Our clothes, how we wear them and our grooming, together send out significant clues about who we are and what we value. So essentially, our appearance communicates to other people information about our personality, our likes, our dislikes, and what type of conversation they will have with us if they were to engage. Even to the point of where we live, our level of education, our profession, and our position in society.
All of this information is interpreted by those around us within seconds. In fact, within 7 seconds, others will have a solid impression of who you are. Some research suggests it only takes a tenth of a second to start determining traits like trustworthiness which isn’t enough time to talk about your history, charm your new contact, or make up for any initial fopaux. We’ve entered a new age where to determine the suitability of someone as a long term or even life partner, is only as long as it takes us to swipe left or right. We make decisions about someone in the blink of an eye.
So if you consider that to be the case, then a prospective client, potential business partner or even investor will have also determined if they are going to buy from us, work with us or invest in us just as efficiently, before we’ve even opened our mouths. If what we wear has such an impact, then ideally we want our appearance to accurately reflect who we are inside. Dressing with intent or purpose – do we want to fit in or stand out – this will be determined by our appearance – our clothing, how well it fits, if it suits our body shape, if it’s appropriate for our age and our personality, our grooming – how clean and tidy are our fingernails? Are our shoes scuffed? Do we have a ladder in our stocking? How is everything we’re wearing geling? Is something not working for us? Are the colours we’re wearing enhancing our natural colouring or are they jarring? Are they making us look tired or unwell, or even older than what we actually are? Are we ourselves comfortable with how we look?
If you are a leader, your personal style is going to help determine how effective you are. You need to be authentic to feel confident in who you are and what you’re wearing. Your outfit needs to convey the right kind of messages. Your personality will dictate what styles and colours will suit you best but if you’re not sure, invest in classic styles of a quality that will always look great, won’t date, won’t wear quickly and will maintain their shape. Classic styles can be augmented with accessories to add a pop of your favourite colour or in a pattern that might be more aligned to your particular personality. The overall style however should convey they characteristics of the type of leader you are or want to be such as authority, empathy and trustworthiness.
The ‘Power Suit’ still exists but in a more contemporary, relaxed form and in a range of colours other than black (thank goodness!). And gone are those masculine shoulder pads. However, in having said that, there is a lot to be said for a smaller, structural shoulder pad that helps flatten out any small gapes in an otherwise flattering top or shirt. Your personal style informs your personal and professional image and is super important when it comes to creating the right conversation well before anyone says anything! As leaders, we can use our personal style to get the desired response from others, whether they be our peers, our team or our Board. We don’t need to spend big dollars to have great personal style. We just need to know what suits us, how to combine individual pieces, colours and design and invest in quality garments that transcend fashion.
If you are curious about your own personal style and how you might overcome any perceived challenges, then please contact me for a no obligation chat. If I can help you on the spot, then I’d be more than happy to do so. If it’s something more involved, then the next steps would be to organise a style consultation.
Email me at tanya@theimageandwellnesscompany.com.au or call me on 0439 973228.