Dressing Smart for Women: 101 Mistakes You Can't Afford to Make...and How to Avoid Them (Career Savvy S.) [Paperback]

JoAnna Nicholson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 5, 2003 | Series: Career Savvy S.

From deciding on what to wear at job interviews to looking professional on the job, this book identifies 101 dressing mistakes women often make that can negatively affect their careers.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Do you look competent or clueless? Exceptional or just mediocre? Do you dress in a way that will give you an edge or do you make dressing mistakes that work against your best interests? Do you look great and retain a "power look" when you wear black and white together, or does that much contrast wear you?

Today's job market and workplace have many unwritten rules for dressing smart and getting ahead. From deciding what to wear to job interviews to looking professional on the job, this book identifies 101 dressing mistakes and shows how to use clothing as a tool to get the job you want and the future you desire. Designed to train your eye to avoid such mistakes, this unique book provides authoritative answers to the most important dress and image questions for women. For example, do you:
Look promotable?
Know how to dress in a way that sets you apart?
Dress like you work in a backroom instead of a boardroom?
Look powerful or weak in a pure white blouse?
Know the perfect shoe style for different skirt lengths and pant shapes?
Know the perfect color stockings for each look you create?
Know what to wear to your first, second, and third interviews?
Get dressed each morning with ease and elegance?
Look distinguished or drab?
Attract the kind of men you would like?
How to put separates together to make a great look?
Look essential or insignificant?
Know how to use color effectively?
Dress smart for your company or organization?

About the Author

JoAnna Nicholson is an internationally recognized expert on image and one of the founders of the image industry. She counts among her clients ambassadors, cabinet secretaries, senators, congressmen, Fortune 500 companies, rock stars, a former Miss America, an Academy Award nominee - and women like you! Featured in numerous leading magazines and newspapers, she has appeared on "Larry King Live" and other major television and radio shows. A resident of Washington, DC, she is the author of five other books, including Dressing Smart for Men.

Product Details

• Paperback: 147 pages
• Publisher: Impact Publications; 1 edition (August 5, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1570232008
• ISBN-13: 978-1570232008
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #482,660 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Good tips but outdated photos, December 29, 2004

By 

Spiked Confections (Washougal, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dressing Smart for Women: 101 Mistakes You Can't Afford to Make...and How to Avoid Them (Career Savvy S.) (Paperback)

The author gives some good tips on color, basic items to buy and styles but the photos are terrible. They are extremely outdated - who wears denim jeans with animal print and belts printed on them? Or jeans splattered with paint that look like a bad spinart project. The few photos that are in the book are very outdated. The author also trys to pair a scarf with everything. Maybe I'm too young for this book but I was trying to find something that would show me how to put together a professional look. I'm still looking.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 110 Mistakes Working Women Make and How to Avoid Them, October 21, 2003

By 

nancy goldblatt,Color 1 Associate (baltimore, md United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dressing Smart for Women: 101 Mistakes You Can't Afford to Make...and How to Avoid Them (Career Savvy S.) (Paperback)

This book is worth over $5600. That's how much I paid for my Color 1 Associate training from Joanna Nicholson in 1990.

This book contains all that I learned and more. I have saved myself and others thousands of dollars of fashion mistakes by using her approach to color and style.

Buy the book if you are interested in easy to understand, accurate information about how to look great everyday using your best colors and styles.

Joanna's color system is not seasonal and she believes everyone can wear every color as long as the shade,and clarity are flattering.

There is so much great information in this book that you might feel a little overwhelmed. In that case it might be worthwhile to slowly read the book and highlight parts that pertain to you.

If you have diffulty determining your color type you may want to contact your nearest Color 1 Associate who can quickly shorten your learning curve about your best colors and styles. Then you can use this book as a reference.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lots of info, mostly good stuff, February 14, 2010

By 

E. Tillotson (Round Rock, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dressing Smart for Women: 101 Mistakes You Can't Afford to Make...and How to Avoid Them (Career Savvy S.) (Paperback)

JoAnna Cole does a good job of pointing out color contrast which I had never before heard - and I grew up hearing about seasonal coloring (she doesn't subscribe to seasonal coloring). The contrast between the colors you wear is a factor and should mirror your natural coloring. I really liked the exercise where you hold up different whites (white & off-white) and see which draws more attention to your face (rather than drawing attention to the cloth). I wish she had explained the color theory more clearly, but figured that maybe she's trying to get you to hire one of her consultants in order to get more info. She mentions there are 12 precise configurations but doesn't go into detail, just sticks with the basics. About 3/4 through the book my interest waned because she seemed to get very picky about which earrings go with which necklace - and we're not talking just gold and silver clashing, but scale and very specific details. If I had a store with all the variety she illustrated, I'd be in heaven. Honestly, the differences she pointed out seemed minor to me. Some good tips - create illusion with dressing and grooming, be consistent or people will think the one time you looked good was a fluke, wear makeup, do your hair, extend your eyebrows if necessary to fill the proper space (and I must), wear jewelry, fill in your whole lip with lip liner so that when the lipstick fades your lip color won't go with it. I like the point that we are not being superficial by attending to our appearances - just get things in order so you can go on with your day confident about your personal presentation. We have important things to do - don't be distracted by feeling uncomfortable or unsure about how you look.