SUCCEED WITH STYLE: Men’s Turn: 10 Tips for Updating Your Professional Look

Monday, January 24, 2011

Men – it’s 2011, and time to enhance your corporate style. Following are 10 easy ways to update your professional look:

1. Update your hair style. If you’re doing the comb-over or sporting the same style you’ve had for the past 10 years, it’s time for a CHANGE. Get a new style or simply go bald. It’s current, attractive and can be much easier to maintain.

2. Change your glasses. If you’ve been wearing the same style for years, it’s time for a change. Glasses should suit the shape of your face, complement your skin, hair and eye color and reflect your personality.

3. Whiten your teeth: dull, yellow, or stained teeth are not attractive. As I advise female professionals, bright and white are the right way to go, but don't go over board. Too white looks unnatural. A good rule of thumb is to never go whiter than the whites of your eyes.

4. Take a good look at your eyebrows and make sure they are well groomed. A uni-brow is not attractive and can be distracting. The same goes for ear and nose hair. Get rid of it!

5. Take care of your skin. This means your face and hands. Use a moisturizer with at least SPF 15 every day. Moisturizing will slow down the aging process and help reduce further sun damage. A few wrinkles are fine, but you don’t want to end up looking like a prune.

6. Take a look at what’s new for men’s fashion. There’s nothing wrong with adding a new styled shirt, shoe or popular color to your wardrobe.

7. Update your shoes AND sneakers. Footwear is the first thing most people check out first. It can speak volumes about you.

8. Switch from pleated to flat front trousers. They look less bulky and can make you appear taller.

9. Replace your jeans from college with an updated style in a dark wash or skinny leg (depending on your body shape).

10. Skip the boxy suit jacket and sport coat styles and go for a more streamlined look.

Contact me at [email protected] and I’d be happy to provide recommendations on stores, brands, products and hair.

Margaret Batting is the Corporate Style expert for GoLocalProv.com. Margaret is the owner and president of Elevé Image Consulting and the only certified image consultant and personal brand strategist in Rhode Island. She travels the country as the national corporate image consultant for CareerBuilder and serves as the style advisor liaison for Dress for Success Rhode Island, which was involved in Styleweek Providence and will hold a fashion show at the Biltmore on April 28. For more information, visit www.eleve-style.com