"He was dressed very nicely and expensively," McCullough said, "but he had a big poufy Hollywood scarf hanging down from his pocket. As soon as I saw him, I said to myself, 'He's not going to get the job. He's gone Hollywood on us.' It's a small thing, but he just went a little outside our comfort zone."
Karine Dubner, chief operating officer of fashion companies Joie and Current/Elliott, once escorted an overeager job candidate to another part of the office, only to find that the interviewee could barely walk in her towering stilettos. "It made me feel uncomfortable," Dubner said.
Dress for the conference room, not for the club: Think modesty. For women, low-cut shirts, too-short skirts and bare upper arms are no-nos. Skirts should be knee-length, jackets should have the capacity to close (even if they're left open), and second-to-top buttons on shirts should be affixed. Men should leave the bedazzled jeans at home and refrain from showcasing their chest hair -- at all.
Remember that polish counts: Don't show up for an interview looking like you gave zero thought to your ensemble. It's better to risk being overdressed than look as if you just stopped by on your way to the beach.
"I'd rather see someone be a little more polished and conservative than too casual," said Karine Joret, president and co-founder of lifestyle and fashion public relations firm HL Group, "like, 'I'm too cool, I'm too hip for this meeting.' "
Playing to win: Beyond mastering those basics, the real key to success is discovering as much about the company's corporate culture as you can before sitting down for the interview. By donning the office "uniform" -- which may be dark jeans at MTV or a Gucci suit at a legal office -- you make it easier for potential employers to envision you integrating seamlessly into their team.
How to go about getting the skinny on the sartorial scene? Peruse the company website for photos of staffers in action, call the human resources department to tactfully inquire after the company's dress code or -- for super- sleuths -- send a "lost" friend into the office ahead of time to ask for directions and report back on what people are wearing (but remember to dress a tad more formally than the staffers do day to day).
Our interviews with the executives yielded these general guidelines for dressing to kill in various fields.
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Finance, law and banking
