Tuesday, May 15, 2012

.. of Style Inspiration


Jenna Lyons of J.Crew fame in yet another example of why she's Queen Bee, wearing denim at the Met Gala, one of the most glamourous events of the year and an event at which Anna Wintour herself demanded that even the ushers wear black tie.

I remember going on a business trip to Manhattan once, staying in a swank hotel, business meetings with Store Managers, Districts, Regionals, CEO's, CFO's, the whole nine yards. And one day I came down wearing a white button front suit shirt, black pants, the highest pointy-toe "Imeanbusiness" heels, and *gasp* a dark rinse tight denim jacket.

Before I even entered the room a female colleague approached me and said with absolute horror on her face, "You can't wear denim! They said no denim! No jeans! What are you doing?!"

In my head I thought "Listen bitch I got this. My denim jacket cost more than your whole outfit. My shoes make me almost as tall as all the men. And I have a piece of bacon in my pocket so they'll like me anyway and not know why."

But, really what I wanted to say was if you can't push the boundaries in something as simple as your wardrobe how do you ever expect to be able to push them in your career? If you're so incapable of making an impression that leaves your boss oblivious to what you're wearing how do you expect to persuade anyone you deserve a raise much less explain to them why you deserve a promotion with any conviction?

This happens with men too. There's a new brewhaha about Mark Zuckerberg wearing a hoodie to all of his IPO investor meetings. Now don't get me wrong, I believe in rules. You really don't need to pull out your white dress to go to someone else's wedding. Wearing bright red to a funeral may be slightly out of line. These kinds of things. So while I may not agree with the hoodie decision, you still have to respect that the man is confident enough in his business that on some level, or maybe every level, he believes his hoodie not only won't be noticed, but it won't mattered even if it is. He's probably right.

Ladies, sometimes we're our own worst enemies. Push the boundaries, pretend the ceiling isn't even there, and don't apologize for your decisions. In other words, be a Lyon.