Somewhere above you, people occasionally discuss your name. When they do, they’re running a quick mental film: can we picture this person at the next level — in front of the board, with the biggest client, running the room. Your work gets you into that conversation. How you’re read decides how the film looks.
This is what “dress for the job you want” was always trying to say before it became a poster. It’s not about costume. It’s calibration: show up at the level you’re asking to be trusted with, so the picture requires no imagination.
3 moves, all practical:
Audit the evidence. Pull photos of yourself from the last few work events and look at them like a stranger would. Not kindly — accurately. What level does that person read as? That’s the current film.
Build a uniform. Pick a combination that works and repeat it with small variations. Decision-free mornings, consistent presence. The people whose style you admire at work almost all do this — consistency reads as identity.
Spend on fit, not labels. A $200 blazer tailored to you beats an $800 one off the rack, and it isn’t close. Find a tailor. It’s the highest-return money in this entire subject.
None of this replaces the work. It removes the discount on it. The version of you that’s ready for the next seat already exists — the room just needs to be able to see it without squinting.
Questions
Won’t people think I’m trying too hard?
Overdressing is trying too hard. Calibration — one notch above the room, repeated consistently — reads as someone who has decided where they’re going.
My office is completely casual. Now what?
Same rule, different scale. The best-fitting version of casual, chosen on purpose. Default hoodie and deliberate hoodie read differently, and everyone can tell.
One good read a week, free — get the newsletter.