It's in the suit that you wear

When Miss April Winchester was on a her flight back to PEI for Christmas, she met Lawrence Heartz of Heartz Event Creation. April, never one to miss an opportunity to network, introduced herself as a future PR specialist to Heartz. In the course of their conversation, he revealed to her the true secret of success in PR as he sees it - it's all about looks. How you present yourself can make or break you.

I thought that was an interesting thing to say, especially to an impressionable young PR specialist. Most of us are under the impression that the career comes from the skill set and not the sweater set. To me, Heartz's comment said a lot about the industry.

With that in mind, I had to wonder how important dress is when applying for, say, an internship. It goes without saying that wearing a too small tube top or ripped jeans might disadvantage you in certain fields and that matching the office in which you work is your best bet, but is this really enough of an issue that we should discuss it?

Apparently, yes. I was actually shocked that dress became a topic of serious conversation in class the other day. I never thought that dress would be either important enough or enough of a gray area that it would be a class discussion. Maybe I shouldn't have been shocked. Maybe, since this is such a vital component to our prospective future in the Industry, we should treat our appearance the same as we do any skill we're currently developing into our skill set.

In the 1960s, astronaut candidates applying to NASA were coached in their dress. They were told what colour and height their socks should be and what length their pant hems should be. This way, when they sat down, the right amount of ankle - but never any skin - would show.

What does everyone else think. Is dress an issue important enough to be brought up in class? Perhaps Career Management should be a seven week course - that last week can be devoted to the study and discussion of hemlines? Show the right amount of sock-clad ankle for an A+.

















The Mercury Seven in 1963.

From left to right: Gordon Cooper, Wally Schirra (partially obscured), Al Shepard, Gus Grissom, John Glenn, Deke Slayton and Scott Carpenter.

Nice breaks in the pant legs, and not an ankle in sight.