So you want to move up in your career. That's understandable. After all, who wants to be left at the bottom of the food chain until retirement? Everybody wants to make it to the top, but only a few ever do. It's not all about luck, either. It's about hard work, grit, and the right self-presentation. Indeed, if you want to get there ahead of the pack, you have to give yourself an edge, starting with sporting the right look.

The Clothes

Clothes make the man (or woman), and this is especially true in the race for that executive office suite overlooking the park. If you take a look at successful executives, you'll see that they all have one thing in common - they're all dressed the part of executives.

Dressing right doesn't only mean wearing clean, well-tailored clothes. It also means dressing appropriately for your industry. Corporate executives who work in banking and finance, law firms, real estate, and the stock market go for designer suits in subdued and neutral colors. For more creative industries such as publishing, film and television, music, advertising, and hospitality, executives often go for color and the latest fashions. Of course, don't forget the so-called 'geeks' who work in computers, software and hardware development, the sciences, and technology-based industries - they might not be particularly fashionable, but they do have their own identities!

Yes, the first step of becoming an executive is looking like one. Suffice
to say, to attain success, you have to dress for success!

The Accessories

As all fashion gurus would say, it's not all about the clothes. It's also about the accessories. That's why you should accessorize, accessorize, accessorize! Accessories include shoes, bags, briefcases, jewelry, and even hats. Simply put, accessories are those not-so essential supplements to the overall look - but still important, nevertheless. Why are accessories important? Basically, accessories add style that not even the most expensive designer frock could give. Accessories add the panache needed to pull off any look.

In dressing for success, accessories are particularly effective. After all, the most well-tailored suit will be all wrong when worn with a pair of sneakers. You need a good pair of classic, preferrably expensive, shoes to pull off the corporate executive look. Similarly, if you work for the fashion or creative industries, you'd want to be decked out in the most fashionable shoes, bags, and jewelry in order to be respected and taken seriously.

The Person

Of course, it's safe to say that you can't climb your way to the top with just the right clothes and accessories alone. The path to success requires a lot of hard work and determination. You also need to have guts to stand out and get yourself noticed. You need to have good ideas and the knowledge to implement them. You need to be better than your peers and your colleagues as well. Suffice to say, you need to impress in order to achieve your goal, and it all starts with dressing to impress.