The Interview Outfits Edit: Five Lessons for Looking Hired Before You Sit Down

Before any interview, I will look up the company within approximately four minutes: the team page, the founder's photos, the holiday party pictures, whoever is standing at the back of a conference shot in a cardigan. I am looking for one answer, which is what everyone wears on a Tuesday. I have no shame about this.

 

But somewhere between the blazer, the sneaker suit and the video call, interview outfits have gotten a little exhausting. We are told to look polished and also to look like ourselves. We are told that nobody dresses up anymore and also that you should never be the least dressed person in the room. The verdict is that nobody knows, and everyone is watching.

 

Which brings me to 1966, when Yves Saint Laurent presented Le Smoking, a trouser suit for women. The Met writes that it "caused outrage," that hotels and restaurants turned women in it away, and that when Nan Kempner was refused at La Côte Basque in New York, she took off the trousers and walked in wearing the jacket as a mini-dress. Saint Laurent told The Observer in 1977 that he wanted women to have the same basic wardrobe as a man: blazer, trousers and suit. A suit used to be a question of whether you would be let in the door, and I think about that every time I stand in front of a closet before an interview.

 

Some of the advice on interview attire made me feel calm. Some of it made me want to lie down. And some of it sent me straight to the career center pages that university students quietly rely on.

 

So, here are five lessons on interview outfits, each one paired with eight pieces I would actually consider.

Career centers say the same thing about interview outfits for women, and men, in almost the same words. UMass Dartmouth tells candidates to "dress one step above the typical work attire for that role," and UC Davis adds that it is always better to be overdressed than underdressed. That is the whole of how to dress for an interview, and I have yet to find a better compression.

 

A blazer is the easiest way to take that step, because it sits on top of nearly anything. The Toteme wool-blend blazer and the Dolce & Gabbana darted wool-blend gabardine blazer are the sharp, close-to-the-body options. The Max Mara Pulvino double-breasted blazer, in dark brown, is for people who want to look serious without looking like a bank. The Veronica Beard Wryllen crepe blazer in navy is the one I would pick if black feels like a funeral for an office of people in jeans. I went deeper on a related idea in The Christmas Outfits Edit: Five Lessons for Looking Festive Without Dressing as the Tree.

 

Here is the test: put the blazer on over the plainest T-shirt you own. If the whole outfit suddenly looks planned, it is doing its job.

 

What I would skip: a blazer with so much going on, say a loud lapel and a loud cut, that it becomes the topic of the first five minutes. Although the Jean Paul Gaultier wool-gabardine blazer, in plain black, keeps its edge quiet enough to forgive.

A suit still works, and Le Smoking is the reason a woman can say that without anyone blinking. But most of us are not interviewing in a matching set, and casual interview outfits are a real category now, and what I look for in separates is that the jacket and the bottom feel like they come from the same fabric family. A heavy tweed skirt under a flimsy blouse looks like two outfits arguing.

 

Wool is the easy answer. The Nili Lotan Etoile herringbone pants in brown and the Citizens of Humanity Ines pleated wool-twill pants in gray are calm, straight and sensible. The R13 Triple Pleat puppytooth pants and the SSSTEIN pleated wool pants are the same idea with a little more swing. For a skirt, the CO pleated wool and cashmere-blend midi and the Our Legacy wrap midi are the ones I would reach for, and both keep a hem you can sit down in.

 

Career centers keep telling people to check how an outfit looks sitting. Do that in the mirror: sit on the edge of a chair for a minute and see where the pleats land.

 

What I would skip: the fringed Sacai tweed skirt for a first round, because it is lovely and it will be the thing people remember. Although it makes a good second-interview skirt, once they already like you.

This is the least glamorous lesson, and the one people forget most. Texas A&M's career center says to carry "a portfolio, professional bag or simple, small purse (no backpacks)," and Boston University lists a portfolio case, attaché bag or light briefcase for your resume copies and a notepad. So the bag has a job: it holds the printed pages, a pen, and, these days, a laptop.

 

A tote with a structured shape does that without announcing itself. The Bottega Veneta Corso Intrecciato leather tote is woven and substantial, and the Métier Private Eye large leather tote is built for a day of carrying things. The Loewe Amazona suede tote in navy and the Maison Margiela leather and suede tote read as quiet, and the Gucci Giglio web-trimmed suede tote adds a stripe for the brave.

 

Here is the test: pack everything you would bring, then walk around the block. If you keep adjusting the strap, it is the wrong tote.

 

What I would skip: anything so slouchy that your resume ends up folded in thirds at the bottom. Although the JW Anderson Loafer Cabas can slouch a little, because the loafer charm on it makes up for it.

It is tempting to believe that a good interview shoe is a shoe that looks good. Then comes the long hallway to the conference room, and the opinion changes. Boston University puts it plainly: "Make sure you can walk in your shoes." Texas A&M asks for closed-toe shoes with a heel of one or two inches that are "comfortable to stand and walk in." Interview shoes get a walking test first, and a photo test second.

 

The loafers are the easy route. The Acne Studios leather loafers, the Gucci Emily Moccasin and the two Legres Model 64 loafers, one in burgundy leather and one in light brown suede, are made to be walked in. For pumps, the Khaite Colleen 75 in cream is the lowest-key heel, and The Row Pia D'Orsay is all line and no fuss. The Aquazzura Voltaire 85 and Jimmy Choo Romy 85 sit higher.

 

Here is the test: wear the pair around your apartment for an evening before the interview. If you notice them by hour two, they are not the ones.

 

What I would skip: a heel at 85 millimeters for a day with a lot of stairs. Although it is a very good answer for a seated panel.

Video interviews changed my checklist. Deloitte's tips say to keep the camera "at eye level or just slightly above" and to avoid "a messy background for the interviewer to see." They also warn against assuming you only need business attire "from the waist up," which I take to mean you should wear real trousers, in case you have to stand to grab a charger.

 

Still, the blouse or knit does most of the talking, so choose it well. The Saint Laurent scarf-detailed poplin shirt is crisp and a little dramatic, and the Khaite Ivy high-collar satin shirt in ivory frames a face beautifully. The Róhe poplin shirt in blue is the friendliest option, and The Row Lula mandarin-collar silk shirt is the sleekest. For a cooler room, the ARCH4 Eldergrove cashmere sweater and The Row Phef cotton and cashmere-blend sweater are soft without looking sloppy.

 

Here is the test: record thirty seconds on your laptop and watch it back with the sound off. If you can tell what is going on, the outfit is calm enough.

 

What I would skip: the Fair Isle intarsia turtleneck on camera, since the busy pattern is likely to blur. Although it would be lovely in the room.

Princeton researchers found that we judge a stranger's face within a tenth of a second, and that extra time mostly makes us more confident, not different. I find this both unsettling and freeing. You do not get to control those hundred milliseconds, but you do get to control what is waiting after them: the blazer, the shoes you have walked in, the bag that holds the paper.

 

The women in Le Smoking were told where they could not walk. Most people googling what to wear to a job interview are really asking what they are allowed to walk into.

 

I will still change my mind four times the night before. Although I am now fairly sure the right outfit is the one I stop thinking about.