What Color Dress Shirts for Work?
What you wear to work speaks volumes about who you are. Dressing smart allows others to see you as prepared, eager, interested and well put-together -- even on the days you don't feel your best on the inside. It's important to wear work clothing that appeals to the general population, fits appropriately and is not offensive. Choosing the right style and color of shirt gives men and women an overall advantage when trying to achieve workplace success.
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Assess Your Industry
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Before hitting the pavement in search of the best work shirts, it's important to think about the kind of work you do and where you live. If you work behind the scenes in the entertainment industry or in a creative field, the color code is much less stringent than if you are an attorney who spends hours a day in court or an accountant auditing clients. As a general rule, conservative colors work best in traditional fields and trendy, brighter colors are acceptable -- and often expected -- in creative industries.
A Mention to Men
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The smart businessman in a traditional industry will somewhat limit his shirt colors to white, blue and gray. There are a variety of hues and patterns in all these colors, which allows for individuality. A striped shirt is a nice option and equally acceptable in the business world -- just remember that the slimmer the stripe, the more dressy the shirt. Big, vertical stripes in any color should be kept for weekend wear, while a crisp white or blue Oxford with a spread collar gives the impression that you are a go-getter at the office.
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Ties That Bind
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If your Oxford shirt requires a tie, choose one that enhances your outfit and looks good with your complexion. Men with fair skin and light hair should stick with pastel and monochromatic color combinations, while dark-haired or darker-skinned males can pull off more high- and low-contrast colors when matching a tie and shirt. Patterned ties give more life to solid-color shirts. However, make sure the colors on the tie don't clash -- such as yellow and red -- and that the patterns on the tie don't conflict with shirt patterns.
The Women's Wardrobe
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Women have a bit more leeway in choosing appropriate work shirts. All colors are acceptable -- it's more a matter of choosing colors that complement the rest of the outfit and convey a certain feeling. It's important to know your audience, which means that an investment banker conveying trust and intelligence should stay with neutral shirt colors like beige, white and grey. An advertising executive wanting to make a splash with her ideas -- and shirt choices -- can wear eye-popping, brilliant colors such as tangerine, yellow and pink.
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References
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