Dressing for DC: #inmyMM with Investment Strategist Erin Harkless

May 17, 2016 | Filed in: Woman of the Week

We love taking a look into the fascinating lives (and closets) of our favorite customers. Here, DC-based investment strategist Erin Harkless talks career, workwear, and dressing for life in the capital city. 

I WORK at a global investment advisory and consulting firm called Cambridge Associates. I build and manage portfolios for institutional investors like foundations, college endowments, and family offices. In its simplest form, my job is to guide my clients’ investment process.

MY FIRST JOB EVER was at a restaurant called Cheesy Jane’s in my hometown of San Antonio, Texas. It was a hamburger and milkshake joint, and I was a hostess there during high school. I would greet customers and fill ketchup bottles and occasionally help make malts when the malt guy didn’t show up for work—which was pretty often. He was very unreliable.

Erin in the Morrison shirt and Williamsburg skirt.

I LIVE in Washington, DC. I’ve been here for four years now, and my husband and I just moved into a house. I’d always loved DC—it’s a good balance of nice weather and quality of life, and it’s culturally vibrant and active.

I STARTED OUT as a summer intern at Merrill Lynch, on the trading floor. It was an insane experience. I learned a lot, but I quickly realized I wanted something more client-facing and focused on investment strategies. After college I joined Goldman Sachs in New York, and from there my career has stayed more or less in investment management. I got my MBA at Harvard, and then moved to Washington for my current job.

WHEN I WAS LITTLE, I wanted to be a journalist, like Barbara Walters. For Christmas one year I got a little reporter’s notepad, and I would go around and interview my relatives. My current job requires knowing what questions to ask, so the investigative aspect is still there.

Erin in the Hanna dress in lilac (coming in early June). Available in black here.

I DON’T KNOW how to whistle. I just can’t do it.

I TREAT MYSELF by getting massages, once every few months. My husband jokes that my masseuse is the other man in my life.

MY STYLE is elegant but with a little spice to it. There are two knocks on how people dress in DC: One is that people here have no sense of fashion, and the other is that it’s very conservative. And both are true, to some degree. I’ve always been in finance, so my work wardrobe hasn’t changed much since I moved here, but my out-of-work wardrobe has gotten tamer. Today, if I was going to New York for a girls’ weekend and going out to bars, I’d try to put together a killer outfit—cute shorts, or a romper, and heels—but nobody in DC wears anything like that, even in the trendier places. The edges are sanded off a bit.

The Hanna dress in lilac—coming in early June. Available in black here.

MY WARDROBE is actually quite colorful. I have a lot of black staples, but red is my favorite color, and I wear a lot of blue, too.

MY GO-TO MM DRESS is the Toi. If I’m in a meeting, I can put a jacket over it, or I can just wear it as is to go out to dinner after work. I like the fit-and-flare tailoring.

I AM CONSCIOUS OF clothes being too short or too tight. I’m tall and a bit curvy in the hips. Sometimes I’ll see a dress in a store or online that looks like it’s supposed to hit at the knee, but when I put it on, I look like I’m about to go walk the streets.

ADVICE TO LIVE BY: As my dad would say, “If you want to be taken seriously, look the part.” I’m not saying to go out and buy Chanel jackets, but take notice of what people more senior to you are wearing in the office. As a woman, you have to be especially careful—show up in white pants one day, and people might talk behind your back about it. I wear white pants sometimes, but not to work.

Erin in the Susan dress.

I ADMIRE my mom. The older I get, the more respect and admiration I have for her. She had a great career, took a little time off to have kids, and then went back to work. She taught at a community college, and she managed my dad’s medical office for many years. She also found time to volunteer at the library and bake cupcakes and take care of my grandmother. And I can barely get myself up and to the office every day! I also admire all the women in my family who came before me and grew up in the segregated south. They helped knock down walls so that I can aim higher.