Read and synthesize information on appropriate dress for professional/work situations.

Objectives: 1. Read and synthesize information on appropriate dress for professional/work situations. 2. Recognize the influence of career choice on a wardrobe assembled for work. 3. Recognize how dress facilitates or hinders human interaction in the workplace. 4. Shop in retail stores to identify and photograph work apparel that would be appropriate for your Professional Image Type. Directions: Consider your major and chosen career field. Tell what your first professional position is likely to be. Study the “Professional Image Types” document and determine which of the first three categories your prospective job will fall into. Decide on the type of outfit you would typically wear to work as you accept your first professional position. Search online to learn which stores will likely carry your necessary career look. This is a good way to begin to determine the type of retailers where you will need to shop. Identify these stores in the paper. Shop in person at retail stores. This is a mandatory part of the assignment! Internet shopping will not suffice. Consider taking a friend along who will be honest and help you form opinions about what may work. Take a camera so you can be photographed in the most successful looks. Note that some retailers prohibit such photography. Perhaps you will be so convinced that you have selected an appropriate outfit for work that you will purchase it; in that case, have the picture taken when you get home. The photos will need to be imported into your paper. Write about the thought process of categorizing your first job as a Level I, II, or III (from the “Professional Image Types” document). If you feel your first position will have you dressing so that you can do physical labor, approach the assignment as if you were interviewing for that position; generally we have higher expectations for an interview than for an ordinary day on the job, so set your sights high. Use vocabulary from the Professional Image Types document as you indicate expected traits that your clothing choices should help you portray. Why are your choices acceptable “looks” for the job you would like to have? How would the outfits you chose facilitate interactions–including creating positive first impressions– in the workplace? You may decide to photo-document less successful choices, too, telling why they were nixed. Then write why your interaction would have been hindered with the less effective look. Include photos of, evaluate, and elaborate on four outfits, clarifying why one or two of them are the most successful options you were able to find. (The project will be most helpful to you if you photograph yourself in the outfits. This is an excellent way to critique what you look like in apparel.) Then critique the less successful attempts you made. In the written assignment refer to authorities (text, PowerPoint slides, websites in course content for the module, and other resources) that have helped you be better at distinguishing the differences. Summarize what you learned, returning to the assignment’s objectives at the top of the page. Be sure to show that you accomplished all objectives. Write an introduction to the paper as well. Use APA style.