My tips for dressing for a corporate interview

Hooray! I just got hired. The past ten years I've worked at the Big 5 book publishers, which is a bit on the conservative side style-wise. There's over a hundred years of tradition at these companies and they were every stereotype of Old New York book publishing. It's not that I couldn't dress goth at my job, but I did have to be more couture than punk rock, if you know what I mean. I wrote a good post on dressing this way some time ago, if you are in a similar work situation and don't want to go full corporate (I never will): 

How long do New Rock boots last and other questions

So, about two years ago, I did a post on what Google searches led people to my site. It was supposed to be a monthly post, but I never followed through! So here are searches the people searched that led them to my site!

rivet head and rivethead memes: lol I have no memes for you. Memes didn't exist back then. This used to be the term that industrial fans called themselves when we didn't want to be known as "goths". Old-school cyberpunk, separate from cybergoth, more military-inspired. As far as I know, no one calls themselves that anymore (let me know if I'm wrong in the comments!)  (posts mentioning rivetheads are here)

New hair!

Office Wear: What to buy with your first paycheck

How's your new job? During your first two weeks, you've been trying to fit in and you've gotten a sense of what your office culture is like. Maybe it's cool and laid back. Or maybe, you're in my situation, and you've ended up somewhere corporate. While maybe not wearing an 80s power suit, your manager wears a blazer and your coworkers wear those ugly AF sheath dresses, or variations thereof. Like I don't know where those dresses came from, but I can promise you that everyone's wearing them. OMFG. That tank on the right is truly a marvel: for the sheath dress experience, but for when you want to wear pants too.

Your coworkers:

ugly AF featuring ugly shit from Banana Republic

What to Wear: Your First Day at Your First Job

(I'm a solid midlevel employee at a multinational media corporation that has a whopping 117,000 employees worldwide. One person reports to me and we have about 20 people in our dept, with very strict decades-old workflows and hierarchies. So, my office is very corporate. This post is going to cover working in a corporate environment...not a cool edgy startup or a fun art-related field.)

Good job selling out, poser! Now you're one of the sheeple, working for the Man. You're just proving your parents right that the goth thing was just a phase. Too bad you've colored your hair and had gotten those piercings and tattoos! Should have listened to your high school dean about all those dress code violations...they really WERE trying just to prepare you for the working world.

Of course, that's all bullshit. I think the whole "selling out" stigma was more a thing in my age group--people starting their careers now are a lot more worldly about this sort of thing. But obvs, having a career and supporting yourself are wonderful things. Changing yourself for the company you work for is also bullshit. Having virgin skin and hair is also not a stigma. And your high school dean was probably a pedophile.

workwear by featuring a slim-fit shirt

DIY: Patent leather high-waisted skirt

Two Recent Work Outfits

OOTD: Pom-Poms and Prints/Officewear

Red and Gold weeks

The past two weeks have been strange at work since my group was folded into a larger group. I'm in a new bigger department...my job's still the same but the work that my lean team of 3 is now being done by like 15 people. The levels of bureaucracy are amazing. I inherited an assistant and I now attend meetings with the other managers, so I'm suddenly very visible. To introduce myself to the group, I've been wearing a flashy combination of red and gold (lol and participating in the meetings). It's easy to disappear in a corporate setting. For better or for worse, I've chosen not to.  

For one thing, I now wear my septum, which I've never worn to the office. The hoop earrings are ridiculously flashy and cheap looking, but I like em.

ootd--recent Harlem pants buys

Happy Tuesday, everyone. Got the elevator to myself today and snapped a picture in the mirror doors. Went for a corporate-ninja-goth look (too bad I wasn't wearing the circle scarf in this picture!). I've been wanting harem pants for forever (especially after all those ninja goth looks I've been seeing on tumblr). 

taking a package down to the mail room...

And check out these folksy Harlem pants I bought over the weekend. The pocket is the coolest. These pants reminds me of gravers and stoner wear.

Ootd, work

Posting from my new Nexus 5 phone! The camera is much better than my last phone, so maybe there will be more mobile posts, as I'm rarely at my computer these days. (My fencing classes have ended and I'm now trying out yoga... Plus my weekly gaming... plus alumni committee ... plus regular industry networking stuff... Plus I want to get back into writing for nanowrimo...not to unload or nothing... Lots on my plate!)

Here's my work outfit from Friday, hat and crop top are recent buys from f21 and I'm wearing my go-to pleated skirt from AA. Frye Oxford shoes.

Anyone else wearing crop tops to work?

New Hair / Officewear

So, shaved my head earlier this week. Just got tired of my hair. It also kept breaking, so even though it was growing, it kept staying at a bob length. I kind of want a fresh start with healthy hair.

The only downside to shaving your head is making small talk about it at the office. "Did you do it for summer?" No... "Do you like it?" Yes, that's why I did it. "You have a nice skull" I suppose I do. "I wish I could shave my head" So do it... "You look like Sinead O'Connor" Yes, I suppose so. Eh, I don't care...nothing too interesting happens at the office. When someone gets a haircut, it's literally the most exciting thing that's happened in months.

Unfortunately, I kind of have to "retire" a few wardrobe items for a while. For a shaved head, I think more structured/fitted garments look better. A shaved head looks perfect all the time, so it seems more balanced to have the rest of your outfit look polished as well. I also like having no hair because it shows off my earrings and other piercings.

Here are two looks I wore to the office this week:

t-shirt: forever 21; pleated skirt: american apparel; necklace from this post

Vaguely Ethnic Outfit Post

After doing my vaguely ethnic septum rings post, I've been liking the idea of vaguely ethnic clothing. Vague being the key phrase here. I'm not talking about sticking a fez cap on or wearing a Native American poncho or whatever. I'm talking about completely original ideas that are mostly fantasy. Think Star Trek or fantasy books about fictional cultures. Not cultural appropriation. 

I saw this sweater on the clothing rack and it just looked like it was from an alien world. I was never more sure of anything in my life when I tried it on. I think this is going to be my new signature look. I wore it to the office yesterday.

This is my normal face. I'm not pissed off!

Dark Fashion in the Workplace

You know those news stories where a kid gets suspended because he or she colored their hair pink or whatever? It's so that kids would be "prepared" for the real world. Or those ridiculous "employee dress codes" they make you read when you get an hourly job? It's so customers won't be distracted or brand image or whatever.

ootd, and photo fails

Well, it's one of the busiest times of the year for work, so I've been work home...working on the train... staying late... sigh. Everyone in our department has the thousand-yard stare. The temperature dropped significantly, so I was like, why not wear my new suit jacket I bought over the summer? and then satanic t-shirt. you know: work friendly. lol yeah I'm bold during these busy times, when I generally don't see anyone except my manager. sorry for the shitty photos, point-and-shoot cameras are really finicky.

ugh why does my new camera get blurry ONLY when I'm taking selfies

hi ho, it's off to work we go

So, as you all know, I'm one of the lucky few with a job--benefits and everything. But I won't go into that... this blog is about fashion, not work. Sometimes--very rarely--it's about fashion and work.

Work is pretty dehumanizing, no matter what you do. Bullying managers, unfair pay, corruption, corporate greed, the list goes on. I graduated in 2008, during the worst of the depression...it really wasn't easy. But I'm back on my feet, 130k in debt but whatever, I'm working a job that exploits my skills and my time for near-slave wages.

Fuck work, seriously. But you have to go, and you have to wear clothes. And your clothes don't have to suck. You don't have to wear your mom's blazers and stupid "office" dresses. (By the way, I work in NYC. This may not work in Alabama or other backwoods state. I'm not sure what you wear to work in Alabama...maybe a hatchet man hockey jersey?)