Business casual to business fashionable – How to showcase your personality through fashion during an interview

You have applied for a job. They have seen your resume. They have liked it enough that they give you a call. Then they like you on the call too! You have finally secured an in person, or over Zoom, interview. Now what do you wear?

You don’t want to pretend you are the boring button up and slacks sort of person, and you want to make sure this work environment won’t diminish your personality and how you express yourself. Adding some flair to your interview fit can help you test the waters of your potential workplace and let them learn a little bit about you.

Colors and patterns

You don’t have to stick to the traditional black, navy, khaki, white and gray colors that seem to make up so many work fits. Honestly, it’s a tad bit outdated and boring. Instead, throwing in a pop of color, or even a monochromatic look during the interview may make you stand out and help your interviewers see that hiring you would brighten their worlds.

If colors aren’t your thing, you can also do a pop of a pattern. Patterns are fun and draw the eye, but can still be neutral if you don’t want to mess with colors.

There are a lot of ways to play around with the idea of a pop of something different. This could be some fun pants, a cool blazer, a small neck scarf or a dress, all of which could be in a pastel or a plaid.

Accessories

If you are someone who doesn’t do pops of color, or may not be comfortable with wearing that style to an interview that is totally fine. Instead, if you want something more subtle try spicing up your accessories.

You can wear some fun socks, your favorite earrings, a headband or even a brooch if you want to be different. You could also take the neck scarf idea from earlier and use a more neutral color. Also, in the COVID-19 age, match your mask with your outfit! It is such a fun and easy way to do something cool with your look.

Clothing

When talking about the top and pants to wear to an interview, you always want to make sure you are on par, if not better dressed, than the people interviewing you. Usually, you have to guess what your potential coworkers and bosses are wearing, but when in doubt, dress up – not down.

Right now, for women, oversized is in. Whether this be flowy pants, a stylishly oversized suit or blazer, or a sweater that you pair with nice pants or a skirt, all of these looks are different, fashionable and very in right now.

For men it may be harder to stand out fashion-wise. A good turtleneck or sweater with some Harry Styles-esque trousers, instead of the classic button up could be fun, but traditionally women have more options to play around with. Depending on the formality of the interview a sweater vest could also be something to play around with.

There are a lot of ways to dress for a job interview, and these are only some suggestions, but if you really don’t want to blend into the office crowd I hope these tips help you navigate your first step into fun office wear.