Lesa Frances Kennedy, CEO of the International Speedway Corporation and Vice Chairwoman of NASCAR, answered the question: How do you hire?

“First impressions are so important in terms of fitting in on the team. The moment you walk in the door; you’re being observed. You may not know that, and it’s not anything formal, but I’ll get feedback. You read the body language of some of the people they’ve met, like a receptionist, and you can pick up very subtle cues about how they felt about that person. Was the person respectful?”

As you read this quote from the NYT Corner Office, Sunday, October 25th, consider the first impressions you create no matter who you meet. Does your first impression project confidence and approachability? Are you someone they want work with in the best of times as well as when problems arise?

For women who fervently oppose makeup, try tinted moisturizer (We all need moisturizer.), a well-defined eyebrow and a bit of color on the lips and check. Burt’s Bees is one of many brands that offer a lip stain combined with a chap stick. Women’s lips never should look dry.

For men, even those who prefer a shadow beard, the rest of the face must be well groomed, with trimmed eye brows and no other facial hair out of place. It is amazing how popular men’s products for the face, moisturizers and exfoliates currently are. Also, instead of the heavy colognes of yesterday, light fragrances are the rule now.

Shoe designers have us coming and going. What shoes should we wear for each occasion? Recently a major department store had a sale:  buy one pair and get one free. What a genius idea and seductive way to reduce a shoe inventory and get us to go nutty buying shoes we do not need!

Recently I was getting ready to go to a conference. My biggest challenge was how could I limit my shoes to four pairs? You need shoes to workout, a dressy dinner event, a gala and then to host a meeting. Also, the conference center was a mile away from the rooms. Why couldn’t I just bite the bullet and wear workout shoes the whole time? After all, athletic shoes in all colors are the rage.

I did end up bringing too many shoes but my feet felt good as my image!

It is not easy to dress for the masses, especially on television. In today’s race for the White house, the male candidates have it much easier. Their choices are simple because it comes down to the shirt and tie combination. Their main battle is the fit of the jacket. President Obama has his suits tailored to fit him so he always looks elegant and crisp. He is also tall and slim, so his main issue is look stately and in command in an approachable manner.

For the heavy set candidate, it can be difficult to not look rumbled and clown-like. Women, on the other hand, have an even more difficult task. Their clothing choices are either too bland or tend to look matronly. Another challenge is that they must look feminine but like they’re still in command.

Television will add at least 20 pounds so clothing choices must accent the slim side of women. We are now in the midst of a presidential campaign so look for the dress style wins in the candidates and learn from those that miss the mark.

Why are we surprised when we see actresses and actors who look short in real life? That’s because on the screen, their clothing has been tailored to scale to give an impression of greater height.

I like to stretch accessory guidelines. I have been told many times that only certain items should be worn on tall folks and short people. For instance, the rule is that a short person should never have cuffs on their slacks. Also, a tie on a shorter man should be worn slightly longer than appear too short. However, I feel that if the proportions are working and the accessories look good, that usually works no matter what the person is wearing.

Stretching the guidelines on accessories can make an outfit truly stand out.

I am probably going to date myself but hot pants with boots were the rage in the 70’s. Are they back? Hot pants featured fabric just two to three inches below the crotch. Today’s young and not so young women are wearing shorts that have no more than an inch of fabric covering their butts. It is not a pretty sight.

In fact, it’s totally inappropriate for business. A young woman was even fired for wearing these very short shorts. She was upset that there was not a dress policy addressing how short these pants should be. (Funny that young men are wearing shorts that hit their knees and hang way too long)

This is one reason why people in other countries see Americans as sloppy.

Since their introduction, leggings have now grown into a staple for most women. Most pants, from jeans to dress pants, have gone slim and skinny. And if you look at what women are wearing today, probably almost 90% wear leggings to slim and skinny pants. The latest fashion craze taking hold is patterned leggings.

I understand patterned leggings with the right coordinated top can be a fun look for the gym and running. However, I do not feel they are appropriate for business casual or casual day at work.

One of my clients is a Senior Vice President in a progressive organization. For example, women can skip the hose and wear sleeveless tops and dresses. She wears 3 inch heels. The reasons it does not matter for her is one, the culture and secondly her clothing choices are tailored so that the heels are not even noticeable.

However, in very conservative organization, that may be a problem as well wearing clothing choices that appear too trendy. It might lack the professionalism you want.

Fortunately, there are many shoe choices that offer a smart look without three-inch heels. Stuart Weisman has a great kitty heel pump that is classic and rich looking without sacrificing comfort or needing to make trips to a podiatrist later on.

The challenge for wearing tee shirts are that, in general, they are made in very lightweight cotton and can look like athletic and sleepwear.

But, now, Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein and Donna Karan have them in fine cotton and silk. These shirts do have a dressier and more polished look. However, wearing them makes it very difficult for senior management to police the difference between the very casual cotton and silk materials.

Maybe, the organization could help by allowing one day a week that tee shirts would be allowed. Further guidelines could be that shirts must not have any wording on them and that solid colors work best. Wearing tees with jeans or twill pants would be fine for casual days.

Ladies, do not wear tees with leggings or capris. That is too casual but capris would work for an outdoor event.

Often, I work with high potential women who have a challenging time with senior leaders who are hesitant to move them to the next level because they lack leadership presence.

Recently, in a first time meeting with a senior manager being looked at for a director role, the subject of makeup came up. She indicated she didn’t wear any, especially lipstick.

Lipstick comes in many colors from nude to bright red. Another form of lipstick is tinted with color chap stick like Burt’s Bees which also has a wide range of tints. The price of lipstick ranges from $9.99 to $50.00 (Tom Ford). However, the monetary cost of lipstick is nothing compared to the actual value it can add when appropriately applied.