The three stories that follow are very different, but they have something deeply in common: the weight that the clothes they were wearing when the events took place on their protagonists. "In 2015 I had a
job interview
in a large company that was looking for a person with experience in my sector. I did it, and everything went well. But finally they did not select me. And they had the detail of telling me why: I
was dressed totally in black .
in the next interview I had, of course, I did not repeat the mistake: I put on
a red coat ,
"says AC, 50, Madrid and an
expert on digital media.
The Asturian María R., with a
complicated health situation
where a serious back problem is mixed with another kidney problem, recounts one of the innumerable occasions in which the Emergency Department has not believed that her problem was 'so' serious due to the careful appearance that usually takes: "He came to me a resonance in the hospital already carried.
two back operations and many months of excruciating pain.
I remember I was in
jeans, leather jacket and ankle boots c
with little heel, because the neurosurgeon had recommended it to me (neither flat nor with heel, 4 cm).
On the way back to Llanes I was lying back in the car all the way because of the pain and when I got there I went to the health center to get something pricked.
The nurse first looked me up and down and then said: 'Well, I don't know whether to wear something because
it doesn't seem to hurt a lot' ...
"It has also happened to me having to go twice the same day to the emergency room because on the first visit they had seen me look good. And at night back to the hospital", explains María, and concludes: "What I ask myself is: What is expected of a sick person? Dirty hair? Dark circles? Gray / yellow color? Pajamas? Tracksuit? ".
IN THIS JUDGMENT I COMMAND
The story of
Anna Sorokin,
the Russian-German who posed as a wealthy heiress and swindled more than
$ 200,000
from members of New York high society (and who by the way will give life in the
Netflix series
the immense
Julia Garner) would
not have given so much to talk about if it is not because his judgment jumped from the newspapers - to be more specific, from the
'New York Times',
which was the medium that first and most intensely followed him - to
fashion magazines and websites ,
that every day they echoed ...
what clothes he had put on to go to court.
Like many criminals, it is clear that Sorokin was 'caught' because he thought, wrongly, that he could fool everyone all the time but, of course, he is not lacking in psychology. Therefore, in the face of the trial, he hired
Anastasia Walker, a
stylist among other
Courtney Love
celebrities
,
to model his appearance before the judge. With her black pasta glasses (from
Celine
), her flowing hair and her dark clothes or in neutral colors, sometimes formal, but almost always with
'baby-doll' type dresses
and brands like
Yves Saint Laurent, Victoria Beckham, Chloe, Miu Miu, Michael Kors ...
took charge of his image. In fact, it became a style icon, with thousands of followers. The question is:
Did that influence your verdict?
His trial resulted in a sentence of 4 to 12 years in prison.
Before the end of the quarter she was released for good behavior.
AN INVESTMENT IN THE FUTURE
On the other hand, perhaps what Sorokin was looking for was not a lesser sentence from the judge but to obtain
revenue from the other judges: the people, the public.
In a report published by the 'Guardian',
Susanna Cordner,
an expert from the
London College of Fashion
stated that "we know that Sorokin uses clothes as a code, as a power game to make people feel certain things about her."
In the 'New York Times',
Vanessa Friedman
analyzed the 'character' created by Sorokin and concluded that what she was doing was invoking a
concrete archetype of femininity,
"part of a shared social mythology around
innocence
,
youth
,
purity
,
good manners
,
respect for the court
and the
seriousness of the situation
. "
With what objective?
Counteracting any previous ideas that we had about her through visual imagery, that we asked ourselves:
"How could someone with this aspect have done that?".
COURT STYLING
Nobody misses that your clothes talk about you.
But for that very reason he can betray you.
And in key life situations like the ones we just saw, it is especially relevant.
We have assumed that you have to go formally dressed in court, but there are those who go much further.
In the United States, there is a whole branch of styling specialized in trials that does not stay in what is allowed or prohibited - in
Massachusetts
, for example, if you go with
ripped jeans you can be expelled from the room
- and it stops in details that can seem second-rate, but at the moment of truth can make the difference between a more and less benevolent sentence.
The stylist
Tia Stanko,
for example, recommends leaning towards the
unisex style
if we have to sit on a bench "to
avoid looking too feminine or masculine.
If you are a woman, showing too much skin or wearing too feminine clothes and heels can be perceived as a
attempted manipulation,
"he explains. And another stylist,
Ginger Burr
, goes further and proposes: "You have to be sure that
what you wear identifies you.
Yes, it may be more conservative or more 'dressed' than what you usually wear, but it still has to be Those things are transmitted in aspects as diverse as
the cut of the clothes, the fall of the fabric, the accessories you choose.
Whatever the reason you are in front of the judge,
feeling yourself will increase your self-confidence
and translate into true honesty. "
JOB INTERVIEWS WITH GOOD FEELING
This is corroborated by
Nuria Avilla,
director of Human Resources at the
IN2
company
, after many years of experience in the world of personnel selection
.
"Clothing influences the results of a job interview to the extent that it
contributes to personal image
(along with hygiene, gestures, education ...). It is part of that non-verbal communication that gives you information about
how the person presents himself to the world,
how he relates ... ".
The important thing, Avilla explains, is that there is
coherence
between the
discourse
and the
image that is projected.
"The existence of this coherence is what influences the final decision. For example, if you tell me that you are a
perfectionist
and then I see that
you are missing several buttons on your shirt,
you will make me doubt ... If you define yourself as a person
daring and transgressive
but your
clothing is very traditional, it will
also be difficult for me to visualize you as you describe yourself ... ".
Are there aspects of clothing in job interviews that are unforgivable? "For me", explains the expert, "all those related to
personal hygiene
." Regarding gender bias, Avilla says she has not perceived it throughout her career: "
Common sense
and
consistency
are simply required
between clothing and the
position and sector
for which a person is applying."
Sometimes that effort to be consistent can have unexpected results. "At IN2 I once interviewed a candidate for a business
position. He
had a very strong resume in the IT world and the interview went quite well," recalls Avilla. "When we said goodbye he went to shake my hand and suddenly
the purchase label was hanging from his fist,
with its price and discount. The boy turned red. It tasted terrible to me because of how bad he could be having it , and suddenly he says to me:
"For the record, I'm worth more and I'm not on sale, but as I told you in the interview, I'm pure nerve."
His response seemed great to me, how well he knew how to take advantage of that oversight, showing his resilience and sense of humor.
In this case, his personality and communication skills overshadowed that oversight. "
Perhaps the above will serve as a guideline to dress when we go to complain of pain to the ER.
In the absence of more literature on the matter, or of a style guide, for the moment we are left with the advice that a doctor once gave to María R: "You not only have to be sick, you also have to appear so."
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