Interview Dressing: Womenswear

Informal Interviews

Here we’re talking about a company dinner with a few executives, or perhaps a casual interview for a cool media post somewhere you’ll find yourself fetching everyone’s tea order for your first six months of employment. This type of interview means deciphering the impossible oxymoronic ‘smart/casual’ dress code – but fear not: this is not the Everest climbing mission that it might seem.

An easy ensemble that never goes out of style is the simple pairing of a high-waisted trouser, belted over a silk shirt (Equipment is the perennial classic, but Miss Selfridge does the job too), keeping your colours muted and neutral: navy, camel, taupe, black, white, maybe maroon or forest green if you’re feeling adventurous. Top this with a tailored brass-buttoned blazer which nips in at the waist, a smallish square handbag over the shoulder and a pair of modest-height heels to complete the look.

For these pieces on the high street, Zara cuts a wicked jacket and their handbags are excellent too. Think Grace Kelly during the day, or classic Katharine Hepburn. The look graces runways season after season (see last season’s Paul Smith and Michael Kors shows for well-styled examples) and always looks elegant and effortless, yet fabulously stylish.

Formal Interviews

There are a few directions a girl can go here: full on skirt suit, coordinating skirt and separates, or a dress. The choice obviously depends on your personal taste and the company you’re interviewing with, but most often, trousers are not the right choice here.

If you are, indeed, a woman entering a man’s world, the best thing is to own up to it: look feminine and beautifully put-together, with a CV as enviable as your innate sense of style. The safest and most perennially stylish dress is the wrap dress, made famous by Diane von Furstenburg but which you can find good copies up and down the high street. If you’re going for separates, keep the colour palette edited down to a maximum of three shades, and never monochromatic – the funeral rule applies to women too. Try white, camel and navy; cream, black and maroon; pale blue, mustard and navy blue.

As mentioned before, fabric choice counts: look for cashmere blends for your sweaters, light wool blends for skirts and jackets and crisp cotton for shirts. Avoid anything too stretchy or acrylic like the plague: it feels cheap, looks cheap and fits badly.

Skirts should hit just below the knee and sweaters, shirts and jackets should be tailored but not tight. If you’re going to go for a pattern (a subtle check, houndstooth or stripe is acceptable), keep it to one item only, including accessories.

Grooming

It is not quite clear why some girls find it so difficult to look properly put-together at interview, the simplest things make the biggest of differences. Make-up should be kept as natural as possible: after a proper cleanse, go for a tinted moisturiser and a touch of concealer with the lightest flush of blusher on the cheeks. Take note: no bronzer, no fake tan and no full-thickness foundation. Beyond anything else, it looks like you’ve tried too hard and with all that effort, all you’ve managed is to look entirely ridiculous. A neutral eye shadow with a touch of eyeliner and a lick of mascara is all you should need. As for hair, wearing it up or down is a matter of how you feel most confident. It should look neat and you should not feel the need to fiddle with it. Perfume, if you usually wear it, should be fresh and never overpowering.

Accessories

Your shoes and handbag should be good-quality, clean and tasteful, leather (not patent) or suede, in a co-ordinating shade to the rest of your outfit. Shoes and handbag needn’t match; indeed, it can look rather contrived and frumpy if they do. Avoid any designer-emblazoned anything, and worse than that, any designer knock-offs – beyond terrible.

Shoes should be kept to a modest (less than 3”) height and your handbag should be appropriately sized and smart. Jewellery ought to be kept to a bare minimum (sleeper earrings, delicate necklace, inconspicuous watch) and colour-appropriate tights or stockings are an absolute must: going bare-legged with a skirt on to an interview is a total faux-pas.