Until you open your mouth, and then that matters as much or more.

But, dress matters before you open your mouth, and as a supplement to the overall picture.

That being said, to the extent that dress matters, the following apply:

1. Depends on the people there: some people are OK with jeans and t-shirt, others aren’t. Question is do you do business with, or want business from or want to connect to, the latter category? If not, don’t matter. eg. If my current aim is to raise financing for a tech venture, my target is VC’s/angels or big tech cos. They are all used to dealing with startups from garages and tech (esp new tech) tends to be about being laid back. So then it don’t matter.

Am I a banker trying to meet high net worth individuals to potentially be clients? Then got to go business casual at the least, formal may be good.

2. Also depends on whether the event specified a dress code. If it did, going against is breaking a rule/convention. If not, its unsaid convention or your comfort.

And even there, it matters whether “breaking the rule” is good/bad/neutral for your purpose.

3. Depends on your industry and its conventions. Tech is often casual. In creative industries, dress is often casual and in fact unconventional. And so on. eg. In the movie biz, you can see someone in jeans, loud printed t-shirt with a corduroy blazer and cowboy boots and you’d still not blink if he tried to pitch a serious proposal to you.

4. Context matters, and context can often be changed by providing it. That makes a difference. And consider that if you can provide it to the people that matter, the ones that don’t matter their opinion doesn’t matter either.

eg. Where I come from, when someone passes away, after the last rites are done, there is a prayer meeting. Accepted convention is to wear white, full preferred, else at least upper garment. Failing that wear light muted shades and nothing flashy/dressy. But some time ago I attended one for an uncle, and someone came into the prayer meeting wearing jeans and bright green/electric blue shirt – essentially dressed to go to a club. Eyes were raised. Seems bad, eh?

Till you get the new context that when he heard the news the previous night, he immediately headed to the airport and took the first flight out, which was a red-eye, and flew nine hours to get to the family and the prayer meeting in the morning straight form the airport. And that context was given/known to the people who mattered – my uncle’s son and daughter whom he came to give condolence and support to in this tough time. Seems quite different now, right?

Its an extreme example but it illustrates the point perfectly where someone goes from jerk to caring in one switch of context/perspective. Less extreme examples can often be found in business, and to that extent it is important for people to realise that and not feel guilty if they are in such a situation. If they can give context, perhaps slip in a casual reference to it, it will make it acceptable. Feeling confident rather than guilty is more important to the impact you will make than the dress itself.

Hope it helps.

- JT

What REALLY affects my impression of someone, though, are things like posture, speaking tone, or something about the comfort level they seem to have with themselves. If dress affects that for you, then it matters. For example, I think wearing heels makes me walk slower and more gracefully, and stand up straighter. Nicer clothes prompt me to have better posture. That might not be true for everyone (and no, I’m not recommending heels for you).

Consistent branding will deliver the greatest long-term benefits.

Thinking of clothing as a costume, rather than de rigeur “business uniform” for your public speaking gigs may open up possibilities for you.

In 17 years of attending this group in a suit or slacks & jacket, I’ve never had anyone do business with me. So if people DO respect me (and I suspect they do), it’s not translating into anything tangible.

Since this *is* about business, if it isn’t leading to bottom-line results for me, simply being respected in the abstract isn’t a very interesting outcome.

My podcast started as a creative outlet where I could drop my business persona and be myself. It’s up to 70,000+ listeners every week. My business podcast, featuring me being businesslike, had made it to a whopping 500 regular listeners. That data point suggests that for me (maybe not for everyone), the traditional business persona isn’t the way to go.

As far as the pants and the accessories, jeans may be fine depending on your audience and geographical location. For example, I live in Austin, TX, and if I went to a business presentation, (as long as I am not the presenter or in a room full of lawyers or accountants) it would be fine to where jeans; to make it look like I was a polished adult, I would wear heels, a coordinating bag, bring a nice notebook, and a sophisticated pen.

You can skip the heels, Stever (although, there may be an audience for that, too!) and just do a good judgement call.

BTW, Thanks for asking for input; I feel honored to school a person who usually schools me.

Sometimes under or over dressing can be rude given the setting or purpose of the event.. like a wedding or funeral.

However, I think so long as you are not doing it to be disrespectful, there is no reason not to dress as you wish. Also, it is a good exercise to overcome your fear of standing out from the crowd and risking the ridicule.

I could probably do jeans, a collared shirt, and good shoes, but the tshirt would throw me off.

You can wear jeans & VERY NICE t-shirt if you dress it up with nice shoes, or blazer…whatever.

But this is BOSTON and you always have to dress in a manner appropriate to the culture.

When I’m in Arizona I can dress very casually for a business event because it’s the accepted mode of dress. And I have to say I love not having to dress up.

Where you are matters, as does who you’ll be with. If these are finance people et al then they’ll be in suits so that’s the culture at the event, but if it’s an event with lots of creative types then the dress will be more urban style.

If you’re looking to make contacts, network etc. dress for the place, event, and other attendees.

If you’re the star, filthy rich, or really hot then you can wear anything you like.

Clean, pressed & whatever is a good mantra. But lose the sneakers…