dress for success

Syllable breakdown

Dictionary meaning

the principle and practice of choosing clothing that signals professional competence, confidence, and ambition in workplace and social contexts associated with career advancement, with the goal of making favourable impressions on employers, clients, colleagues, and gatekeepers who hold power over one's professional opportunities; the phrase was popularised by John T. Molloy's 1975 book of the same name, which offered prescriptive advice on professional dress codes as a career strategy; it captures the reality that clothing functions as a credentialing mechanism in professional environments and that visible conformity to the sartorial norms of the level one aspires to reach can create halo effects that improve one's professional prospects; the concept has been criticised for reinforcing conformity, racial and gender bias, and the privileging of those who can afford expensive professional wardrobes