The story of me buying my first suit to go job hunting is very interesting and an important mark on my life.
When I left University I didn’t have a single piece of clothing in my wardrobe that could be considered professional, so for the first time in my life I asked help to my older sister, to go shopping.
We spent a saturday navigating through stores trying to find something I would like and at the same time it would be professional. It was a very challenging day for the both of us.
By the end of University my style was very much a hippie girl, with long hair, bell bottoms trousers and always wearing tennis shoes, either rain or shine. I didn’t do skirts, heels, nothing that would show my curves, etc. I can say I was still struggling to manage both my feminine and masculine side.
Amazingly enough I studied Business Management at University and I was definitely one of the students that stood out, because of my personal style.
While at school, I definitely thought that people working in offices were boring and elected grey and beige as their main colours. All I could see in head was this mass of people wearing boring clothes, boring colours and complying with the 9 to 5 lifestyle.
I was scared, to say the least. My life had directed me to this course, that I enjoyed, but now I couldn’t see myself having an office job and being happy. Obviously I was young and naive, but I didn’t know anyone that could show me any different. Social media was in its infancy and I didn’t have instagram to get inspiration.
My sister and I spent that saturday visiting stores and one advice she gave me that day, I still follow up to today “You don’t have to buy a complete suit to look good, you can buy some pants and then buy a separate blazer”. Up to last year, I didn’t have a full suit. I would always buy blazers I liked and then pair it with different trousers. This was the positive note of this day.
The negative one, was that I was really scared of my future, of how my life would be. I couldn’t see myself being happy with an office job and I kept thinking I had spent my time and my parents money, at University for nothing.
I was so stressed, that eventually reflected on my sister becoming stressed. I ended the day with my sister upset with me and me crying. She said something I also never forgot “You are reacting as this is the end of your life (ending university), but this is just the beginning”.
So, even if the end of the day was negative and ended up being yelled by my sister, what she said resonated with me and it is one of the best life lessons she taught me.
That Saturday I bought a blazer, a pair of trousers and a white shirt. For my first interview, I borrowed a pair of black high heels from a friend of mine and I got the job! I kept that blazer for around 7 to 8 years.
I was lucky to work in a british company with offices in Lisbon and the working environment was more relaxed that a typical portuguese business would be, less formal. This allowed me to experiment with my professional looks and allowed me to choose what made me happy.
Also, I had the chance to meet people that were older than me, with very interesting personal styles and showed me we can look good, professional and at the same time have fun with your style. I was lucky.
Franca Personal Style Consultancy 