Formal attire is pivotal to establishing one's professional appearance and feel. During my placement, I understood and knew that I had to dress appropriately for work, look decent enough to be fit to address anyone on work related matters.
But then at times there is an exception to that.....
It is during times when the duties you are caring out do not require your dry-clean pressed suit, permed hair and stilettos. When you have to dress traditionally, casually, or even ruggedly at times. This is done in cases where one has to blend in and be a part of the situation or event.
What I observed is; our publics relate more to us when we are dressed to show we understood their situations or respect the environment they are in. For instance, during my placement, when we went to the village meetings, as a woman, I had to put on a head scarf, wear long free skirt /dress, non-body-hugging top with sleeves and flat shoes. adhering to such insinuated and verily proved acknowledgment of the reverence of the place.
In other events, we wore tracking clothes because of the sandy environment we visited to hear from our publics, at times we wore casual clothes during clean-up campaigns. They (attires) all differed according to environment and events. Making us blend and fit in with our key publics and creating a delightful ambiance.
With that said, it does not really mean that PR is all about glossy lips and make up. It is not entirely about appearing beautiful on media making a speech. It is also about understanding, experiencing, acknowledging, and respecting other people (including your publics) and giving each one of the them the respect they deserve.
This is because, PR is from the people to the people, care about those people and understand them as your publics Be hands on when required in order to understand and know what you ought to do and how to do it at the time, understand all areas of your work.
Faith Mhaladi
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5 comments:
Hi Faith,
I absolutely agree with what you've said. Everyone should be mindful about what they wear, when and where to. The way you present yourself to, not only the co-workers but also to your clients will definitely affects their viewpoint of you and the organisation you are presenting. But of course, it's not always about office attire, heels and tie. If anyone of you are ever confused about what should be the best attire, take a little bit of time researching what everyone else is wearing and maybe soon enough, you'll get promoted with your new tie.
Cheers,
Josephine Wong
Hi Faith, When doing my internship, the company i was working for was going through a crisis and at any point the PR department was ment to addresss the media as well as have meeting that were televised as well as attended by very important people.
what im trying to say is, i agree that one should dress according to the situation, on the other hand, a PR practitioner is more or less the face of the company, it is important to always make a company look good,
no?
hi faith
I believe this was an eye opener for you to realize that P.R is all about image. By dressing up to suit each an every occasion showed your competence in your respective field.
As for me it was all about formal wear each day to work since i had to work along side big bosses who were also always up to date when coming to work
from this i learned that what you wear tells people the type of person you are.
thanks so much for bringing the issue up
In the field of public relations in general, i would say majority of the people judge a book by its cover very quickly. They will tend to see your dressing sense, how you portray yourself, your branded items, your position, your company, which university etc. A junior will tend to have many disadvantages when it comes to giving the first impression.
However, impression is not there to stay when it is not supported with something substantial.
A bad impression doesn't conclude a person as a whole but only your perception of the person at that moment.
A positive impression helps a person to get things done very quickly and easily.
I would say I wouldnt judge people easily from the impression I have of the person. But I believe it is a great bonus if people have a positive impression of you. It works wonders!
Hey Faith!
The first day I walked into my place of work, a movie production studio. I was dressed to the nines (at least in my mind)
Imagine my surprise when I walked in and everyone was decked in jeans and tshirts. I was completely blindsided.
Here I thought PR was a glamorous profession, and everyone was looking like they're off to the shops. i was then pulled aside and told that the dress code was casual.
Needless to say..... I WAS GLAD!!
It allowed us to feel comfortable in our own skin, and it lent a vibe that was both relaxing and mellow.
it also saved us lots of time by not worrying about what we were going to wear and all that.
Casual is the way to go !
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