我有一條既適用于嚴肅工作場合、也可以穿著享受家庭早午餐時光的Ted Baker粉色印花緊身裙。每當我穿上這條裙子,我就感到自己變得強大起來。若再搭配上4英寸跟的Manolo Blahnik高跟鞋,我便有了駕馭全局的氣場。 我通常寫的文章都是關于應對變化、領導力、內向人格或其他我感興趣的商業話題,但我突然意識到很多跟我同齡的職場女性正因在工作中缺乏自信心和存在感而不堪其擾。因此,我寫下了這篇文章,希望能幫助到我的朋友們。每個人都希望自己變得強大,其實在你每天早上上班前,當你走向衣柜時,就有很多種方式能幫你實現這一想法。 一言以蔽之,當我們看上去很棒,我們自然也會感覺良好。 打造一個合適的發型、穿一件合身的服裝、挑一雙令你身姿挺拔的鞋子、或搭配上一件要花掉你整月薪水的精美配飾,這些都令我們身心愉悅。相信我,你絕對不會后悔,這是已被多次驗證的經驗之談。我們難以買到自信,但你卻可以穿出自信。不得不說,擁有自信就是會讓人看上去更贊呀。 你質疑職場的衣著打扮是否真的如此重要?當然重要!因為你的外在決定了別人對你認知的第一印象。你的衣著打扮表達了你對自身的定位,同時也在潛意識傳遞出需要別人以何種方式對待你。試想你希望自己給周圍的人留下怎樣的印象,再用你所具備的一切物質條件去將你的想法變為現實。 舉例來說,人們總覺得我很高冷嚴肅。當我穿著黑色套裝,就相當于貼上了“生人勿進”的警示牌。他們甚至會猜想我是不是要去解雇一位員工或者即將出席一場葬禮。所以,我會選擇那條淡粉色帶著花紋的Ted Baker緊身裙,讓我保持強大氣場的同時,也在無聲地向想靠近我的人傳達著信息——“別害怕,我不會咬人的。”我還有一條鮮紅色喇叭褲,用來搭配一件看上去中式卻又有些西班牙風情的法式鉤邊上衣。這套著裝就像在告訴大家,“來,讓我們各顯身手,愉快地在辦公室創造奇跡吧。” 你要找到屬于你自己的Ted Baker緊身裙或紅色喇叭褲。找出那些你在試衣間里愛到不行卻從未在辦公室穿過的衣服。光是著裝上的改變就能大大的為你增加吸引力和關注度。 我們再來聊聊鞋子。請以你自身的感受為準,如果平跟鞋讓你感到強大,那就放心大膽的選擇它。作為一個身高僅有一米六三的嬌小女性,高跟鞋幫我縮小了與身高一米八以上的瑞典男同事的高度差距。而這種“高度”不只限于生理上,也是精神上的。借助高跟鞋的幫助,我在生理與心理上得以與他們平等對話。我知道這聽上去很瘋狂,但卻是真的。 我們需要有氣場的職場著裝,但也有些場合需要我們選擇舒適的衣著。對我而言,如果在飛機上或者在周末,怎么穿著舒適才最重要。我當然樂意成為一個穿著剪裁合身的套裝和高跟鞋、在機場健步如飛的職場女超人(天知道這些她們是如何做到的),但我實在不能理解這樣的行為。我不在乎身邊那些人如何看我,我只需要像我的水壺一般自如伸縮。而穿著職業裝可做不到這樣。在周末,我就像那些住在郊區的媽媽們一樣,換上一身Lululemon。當你可以穿著舒適的長褲運動的時候,做不做瑜伽又有什么關系呢? 我知道我在文中提到了一些奢侈品的名字,但這不是重點。我也有很多J.Crew的衣服,穿上后跟Ted Bakers一樣奏效,甚至他家的褲子更適合我。這不是說讓你去立刻開始瘋狂購物,我們的目標是讓你從衣櫥里找到能釋放你內在力量的著裝搭配,讓你的衣著為你發聲。 這種讓你感到自己看上去像個百萬富翁的力量,真的難以言喻。我希望我們都能變成自己的“神奇女俠”蓋爾·加朵。衣著是我們人設的一部分。現在就去衣柜里找到那套能完美傳達你的個人特質的戰袍吧,穿上它,迎戰生活吧! 作者為英孚教育成人英語培訓中心首席運營官。 |
I have a pink floral Ted Baker bodycon dress. It’s appropriate for the office as well as brunch with the family. When I wear it, I feel strong. When I wear it with my 4-inch graphite patent Manolo stilettos, I own the room. I usually write about change, leadership, being an introvert or other “business-y” topics that I am passionate about, but I realize that I have a lot of female contemporaries who struggle at work with confidence and presence. So, I am writing this for you, my friends. Everyone wants to feel powerful, and there are a lot of ways to give yourself that feeling every morning when you go to your closet before work. Hear me out. (Warning: gross generalization ahead…) When we look good, we feel good. We can feel good by the way our hair looks, our clothes fit, our shoes elevate us, or by the bangin’ accessory we just bought with our entire last paycheck. (Totally worth it. Now it’s a valuable heirloom. Justified.) It’s hard to buy confidence, but you can wear it. And damn, confidence looks good on us all. Does it really matter what you wear to work, you ask? Yes, because how you put yourself together emits a signal to others. It shows what you feel about yourself and sends a subliminal message how to treat you. Think about how you want to be perceived—then use all the tools at your disposal to materialize your desired reality. For example, people often think I am intimidating, cold, or very serious. When I wear an all black fitted suit, people don’t come near me. They assume I am going to fire someone or on my way to a funeral. So, my light pink floral, sexy, strong Ted Baker is my weapon to retain my strength while saying subtly, “It’s okay, I won’t bite. You can approach.” I have a pair of fire engine red flare pants that I wear with a French crocheted top which Chinese people think is Chinese and Spanish people assume is Spanish. That outfit says, “Let’s do this and have some fun and attitude while we make magic happen in the office.” Find your own Ted Baker or red flared pants. Find something that is genuine to you that you looooved in the dressing room, but never wear. Something different alone can have a big impact and get you noticed. Let’s talk about shoes. To each their own, so if flats make you feel strong, then rock those comfy shoes, lady. Personally, I find that runway height stilettos score me a few more confidence points. At 5’4” (163cm) and pretty small in general, I find that wearing heels closes a bit of the gap to the over six-foot Swedish men I work with. That gap is not only physical, but somehow truly mental. My heels are just what I need to bring me to their level. It sounds nuts, but it’s true. Now, there is a time and a place for the power outfit and there is a time and a place for the comfortable outfit. For me, weekends and flights are meant for comfort. I would love to be the glamorous woman who waltzes through the airport in my heels and a fitted outfit (Who are you amazing women and how do you do it?), but I can’t wrap my head around it. I don’t care about the person in 12C or what they think of me (random opportunities of the universe be damned). I just need to be able to expand and shrink like my water bottle. You can’t do that in work clothes. And weekends… on the weekends, I am the Shanghai-dwelling equivalent of the suburban mom: Lululemon-me-up, baby. Who needs yoga when you can just sport the comfy pants? Am I right? I know I dropped a couple of names of expensive brands, but that’s not where the magic lies, just to be clear. I have some J. Crew duds that work as well as my Ted Bakers, and the pants there fit me much better. But this isn’t about going on a shopping spree. This is about finding the combination in your closet that unleashes the inner power broker in you—the outfit that speaks louder than you do. I can’t exaggerate enough the power of feeling like you look like a million bucks. I want us all to find our Wonderwomanesque Gal Gadot. The outfit is part of the persona. Go ahead and look in your closet for the dress that says whatever you want people to hear. And rock it. |