The guy kept on ignoring her and went on and on to teach Diane how to do her job. Wow, buddy, wrong attribute to assume that women don’t know anything. You are soooo not hired!!