Today's Question: What is your favorite work outfit and why? Click here to tell us what you think.

Delia Garcia, 30, the first Latina and youngest female to be elected to the Kansas state legislature, does not let being  the "only one" in a room of all white and older legislators deter her from showing her flare for fashion.

Garcia's favorite business jackets include one that is red and another that is hot pink. They're stark contrasts to the blue and black suit jackets her older female colleagues favor. "They are still professional business suits but they're also distinct to me," says Garcia, who carried 75 percent of the vote in her district to win reelection in 2006.

After Garcia was elected, a fellow legislator gave her a backhanded compliment on her clothing. "I like the way you dress. I don't mean to sound rude to you but some people thought you'd show up in hoop earrings," the legislator said.

Garcia took the "compliment" in stride. Prior to running for office, she went through a mini-makeover, ridding her hair of its highlights and dying it all one color. In college, she took etiquette classes at her sorority house, studied corporate fashion in magazines and watched her mentors, Texas Sen. Leticia Van de Putte and U.S. Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez.

The time Garcia spent discovering her style and learning proper etiquette helped her to "not [be] afraid to create my own trends and my signature styles. My colleagues don't wear hot-pink jackets and turquoise jewelry," she says. "I think non-white legislators [and executives] will always be under scrutiny for attire no matter what, but being cognizant of that and playing it to our advantage is key." (See also: Secrets of Success: 7 Executive Women Give Advice to Their Younger Selves)

Play to Your Strengths

Finding the advantage in being scrutinized is an old trick underrepresented communities constantly reinvent. Latino, black and Asian-American executives, especially women, must realize how their skin color is perceived to understand how they should dress and present themselves, says Venus Opal Reese, assistant professor of aesthetics/cultural studies University of Texas at Dallas.

For more of Reese's and others' tips on looking professional, read the upcoming March 2008 issue of DiversityInc magazine. Subscribe now or read past issues.

Black, Latina and Asian-American women have traditionally been overly sexualized by mainstream white culture, and they dress accordingly, Reese says. She's not advising they dress opposite to the stereotype but rather in a manner that controls that perception. (See also: Your Hair or Your Job?)

"If we're aware of how we're seen … we can construct how we want to be seen," says Reese. "Then the power of being aware of how people see you becomes a strategy."

Reese's life serves as an example. Reese is black, wears her hair in natural styles, and is 5'8", slender and very energetic. She presents a sharp contrast to the older, mostly white professors. During the first few years working as a professor, her students and other faculty members related to her as if she were a student, referring to her by her first name rather than Dr. Reese.

"I was wearing the wrong clothes," says Reese. "I thought because I was smart, that is what was going to be measured … Once I realized how I was being perceived, I had a total makeover and started wearing suits."

Reese suggests Latina and black-female executives exercise their cultures' vibrant aspects through strategic use of color and mixing conservative and progressive styles. That is accomplished by complimenting a subdued suit with stylish pumps, a scarf or, as Reese does, with an attractive burgundy attaché case.

"It's a very signature piece that doesn't water me down but draws attention without being obtrusive," says Reese.

Makeup, Nails & Jewelry Tips

"Strategic" also means specifically knowing where you want to draw a person's eye. If a woman has wide hips, then Reese suggests she never wear spandex and choose suit coats that fall below her buttocks. If a woman has large breasts, then Reese suggests she pull her hair back, wear earrings that draw the eye to her face and use makeup that highlights her eyes. That does not mean glitter or bright colors. She suggests day makeup that provides a natural look for the office.

(See also: What Should You Wear to a Job Interview? Should You Hide Your Hair?)

"I recommend women work with colors that match their skin tone. Use a brush instead of a pencil, and if you use a pencil, use your finger to soften it," says Reese. "Right where the eyebrow arches, you put your highlighter on and then add a warm color. For some people, that's brown. On your lid, you put a richer color, a chocolate or a bronze."

For nails, Reese suggests women keep them short enough so that their fingers are typing and not their nails.

"It may seem like a subtle thing but brows, nails, etc., will keep you from being invited to a particular party or being included on a particular list," says Reese, who adds that every woman executive should own diamond studs, a diamond tennis bracelet and a pearl necklace and earrings.

"You might not like pearls but that's OK because they represent history to other people [who are in charge]," says Reese. "[People of color] are at a place where we have room to do things that historically we've never been able to do before. This is an extraordinary time to be alive. If you're in a corporate setting where you're the only one in that environment, be proud of not only the burden but that you get to establish the culture."

Garcia knows the pearl trick. When she wears her red or hot-pink jackets, she accessorizes them with pearl earrings.

"Creating a personal style is very important to me because I'm setting the stage as the first Latina for other Latinas to come," says Garcia. "[Fashion] also shows my personality. I have conservative streaks but I also have progressive streaks. You'll see the progressive come out in my [suit] color and the conservativeness come out in my pearl jewelry. It creates a balance in who I am and the way I work."

(See also: Is Natural Black Hair a Glamour 'Don't'?, 'Enough Is Enough': These Black-Female Execs Proud of Natural Hair and To Perm or Not To Perm?)

More Career Advice >>