Lot of emphasis on external factors to look sharp at work but not enough on spending time and effort on overall health. For as long as I have been or or worked with folks in customer facing rules, more often than not the women I am around carry common denominator designer bags, wear relatively expensive clothes and accessories. I will focus on the attire of women because that is most relatable for me. In a crowd like that, its very hard if not impossible to get that thin-slice attention span credit for looking the sharpest of them all. There is a level of affluence that the group simply cannot exceed to become a few standard deviations removed from the average of the pretty well-dressed crowd. So despite having put good time and money into the look, it will only get them a solid average standing.
Early on, I decided to go a different route and get closer to my Indian roots with choice of colors, fabrics and accessories. There are no designer labels involved - I pick things because I like them and not because it was deemed fashionable or stylish by an important tastemaker. Many of the items were bought in India from local stores not big retail chains. Based on the cost of the look, I would fall well below the average of the crowd and even a thin-slice size-up would attest to my desire to lower the bar because it is the easier way to stand out (in that crowd) than paying my whole paycheck to achieve true wardrobe elevation.
My personal thin-slice size-up is always in favor of those who put effort into their physical and mental well-being. These are the people who show grace under pressure, eat and drink in moderation, usually leave social events a bit early, try to shoe-horn their exercise regimen into the business trip the best they can and most importantly stay connected with loved ones. You can see many of these indicators pretty quickly. Such folks tend to be sharp at work more likely than not and have my vote atleast.
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