A Justification of Vanity

My friend Fiona forwarded me this article about 98% of women believing appearance affects their career. I’m wondering what planet the other 2% are on.

It reminds me of the woman who camped in my room for six weeks to avoid rent while job-hunting but arrived home with designer outfits. When my angry flatmate suggested the 'camper' couldn’t afford to dress that way, the accused matter-of-factly explained she couldn’t afford not to.

NEW YORK, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Nearly all U.S. working women believe that their professional appearance is crucial to success at work, and one in five female executives say they have withheld a promotion or a raise due to the way an employee dresses, according to a survey released on Tuesday.

The poll found that 98 percent feel appearance affected their career, and just 2 percent disagreed.

The survey was conducted among female professionals, senior managers and business owners by PINK Magazine, a publication for career women, and Corset Personal Styling, a service firm for women. Fifty-five percent said they often think they have nothing to wear, and 40 percent said they tend to keep buying clothes that look the same, the survey showed.

Nearly half said they wear too much black, and a little more than half said they have difficulty finding trendy yet age-appropriate clothes. Some 22 percent of the chief executives, top managers and business owners said they had withheld a promotion or raise because of how an employee dresses at work. The survey, conducted online for Atlanta-based PINK and Minneapolis-based Corset from Sept. 29 through Oct. 11, polled 137 business owners, chief executives, managers and professionals from PINK's readership. Of those, 36 were chief executives, business owners and top managers, it said. The poll did not include a margin of error.
(Reporting by Ellen Wulfhorst; Editing by Michelle Nichols and Xavier Briand)
((ellen.wulfhorst@reuters.com; +1 646 223 6283; Reuters Messaging:ellen.wulfhorst.reuters.com@reuters.net))

(Photo Credit: TresSugar, http://www.tressugar.com/2624316)

Financial Times 'Women in Business' Ranking

It was great to read the FT's inaugural ranking of the top 50 women in business this weekend.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/bcfcdb2c-a716-11de-bd14-00144feabdc0.html

Sad to learn from the same article that just 3 per cent of Fortune 500 chief executives are women and that across Europe, only 10 per cent of board directors of the largest companies are female. That makes this challenge exciting I guess. Starting from such a low base, we can have a significant and rapid impact.

I dined with an amazing woman this week. (I collect inspiring women at every opportunity). I collected this one at TED Global and we now meet when our business travel collides. She's running AIG's sustainable investment fund at age 36 and still finds time to be a mother of two, and gorgeous. We need more of those.

When I wasn't dining out with inspiring women this weekend, I was at London Fashion Week eating away at my retirement fund. (Any child of mine will need to accept a smashing collection of vintage clothing as their only inheritance.) It was wonderful - a chaotic mish-mash of creativity and stylish women everywhere dressed to impressed with their own unique concoctions. 'Sass and Bide' (below) won my heart, and funds yet again. But I digress...

I do feel the tide is turning and feminism is indeed very quickly becoming in vogue.

I finished the format for our debate at Davos this week. I'll describe it here next week. Now I need to find a sponsor. Never easy. I'll report back on progress soon and if anyone's interested give me a shout!