Dressing down liberty

Re:Um, Molloy is intoxicated
Dress for Success has been and will continue to be the standard for executive (and those that want to be executive) style. That most executives are white men is not racism, it is simply fact.

Molloy never said black people don’t look good in purple, he said they should not wear purple if they wish to sell (products, or themselves) to the average executive – an older white male.

Just as Molloy said don’t wear brown to sell to elderly Jews because of the German uniform was brown and thus it may have a negative connotation for Jews who went through WWII. Similarly he tells readers not to wear ostrich boots and a Stetson hat if you are NYC born and bred – even if you are selling to hayseeds. These are simply good advice.

Molloy is correct in his style tips, he is not trying to change society or desegregate upper management but simply to help the rising junior to blend in and make his superiors or customers feel at ease. I wouldn’t buy insurance from a man with an afro wearing a purple suit draped in bling. I don’t consider that racism, I wouldn’t buy insurance from a white middle aged man in a dress because it is just too unusual for me and seriousness and insurance go hand in hand in my book.

I guess that is why Molloy’s book is called Dress for Success and not dress to be comfortable at your minimum wage job.

Helping anyone dress for success, such as suggesting styles that will not put their clients ill at ease is not racism, just reality.

This is just like that nonsense a while ago where someone was censured for using the word niggardly because it sounded unpleasant. Molloy’s advice may be unpleasant but it is remarkably useful; I followed it and became a mid level executive at IBM (before I left to be a librarian).