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WTF Do I Wear to a Fashion Job Interview?
By admins | March 25, 2009
That is pretty much the sentiment we have received by email over the last few weeks. It seems many newbies are getting ready for their fashion industry debut, while at the same time, fashion veterans are back on the job hunt due to the recession. Many online websites will give fashion advice for job interviews that is completely outdated and not appropriate for the fashion industry. For example, About.com gives the above picture and description of what a typical women’s interview outfit should be. Now while the fashion industry is pretty flexible on what to wear, the above outfit is definitely not recommended, especially for those of you in the creative departments. So once your resume is perfected and your portfolio is of mind blowing quality, the next hurdle is figuring out what to wear to your interview. Now in any industry deciding on an appropriate outfit can be stressful but in the fashion industry it can be truly ulcer inducing. We’ll let you in on a little secret about your wardrobe; it’s not that serious. Contrary to popular belief, the fashion industry is not full of gorgeous size zero girls parading around in couture outfits. The reality is, it’s a business like any other and you will mostly be judged on your abilities i.e. your portfolio/resume, your experience, and your salary requirements.
If you are interviewing for an accounting, sales, production, sourcing, or any other non-design/art related department then a simple conservative look is perfectly acceptable. Even a more casual ensemble is appropriate as long as you are well groomed and put together. For those interviewing in the more creative departments dressing fashionable is key. The first step is to tailor your look to the brand you are interviewing for, if it’s a young edgy brand, dress young edgy, if it’s classic and tailored follow suit, and it’s not unheard of to wear jeans when interviewing at a denim company. If you are new to the industry or interviewing for a lower level position, do not worry if you don’t have high-end designer duds for your interview. Nobody expects a 23 year old to be wearing Prada! One of the emails we received asked us, somewhat tongue and cheek, if when interviewing for an assistant designer position she should steal a Balenciaga bag and a pair of Louboutins in order to be taken seriously. To this, one of our contributors replied, “Whenever I see recent grads dressed like that I can’t help but think, spoiled little rich girl. Is she going to give me diva attitude when I’m having her cut swatches and make copies at 9pm at night?” So, long story short, this is real life not a Hollywood movie. Dress fashionably, which often means, well styled, not necessarily designer labeled.
For those apparel and graphic designers most fashion forward outfits are perfectly acceptable for an interview. The only traditional “interview rule” that we agree applies to the fashion industry is: do not show too much skin, so basically, no cleavage, no micro-minis, no short-shorts. A good rule of thumb is, if there is any way your outfit would cause your father or grandmother to call you a hussy, you need to change. We decided to post some pictures (from streetpeeper.com) of appropriate interview outfits for the more creative departments. Just remember the biggest factor in choosing what to wear is what company or designer you are interviewing at and what position you are applying for. We have picked a couple random people and labeled them according to what position they could be applying for.
Design Director Designer
VP Design/Merchandising Art Director
Graphic Designer Technical Designer
Designer Head of Production
Artist Associate Designer
Technical Designer Senior Designer
Assistant Designer Sales
Here is more related scoop;
Topics: designers, fashion industry, jobs | 33 Comments » 
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March 25th, 2009 at 11:52 pm
I was just on your site and wanted to say I like what you are doing. Keep up the effort and keep the posts coming.
March 26th, 2009 at 11:16 am
Excellent post! In many industries, it’s important more to consider the job & its duties, not to mention the environment of the position, when determining what to wear. In the IT world, it’s really unusual to shop up to an interview in a suit as well…
March 26th, 2009 at 11:20 am
[...] 39thandbroadway.com – Thought it was hard picking a job interview outfit, well, what do you wear if you’re interviewing for a fashion job? [...]
March 26th, 2009 at 2:29 pm
[...] 39thandbroadway.com – Thought it was hard picking a job interview outfit, well, what do you wear if you’re interviewing for a fashion job? [...]
March 26th, 2009 at 3:03 pm
loving this!!! just great
March 26th, 2009 at 7:37 pm
[...] à la Mode : March 26th ♥39thandbroadway.com – Thought it was hard picking a job interview outfit, well, what do you wear if you’re [...]
March 26th, 2009 at 8:25 pm
Great post! I like what you said about tailoring your outfit to the job description and brand, and the illustrative examples you provided show how creative you can get with the outfits.
March 27th, 2009 at 6:07 am
A very helpful and informative post! I agree there is a lot of misconception as to what one should wear to an interview. The advice you gave also applies to the advertising world (which I’m in) and probably any industry that involves creativity.
March 27th, 2009 at 9:38 am
[...] 39thandbroadway.com – Thought it was hard picking a job interview outfit, well, what do you wear if you’re [...]
March 27th, 2009 at 10:50 am
[...] 39thandbroadway.com – Thought it was hard picking a job interview outfit, well, what do you wear if you’re interviewing for a fashion job? [...]
March 27th, 2009 at 4:10 pm
Great post! Love the street style pics
March 28th, 2009 at 1:09 am
OMG thank you! You have no idea how many girls wear the wrong outfits to fashion interviews and by wrong I mean wearing bland suits or casual office clothes that won’t make you stand out! Credentials are important but heck I got an internship with no qualifications just because I wore a crazy jacket, hey if Betsey Johnson liked it, it means it probably wasn’t as inappropriate as I thought.
Much love,
Glendy
March 28th, 2009 at 5:00 am
[...] 39thandbroadway.com – Thought it was hard picking a job interview outfit, well, what do you wear if you’re interviewing for a fashion job? [...]
March 29th, 2009 at 4:08 pm
[...] 39thandbroadway.com – Thought it was hard picking a job interview outfit, well, what do you wear if you’re interviewing for a fashion job? [...]
March 29th, 2009 at 9:29 pm
Thanks everybody! And yes it does hold true to many creative fields, the old dress code rules are out! And Glendy good point, for newbies with little experience or right out of school what you wear can help make you stand out from the crowd!
March 30th, 2009 at 3:33 pm
Fabulous post and pics!
xoxox,
CC
March 31st, 2009 at 11:04 am
[...] 39thandbroadway.com – Thought it was hard picking a job interview outfit, well, what do you wear if you’re interviewing for a fashion job? [...]
March 31st, 2009 at 3:23 pm
The scarf of the assistant designer is very unique!
April 2nd, 2009 at 10:32 am
oh my god, that outfit from about.com! are they serious?
April 3rd, 2009 at 12:46 pm
Great post! And nice photos! For me the shoes are the most important thing of a persons look at the first impression. When I had my latest job-interview (which were successful) I wore my newly buyed shoes from http://www.romanofirenze.com, I really recommend their shoes!
April 6th, 2009 at 10:37 pm
[...] 39thandbroadway.com – Thought it was hard picking a job interview outfit, well, what do you wear if you’re interviewing for a fashion job? [...]
April 7th, 2009 at 6:39 am
[...] you should wear given the industry you are interviewing in. We stumbled upon this post on 39th and Broadway ’s website that gives their thoughts on what to wear if you are interviewing for a position [...]
May 4th, 2009 at 2:31 pm
[...] 39thandbroadway.com – Thought it was hard picking a job interview outfit, well, what do you wear if you’re interviewing for a fashion job? [...]
May 6th, 2009 at 9:06 am
I LOVE this article…..I’m so glad you finally put to paper what I’ve always subcribed to for years. I especially like the part about dressing according to the brand! Excellent advice. I also think for us “creative types” dressing in those old boring navy blue suits makes us more nervous on the interview because it doesnt reflect our personality! Again…….Kudos to you!
May 25th, 2009 at 10:48 pm
im going to a job interview tomorrow for a fashion label, and was wondering if its a good idea to wear their label to the interview?
heels, black jeans, jacket and their top underneath?
May 29th, 2009 at 5:42 pm
[...] 39thandbroadway.com – Thought it was hard picking a job interview outfit, well, what do you wear if you’re interviewing for a fashion job? [...]
June 17th, 2009 at 9:29 am
I’ll be having an interview for a RTW men’s wear label and im wondering if should i wear clothes from the label or is it ok if ill just wear clothes from my wardrobe?
July 25th, 2009 at 3:51 pm
thank you, thank you,thank you.This addresses the info “we,us,garmentos “need. working with a few agencys, they stress PROFESSIONAL, WEAR A SUIT,BLAH,BLAH,BLAH (THIS INDUSTRY IS CREATIVE)AND ALWAYS WORKED IN A “CREATIVE CASUAL ENVIROMENT)but having to look for a job (being downsized) you take the advise of ( wear a suit on interview-after you get the job- than you can be creative in your dress) aghhh… please note, EXPERIENCE EXCELLENT,MY LOOK IN A SUIT.. TO CONSERVATIVE, NOT HIP ENOUGH, WORKING WITH YOUNGER PEOPLE MAY BE A ISSUE.( THIS WAS MY OWN VIBE) ALL I CAN SUGGEST IS BE CLEAN,BE YOURSELF AND LET THE FUTURE BOSS MAY THE CHOICE.
October 22nd, 2009 at 8:37 pm
I saw one teacher to say at FIT that we must wear suit for Interview and i was chocked that she said it 15 days ago when talking with more than 200 studentes that will get interview for interninship soon. I just dont fit int a suit. I want wear nice, clean, stylish clothes on my interview, no labels, no suit. Please, it is just silly that companies make this requiriment of suit.
October 23rd, 2009 at 5:10 pm
Wow, that is really surprising news Silvia.
While there are companies were a suit would be appropriate, they are few and far between. Actually for many apparel companies an intern showing up in a suit would be laughable. It really comes down to dressing how you look best, showing your personal style, and dressing appropriate for the brand you are interviewing at.
November 4th, 2009 at 11:56 pm
One must dress for the occasion. Then going for the job interview with sales agency of fashion designers- once has to be able to show his/her creative side! Believe me, I don’t a tones of interviews for our company and I always prefer candidates what have fun with the clothes. Don’t be thinking: “ this looks stupid”! Believe me it doesn’t! As I said before – I just love seeing creative side of the caudate – your clothing is be best part of your resume!
December 23rd, 2009 at 10:25 pm
This site is great the advice really nailed it. I love the fact that you pointed out that you don’t have to have high end lables to be taken seriously I belive that how you put together an outfit show real style not how much you spend. Thanks keep up the good work.
January 8th, 2010 at 10:37 pm
Thank you for the giant red X on the professional, but out dated career woman! It is exactly how I feel inside.
I have an interview next week and was concerned about what to wear since I’ve been out of the process of interviewing in the fashion industry.
Wish me luck!