Critique of Dress Smart Men by Kim Johnson Gross and Jeff Stone :: Literature Review

II. Summary of Major Ideas Kim Johnson Gross and Jeff Stone, in their book Dress Smart Men, layout their view on how men should dress for success in the business world. The book details how to dress at three stages in your career: getting a job, succeeding in your job, and obtaining a better job. Although Dress Smart Men is laid out in these three sections, the authors discuss their dress philosophy throughout the book. One important point they make is that it is important to dress well because others will judge you, consciously and subconsciously, based on how you dress. Your wardrobe is a tool that you must use effectively to advance in your career. You must examine how you dress, eliminate items that you do not wear, and stock your closet wisely. The authors state that your goal should be style, which is timeless, as opposed to fashion, which changes frequently. Your clothing choices should emphasize quality over quantity; however, you do not need to spend an extravagant amount of money to look professiona l. Your wardrobe should also be versatile, giving you the ability to mix and match outfits. As you get higher in position, you should buy higher quality clothing. If you choose your clothing wisely it will enhance and further your business career. III. Critical Evaluation of Work Gross and Stone have laid out a very conservative philosophy of dress. They believe that you should wear what has become the established style of dress in the business environment. Many today refuse to follow standards that were held in previous generations. According to the humanistic worldview, there are no absolutes. Each person decides for themselves what is right and wrong. Believing in humanism will greatly affect how a person lives his life, and this effect is especially apparent in one’s dress standard. As Christians, we understand that absolutes do exist, and we should realize the importance of standards. By advocating conservative standards in this book, Gross and Stone reject the philosophy of relativistic humanism. Although Gross and Stone have a good philosophy of dress, they seem to place too high an importance on clothing. Although they claim that you do not necessarily need to spend a lot of money to dress professionally, they later state that â€Å"becoming more successful...doesn’t really allow for $200 suits anymore.† (111) While it is important to dress well, I disagree that you need to buy the most expensive clothing to further your career.