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Working It? Don't

The intern who arrives at an interview in a tank top and flip-flops.

The colleague who shows too much cleavage. Another who comes to the office looking like she’s ready for a night of clubbing rather than client meetings.

The supervisor whose clothes are too tight and/or too short.

Charlotte may be a bastion of prim and preppy Southern pride, but there are some questionable choices being made. The banking town’s starchy conservatism lends itself well to the suits, tights and heavy layers of winter. But when the temperatures rise, it seems that for some women, common sense gets packed away with the wool coats.

Deciphering acceptable workplace attire can be tricky, but it doesn’t have to be.

“What ever the temperature, you still have to dress in a professional manner,” says Hal Rubenstein, fashion director at InStyle magazine. "There is a tendency in the summer to slack off, but you have to have sense of pride.

“If you have to make an excuse for how you are dressed at work, you frankly chose wrong,” Rubenstein says.

Many missteps can be averted before you leave the house. Self-editing goes a long way. Consider each piece of your ensemble before you put it on, checking the way it fits your body.

Ask yourself if what you are wearing will make those around you uncomfortable, says Margaret Hintz, a team manager with Administaff, a national outsource human resource company with an office in Charlotte. Is the outfit business-appropriate?

Fashion and business experts, and even hip-hop icon Joseph “Rev. Run” Simmons (who weighed in on Twitter recently) share the same piece of advice: Dress for the job you want, not the job you have.

That doesn’t mean buying a Prada handbag or an Armani suit. Instead, use common sense and dress to the level of those around you.

“Every individual has to understand they will be perceived by the way they dress,” says Sherrie Mathieson, author of “Steal this Style: Moms and Daughters Swap Wardrobe Secrets,” which addresses multigenerational workplace attire issues, among other topics.

It might be tempting to dismiss the importance of office-appropriate dress, or argue that quality of work should count for more than appearance.

“If you’re going for a promotion,” Administaff’s Hintz says, “Baring your midriff is not a good option.”

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