What to Wear on a Daterview

A daterview is a word that describes the rare event where a date and an interview take place on the exact same day. Now some of you may be wondering, what's the big deal? It's just an outfit. But take a step back and think about it.
This post was published on the now-closed HuffPost Contributor platform. Contributors control their own work and posted freely to our site. If you need to flag this entry as abusive, send us an email.

Haven't heard of a daterview? That's ok -- I made it up, you're not alone. But I do believe that if we work together, we can help this new term I just coined gain traction. A daterview is a word that describes the rare event where a date and an interview take place on the exact same day. (Note: a daterview is not to be confused with a date/interview which I had the misfortunate of experiencing a few years ago after being picked up on LinkedIn for what I thought was a job meeting but turned out to be a date -- but that's another story for another day).

The realization of the overlap of these events dawned on me a few days prior to the event itself so I luckily had some time for the situation to marinate and to contemplate some appropriately paired ensembles. Of course, the thought crossed my mind to reschedule one of these events. But my social calendar was jam packed all week and, as a general rule, I think it's pretty poor form to reschedule a job interview unless ABSOLUTELY necessary (a coinciding date doesn't seem to qualify...)

Now some of you may be wondering, what's the big deal? It's just an outfit. But take a step back and think about it. For a date, one tends to want to emphasize ones' best... assets. Which incidentally tend to coincide with precisely those lady bits that one insures are properly cloaked during a meeting that pertains to a business opportunity. Fortunately, I work in advertising, a business that's far more accepting of esoteric fashions and self-expression than others, so a suit was out of the realm of necessity. That said, I haven't personally crossed over to the mentality that an appropriate interview getup for a creative, are jeans and a button-down. Some planning was in order.

Stepping out of my shower on the day of, I perused the closet.

First dress that I considered was a gray Bailey 44 column dress with no sleeves. Though tight, the higher neckline and longer hem makes it more "conservative" than other choices. Paired with a black cardi and black flats with simple jewelry, it can pass as interview appropriate.

Unfortunately, on the day of, it was a balmy (right) 80 degrees and this dress (which happened to be lined) was just too hot.

Next, I contemplated a simple sleeveless black J.Crew dress -- a go-to date outfit for me. It's sexy without being over the top and I jazz it up with gold jewelry. Unfortunately, I usually wear super high platforms to complete this look, without which, I don't feel all that special in it. Platforms for an interview seemed like a bad idea. So J.Crew was out as well.

Last out was a blue, high-waisted very structured skirt with bright flowers, paired with a red blousy, thick-strapped tank. Though not my sexiest outfit, whenever I wear this combination, my coworkers call me "super woman" because of the red and blue combo. Who wouldn't want to feel like superwoman on both a date and an interview? We had a winner! Bring on the daterview!

After all this agonizing about a simple outfit (totally not my thing -- I'm very much a one-outfit-and-go type of girl) the interview went well... and the date got cancelled last minute due to a work emergency on his part. I took advantage of my recently freed up evening to attend a movie showing a friend of mine had organized in a beautiful garden in Harlem. Though the shortness of the skirt was less than conducive to an evening spent sitting on a garden floor, I felt accomplished knowing that I potentially could have successfully attended a Daterview without offending either party.

So ladies and gentlemen, I beseech you, help me "make daterview happen."

Popular in the Community

Close

HuffPost Shopping’s Best Finds

MORE IN LIFE