You are what you wear?

So....I should be writing grants, but...

I just came out of yet another glorious staff meeting where the importance of appearance was stressed. again. we have a "blazer day" coming up tomorrow because we have some board members coming in, so we have to put our best foot (in polished stilletto pumps) forward. Then my boss makes this comment:

Boss Lady: Our new board member, Bob Da Man, is coming in on Friday to participate in new member orientation. Now, you don't have to wear a blazer, wear whatever you want, but remember that this-is-the-first-time-you-will-be-meeting-a-board-member-so-you-should-care-what-first-professional-impression-you-make-or-he-could-hate-you-for-life, but wear WHATEVER you want. OK, you can't wear jeans. *smile*

Staff: *blink*

Then I mention that I will be out of town for the organization's new associate training. (what kind of nonprofit is this? you ask) and some staff members note how excited I should be for the workshop on personal appearance. I ask why as I scratch my tattooed wrist. And they go off on this Anglo-saxon privileged tangent about how this guru tells you how colors work on you and how what you wear affects how people perceive you. I laugh my, "you white women is straight trippin'" laugh and strongly declare that I deal with my personal appearance in my own way and quite frankly could care less if someone takes my mid-brand khakis as some indication of a poor work ethic.

It amazes me, simply AMAZES me, that women (and men) today are stupid enough to believe that your Bergdorf skirt and Jimmy Choos will change the entire way people perceive you. Even if I wore that, some people would still walk away saying, "Now she is one of the most articulate people I have met lately." OR You could have been featured on the covers of Men's Vogue and inside the pages of Vanity Fair and have this said about you by a fellow politician: "I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy." Then you would be Barack Obama, but hey, at least he looks good, no? He would be welcome to the office on any of our "blazer days".