it’s refreshing to see someone rocking dramatic eyeliner and knee-high black leather boots, but that’s not what I’m saying you should wear to the courtroom (I say courtroom because I’m a lawyer). there’s a time and place for everything, and if your workplace allows you to wear whatever you want, great. however, we’re not all lucky to have a workplace like that and more often than not, we’re required to comply with a dress code that’s usually more restrictive, if not downright boring.
what I’ll deal with here is the corporate dress code. corporate usually tells us to dress in business professional or smart casual. now, if you’re not Bobby Axelrod (Billions), a metalhead who works at his own hedge fund,
then I suppose you’re not allowed to wear a vintage Megadeth t-shirt to a meeting with management and lawyers. don’t worry, that’s exactly why I’m here. you can go goth/metal/punk/alt but in a more subtle, corporate-friendly way. how? here are a few tips:
- color palette. for me, it’s easy to pull off my palette (black, gray, white) in a conservative workplace, e.g. law firm, bank. if your palette’s more of neon, then I guess you should wear those as accessories, using neutrals as a base. If the office culture is more relaxed, then there’s the neon top-neutral bottom and neutral top-neon bottom combinations.
- business attire. business attire is usually shirts, blouses, blazers, trousers, skirts, dress shoes, loafers, and the like. for me, I usually wear blouses and pencil skirts. all my pencil skirts, trousers, dress shoes, and bags are black. most of my blazers are black. the only piece of clothing that actually changes color is my top. that way, I’m still comfortable with the fact that majority of what I’m wearing is black, plus, most of my stuff at the office are also black, white, or gray. even without leather or denim, I still feel at home.
- accessories. this is where we can go crazy. spike, skull, or cross earrings, why not? bat pendant, pentagram bracelet, go ahead. as for me, I usually wear silver jewelry. here are the only pieces of jewelry I wear everywhere.
another tip, nail polish. most workplaces don’t give a damn about the nail polish you wear. my holy grail is black nail polish, obviously. when I wear black nail polish, I keep my nails short. that’s just me though, I’ve seen lawyers wear nail art at our workplace.
always keep in mind, if the work culture allows it, then go ahead. bold or boring, whichever’s your cup of tea, go with it. be yourself. life’s short, show the world who you are.
sorta metal 