What’s the Impression?
As con season is kicking off for many, I see a lot of status updates and tweets about packing. Lists are being made, costumes are being ordered and assembled. Accessories are being discussed and omg, the SHOES.
Depending on the convention or the conference, dress code is different. Even in a single convention dress code changes from day to evening. And a surprise to me is the amount of defensiveness I see about what people are choosing to pack.
Writing is my business so what I wear to work is jeans and a t-shirt (or shorts and a t-shirt or pajamas).
Personally, I tend to view business casual as a level of professional wear a step above this. Slacks or skirts, nice collared shirts or blouses. You could walk into a corporate high-rise and blend fairly easily with the people on the main floors. If the definition of business casual changed depending on your job, I think fewer restaurants and formal events would use it as a description of dress code.
People are going to judge me on the quality of my work (or writing) so my appearance doesn’t matter.
It’s my understanding that readers go to conventions to meet the authors. And humans are visual creatures. The old rule of thumb used to be that an impression is made within the first 7 seconds of visual contact (or thereabouts – I might be wrong on the number of seconds). In today’s super fast information world, an impression is made or lost within maybe 2 seconds. And it’s not just positive or negative impression, it’s memorable or forgettable in the way people skim through a Twitter feed and pick what tweets to pay attention to.
If you’re going there to meet and network, why would you want to blend in? Why would you want to make it hard for shy readers to spot you? Or why would you want agents, editors, and fellow authors to look at you and either file you in the impressed category or the So Not Impressed category? What if, because you blend in so well with the tourists, people don’t even realize you are there for their con except for the badge you’re wearing?
If I’d worn a suit, I’d never have gotten hired for this job.
This is a fair point. No rule is hard and fast and sometimes it’s not wise to go business casual. At some cons, it’s much more of a fit to wear your corset on the outside of your clothes, hike up your skirts and sport goggles on your head (this goes for either gender :P). It IS wise to be sensitive to the dress code of the convention and not only blend, but stand out in a good way.
Often, it is better to be over dressed and roll up your sleeves than to be under dressed and dismissed from people’s minds.
I can’t afford to buy clothes I’ll only wear to one of these conventions.
Everyone has to decide their own priorities and also their own budget. But I encourage those with specific goals to invest in what will help you achieve that goal.
If you can afford a corset for your costume to attend a steampunk or sci-fi convention, you can afford a business casual outfit to invest in making a professional impression for your authoring career.
Of course, these are my reactions to those defenses and not anything a person needs to follow. But I ask you to consider. If you’re defensive, perhaps it’s because you’re already on the fence about your choices anyway.
Maybe.
