A Lerner tip in with which I have to disagree is: "You never want your clothing to go into the room before you as a distraction, or to become the center of attention." Because of his naive belief that the person should be the focus on the job interview, and not the clothes, Lerner rules out "loud colors, wrinkled fabrics, misfit garments, dated or worn clothing, or inappropriate styles that can cause distractions." In other words, your entire wardrobe!
In fact, distracting clothes can send a message about you that will be remembered long after your bumbling disaster of an interview is forgotten. For example, if you're in the financial services industry, why not show your conservative, cautious nature by arriving for the interview dressed as Smokey the Bear? Or display your fun side by wearing the raiment of Yogi Bear. Or show that you have nothing in your past to hide by simply arriving at the interview totally bare. It's the kind of grand gesture that will be remembered, and think of the money you'll save on dry cleaning.
Lerner is extremely detail oriented, reminding you to have clean fingernails, which I do think is important, since you don't want to make a bad impression on the hiring manager as you cling to their jacket, begging for the job, as security drags you out of the building. You are also advised to "not wear too many accessories; they can be distracting. You never want to appear gaudy or try to make an individual fashion statement."
Who knows? The hiring manager may be looking for an employee who has so many piercings and studs that their face looks like a tackle box. And let's face facts: Sure, you may want to hide your individuality by dressing like the other guppies in the unemployment pool, but who is going to say, "We don't have an opening now, but we'll keep your resume on file" to a job applicant who has tattooed the company logo on their chest?
