Whenever you have a seriously important professional day — for example, an interview — you need to be wearing your most conservative, “notice my brains not my fashion sense” outfit. This means, unfortunately, that you need to be sure you know how the suit you wear looks from all angles. How does it look if you need to reach across a table or desk to point to something? How does it look from the back — is there a slit in the skirt that goes too high? And finally — deathly important for interviews — how does your skirt suit look when you’re sitting down? Can you cross your legs, or do you show too much thigh?

Most women are well acquainted with checking their outfit out in the mirror before they run out the door, but for interview outfits you need to go even further. Pull a chair over to a full-length mirror and sit down in it — note how high your skirt goes when you sit. If you think you might be stooping at all during the day (to pick up papers or materials on the floor), do that as well. Basically, any possible action you might take during the day should be vetted between you and the mirror, to make sure you won’t be embarrassed.

Frequently, women’s suits are sold as separates with interchangeable parts. One woman’s skirt suit might be another woman’s pantsuit — or maybe the same woman owns all 3 pieces and wears the jacket with the pants some days, or the skirt by itself other days, or . . . you get the picture. When you have matching separates (matching fabrics, buttons, etc) it pays to dryclean them together — that way the cloth wears consistently, and even if the color fades or the fabric gets nubbly, the pieces will still “match” in a year or two’s time.

The same reasoning goes for things that you throw in the washing machine, as well — for twinsets, for example, even if you wear the cardigan more than you wear the shell you should wash them both together.

Trouser suicide,originally
uploaded by edmittance

If your pants look like this you’ve
done something wrong.

Sometimes, women new to suits don’t realize that when you purchase it off the rack, there are a number of things that are sewn up for display purposes that should not be sewn up once you wear them. Namely, pockets on jackets and pants, slits in skirts, and vents on jackets.

• Slits and vents will be sewn shut with a tiny “X” marking the spot — you should cut that off gently and remove all the thread.
• Pockets are your choice* — you don’t have to rip them open, but it probably isn’t a bad idea if you have a building card pass to carry or want to take your debit card for a lunch run. Again, take some scissors and rip them open and remove all offending thread. (Although, in a pinch, just ripping it open with your bare hands will do.)

If you aren’t sure whether or not there’s actually a pocket in there, look on the inside of your jacket or pants — you’ll see the pocket pouch.

* We say pockets are your choice because no one will really know whether you’ve ripped them open or not — with the X on vents and slits you look like a novice if you’re still wearing them that way. But, even though pants pockets are your choice, we particularly recommend it if you’ve been eating too many summer lunches and your pants are a wee bit tight — ripping the pockets open gives you easier access to smooth the fabric of the pockets so they lay flat against your derriere.