Woolite is a Struggling Career Woman’s Friend

As shallow as it may sound, your office clothes can influence others’ opinion of you.  This is especially true if you are angling for a management position.  The common advice from career gurus is that you must dress for the position you are aiming for.  Wearing faded, frayed and misshapen clothes to the office is not going to help your manager visualize you in a leadership position.

For a struggling woman who is trying to rebuild a career, lack of money for clothes shopping is a big frustration.  It is a blessing that I do not feel the need to have designer clothers and accessories.  However, I am old enough and wise enough to realize that cheap clothes look cheap after only two washes.  By cheap clothes I mean those clothes that have cheap original prices.

I prefer to head for the clearance racks in decent department stores and specialty stores at the mall.  This way I get to have good quality items at a price that fits my budget better.  I choose clothes that are classic and span seasons because I can’t afford to have a separate wardrobe for spring, summer, fall and winter.  Because I wear them a lot, I take steps to ensure that my clothes last.

At the risk of sounding like an advertisement (this is NOT a paid post, by the way), I confess that for over a decade now I have washed my clothes only with Woolite.  I have noticed that it does not fade the colors of my clothes, making them look new-ish.   I once made the mistake of sorting my pajama pants in the regular detergent pile while the pajama top went in the Woolite pile.  The next time I wore them, The pajama pants were two shades lighter than the top!

I always use cold water in the washing machine, and set it on Gentle Cycle.  The dryer is set to the lowest temperature setting.  It takes much longer to dry clothes that way, but they don’t come out of the dryer looking like they have been baked. 

Taking care of my clothes this way have helped make my clothes last quite a long time, which in turn helps me save money while looking great in the office.  I think the extra dollar spent on Woolite and on the longer drying cycle are well worth it.