It’s my favorite black wool suit. The pencil skirt has a double black slit that creates a sort of placket that adds something different. It’s a one-button jacket that closes right at my natural waist. I feel kick-ass in that suit. I always wear heels with this suit.

So Friday – I’m stepping out of the elevator after a fairly successful meeting with a client. Men in Chicago generally let you out of the elevator first and this Friday, as I stood with three businessmen, was no different. So I stepped out, said “thank you” and behind me, very quietly, one guy mutters, “No – thank you-ou.” I spun around, already red-faced and embarrassed, and I quickly scowled. By their expressions of shock, it was clear I wasn’t meant to hear the comment.

And so goes the battle of the fuckable v. the unfuckable suit. The pencil skirt tailored jacket combo versus the tapered-leg olive pantsuit buttoned up to your frickin neck. With one, men picture skimpy but well-made black lingerie lies beneath, with the other, they don’t even bother to think about it (unless they have a Mommy complex.)

What’s a girl to do? I don’t like the olive pantsuit, but I also want to be taken seriously. I suspect though, that in the end, men don’t really believe that (and neither do some girls). I admit, as I sat in classes through grad school I pictured myself swinging a very expensive Italian briefcase, trotting to the subway in 4-inch heels and closing deals left and right. And you know how that made me feel? Sexy. Not smart, not valued, not whole, but Sexy with a capital “S.”

Two years later, and here I am, sitting at my desk, wearing a fairly expensive suit and totting a bag that people think is Italian, and Sexy isn't the most important thing. But it's not exactly obsolete either.  I resent it at the same time I want it.  

So you might ask, ladies, when you step into an interview, is it more important to come off fuckable or smart?  I'm not sure, but I can tell you, I got my current job wearing an olive conservative skirt suit - a happy medium you might say.  A woman who takes care of herself, and that means a tailored suit, is a woman to be taken seriously.  Just be careful its not too tailored.  Your suit pants should not resemble the pants you wear to the club, that is, unless you're auditioning to be a Red Bull girl at the closest ESPN Zone.

Here's a tip for you, guys.  If you're interviewer just happens to be wearing her "sexy" suit the day you walk in for an interview, resist, with ALL your forces, the urge to do the head-nod. You know what I'm talking about, you can't take in all of a woman without lifting and raising your head.  Look ONLY at her face.  (that is, until she turns around.)  But even, then, she can feel you checking her out.  While most women would be at least a little flattered, they might not want some guy leering at them every morning. So really, even if she has cleavage pushing out of her shirt do your best to imagine granny panties and perhaps even that she's secretly a man?  You may lose all interest in her, but it might help you get the job.  

I know, I know, all this work etiquette stuff sounds like a lot of sexual repression, right??  Why do you think professionals have happy hour??