Is wearing a mask the new tie for men?

I have an interview coming up and aside from all the mental preparation, there's the question of what to wear. You want to look your best and it took little time to decide on my best shirt, pants, and shoes. As it's 95 degrees in 95% humidity here in the Carolinas, coat and tie for an interview is not really standard procedure. All it shows is your willing to sweat wearing the wrong outfit for the situation. I think it's almost a negative, almost a Halloween feeling where you're just interested in getting the candy.

Then I was stuck. I was asked to wear a mask for the interview. I spent the next few days buying and pondering what kind of mask to wear. Right now I have a well-made mask that has butterflies on it. I'm sure that will send some kind of message but I'm not sure what. I like it because it fits.

Mask sizing! Are our faces really that different? Most don't fit properly and move around your face as you talk. That won't look good as it moves over my eyes as I answer a question in the interview.

And what about the ones that bellow and contract with each word you speak. It's not only distracting but looks like the person will need CPR any minute.

I finally found the answer, at least I thought, in a face shield and order a few. I felt it would be better for them to see the full me. As communication is mostly body language I felt adding my mouth to the interview would be a plus. Then I tried it on. I'm not sure if I looked more from Mars or the Moon, but just plain weird. My wife agreed.

So an all-black mask seems conservative as that's what most people wear. That would be playing it safe. I found one that fit great but it was cheap and only offered a layer of knit that gave no protection. OK, maybe from the sun. I could go with the cheap nonwoven that's standard, although that would look like I made little effort. I ended up buying many types searching for the right look.

I've heard that wearing a blue tie is proper for a first interview. I'm leaning that direction. When I decide, DM me as I have a wide collection of masks I need to unload.