<p>everybody says that for the interview you should dress nicely etc. but "dressing up" to me seems like another way to lie to/create a facade for your interviewer. when I told someone I wore a mad hatter t-shirt, flowered high-waisted skirt, black tights and combat boots to my interview they were appalled. I argued that off-the-wall clothing choices are a part of my personality, citing Frida Kahlo as an inspiration and example. should I have worn boring dress pants and a button-up like the girl whose interview followed mine?</p>
<p>How is what you wore any different than dressing up in formal wear?</p>
<p>My lone interviewer asked me to wear whatever I would be comfortable in. I think most interviews are informal, but dressing up like that looks like you’re trying way too hard to be different.</p>
<p>because that’s how I dress normally. so no. not “trying way too hard to be different”.</p>
<p>Others would see it as distracting to the message you want to convey to your interviewer or as shallow since you want them to judge the book by the cover.
IMHO, you should dress as you wish. If a flamboyant wardrobe is you, then more power to you. Good Luck.</p>
<p>Of course it’s not a lie - unless you way overdo it for some reason. Wearing special clothes for special occasions or special activities is a normal part of human life. You should wear the clothes that are appropriate to the activity or occasion.</p>
<p>My advice is be comfortable but also show up looking neat and clean and wearing clothes that are a step up from your everyday wear. Don’t wear a suit or even a tie. They are not appropriate to the activity. But showing up wearing ragged or stained or sloppy clothes because they are more comfortable or somehow express the “real you” is a bad idea. The interviewer might regard this as a silly affectation or consider you to be careless or disrespectful. If disrespectful is what you are trying to get across, by all means, knock yourself out.</p>
<p>Not to be disrespectful to you, but I would find your “Look at me! I’m so quirky and iconoclastic I cannot even be bothered to conform to minimal social norms in a high-stakes situation!” attitude off-putting.</p>
<p>In law school, I had a friend who was 6-1, blonde, athletic, great looking. He often went to interviews straight from a pickup basketball game, so arrived in cut-off shorts, sneakers, and either a sweaty T or a shirt bunched up in his hand, which he would deign to put on in the interview room after toweling off. This WAS California, but most of us wore suits to job interviews.</p>
<p>Anyway, this particular strategy worked perfectly well for him. It showed off some of his best attributes – not only his health and great looks, but also his self-confidence and you-need-me-I-don’t-need-you attitude – and it sure as heck made him memorable and set him apart from the rest of us sheep. I couldn’t have pulled that off, but he rocked it. He probably turned some interviewers off, but the majority loved him.</p>
<p>The moral of the story is – go ahead and take risks if you feel you can make it work for you. But don’t whine if it doesn’t work. And don’t put on airs. You are selling yourself just like everyone else. You may have a different marketing plan, and it may even be better, but you’re not on some different moral plane.</p>
<p>You told them what you wanted to say about yourself. They may take that badly, or well. It’s a form of self expression. Odds are better NOT being so outlandish. But you gotta be what you gotta be. You may get a bad report if your cleavage is in your interviewer’s face, but…quirky…whatever. If you’re an art major, that’s different than a business major. “Dress for the job you want”…is oft quoted advice.</p>
<p>I would probably find the OP’s “I am so quirky” style of dress annoying.</p>
<p>My style of dress, is, for the most part, conservative. I love cardigans and oxfords and nice skirts. I do sometimes get a bit crazy with scarves and jewelry, so I don’t do that but what I wear is a normal outfit for me. I think it can be good to express some of your personality through clothing. If I had had an opportunity to show up from an interview straight from ballet or in my Quiz Team t-shirt, that would have been great. But I don’t want my style of dress to appear as any sort of “look at me!”</p>
<p>My opinion is that you could have found a middle ground. Is that the dressiest you ever wear? Are combat boots the only shoes you wear? It almost sounds to me like you made a point of wearing exactly what you would wear on a daily basis. An interview should be a step up from that - or at least at the better end of your daily wear. It should be more on the level of what you would wear out to eat with maybe your grandma present. 
In general my daughter did not dress “boring” to any of her interviews (except for maybe her first interview on-campus at Yale). First Harvard interview was black leggings, black boots, tunic boyfriend sweater & cami w/ accessories - hair straightened and down. Second/third were black pants, heels, simple cranberry T, black wrap sweater, simple jewelry, hair naturally curly and up. No button down shirt. No denial of who she is but she did not show up in blue jeans and uggs.</p>
<p>If I were to redo your outfit, I would have changed the T and the combat boots to a plain color t and simpler boots. That look could have been smashing and different. The one your described sounds too busy. I also think that beyond the clothing is important to how you present yourself. If you presented yourself as clean and finished but just a funky outfit, you may have done well.</p>
<p>It occurs to me that the real risk you took with your interviewer was communicating not that you were “trying too hard” or being a diva, but that you were ambivalent about the college involved. (Harvard?) Afraid it would change you, or that you would have to be a different person to get in. That kind of ambivalence isn’t the worst thing in the world, and what you SAID at the interview was probably more important. </p>
<p>You ought to think through what signals you are putting out. You are going to put them out, like it or not, so you ought to be thoughtful about it, and make your choices, and live with them. There’s no state-of-innocence “that’s just who I am”, really. For most people, on either side of the interview, “who I am” has always meant dressing up a couple of notches for an important interview, to show respect and to indicate that you regard it as meaningful. That’s not a lie, that’s the truth. When you depart from that, you are saying “I feel ambivalent about this exercise and this institution”.</p>
<p>I read a blog type thing on here, and I think it was Harvard - the interviewer said “I don’t want to remember your clothes”. I think that is a fair statement for a lot of interviewers. Obviously, if you look great, well put together, respectful of the situation, etc…it would still be viewed in a positive light. But who decides what is “looking great”. People will have very different opinions. I like to look at the odds in things. Nothing is black and white. My ASSUMPTION is that the “average” interviewer would not respond as well to a lip ring as to a polo shirt. You yourself might dress differently in church, school, a ball game, or the opera. And it’s not just logistics (coat when it’s cold), it’s the “occasion” that you try to “fit”. You probably don’t speak the same to an interviewer as you do to your friends, your priest, your teacher, a stranger. If you do, chances are they’ll think you are disrespecting their position when you say “Dude…that was SICK!”. Now, if your interviewer graduated last year, and they speak like that…you’ll feel comfortable speaking like that. But you’ll probably behaving differently than if you arrive at their home and greet him in his wheelchair as he sips oxygen. Is that lying? Is it lying to avoid your “normal” glass of wine with dinner if you’re at a job interview during dinner AND the interviewer orders water? Ya know? Do you think any of Presidents speak to their wives or kids or aides in the same stilted way that they give speeches to congress, the world, international dignitaries? Look at the bad press our first lady got when she wore shorts … last year or the year before? People didn’t think it was befitting her image…though I’m betting she wishes she was in comfy clothes all the time. Go to the far extremes like these to see why it’s OK for situations/people to be different…then find the middle ground that you think will work for you. Do what you like, keep the other person in mind.</p>
<p>As well, you MAY have to get a lot more used to “dressing for others/or the occasion” when you’re looking for employment. MANY offices do not allow outlandish clothing. I know one where men cannot wear earrings, etc. I know law offices where you HAVE to buy your work clothing from the catalog they give you. Up to you if you want the job, but…it’s part of the deal. Same with the interview…it’s up to you the impression you choose to make. You might end up with a recent graduate who works at home and dresses just like you. And they say - “WHOA what the heck?”, when they see a kid in a suit. I just think the ODDS are in the reverse.</p>
<p>your outfit sounds adorable! I also wore an edgier outfit than the other kids in the room, but it wasn’t as cool as yours; I wore a cobalt dress, a leather jacket, a sparkly scarf and black leather boots. And that’s how I usually dress, but the other applicants in the HCNY waiting room all wore slacks and sweater vests.</p>
<p>No one likes a wanna-be rebel who dresses flamboyantly because they think they’re unique. Dress nicely.</p>
<p>No, dressing up for an interview is not a lie; it shows respect for the interviewer & for the school represented by the interviewer.</p>
<p>JHS,</p>
<p>I think your friend’s situation is significantly different. Interviews love to see that the person is healthy, strong, and dedicated to a great activity, but would not want to see your wealth and fashion.</p>
<p>elchagas,</p>
<p>You are being quite hypocritical. Everyday, you wear cloth that cost many times more than what I wear just to “show your personality.” I had to borrow my father’s clothing to go to my interviews because I only have the cheapest clothing available. </p>
<p>Cloth is not part of your personality, they are simply signs off wealth. Showing how good you are and much you care about the things you do show way more character than cloth.</p>
<p>I think where you have the interview may determine how you dress; For example, my son had his interview at the interviewer’s law firm-good idea to dress up a bit there; for interviews at the local Dunkin Donuts-a tie and sport jacket might look ridiculous.</p>
<p>@grouptheory
you assume. with the exception of the combat boots which I have had for years and were a gift, the entire outfit cost under fifteen dollars. </p>
<p>@everyone
thanks for the input. I thought this was kind of a controversial topic because interviewees are told to be themselves but also to dress up some, so I was interested to hear opinions of a suitable balance. to clear things up, my interviewer graduated in 2009, I interviewed at the grad library of university of michigan, and my outfit made it past my mother who deemed it not casual and not distracting.</p>
<p>I always adhered to the necessities of the venues of my interviews, not the idea of an interview itself. You should not wear the same clothing to a Starbucks as you would to an attorney’s office. </p>
<p>You should probably err on the side of conservative. An interviewer should be able to figure out “who you are” from your conversation, but you can definitely annoy some interviewers with attire too casual. And don’t assume young interviewers are naturally more open to casual dress; that generalization doesn’t always hold true.</p>