How to Dress S.M.A.R.T as a Highly Visible Professional
Did you know..
that your personal appearance is a part of your business? If you don’t believe it, try to wear an ill-fitting t-shirt and jogger pants for a week when meeting with clients and then wear a sharp suit the following week. Observe the treatment and conversation you receive in both instances. Whatever the field, professionals who are in front of people a lot such as keynote speakers, litigation attorneys, broadcasters,and real estate agents just to name a few, often get pre-judged before the client even initiates a conversation. Their image is their tool. These are statements that Mikara has heard before strategizing or curating an outfit from professionals. That is the kind of impact personal appearance can have on your brand. To add to this, the clothes you put on can also give others an idea of a lot in your life including your social status, career role, self-confidence, conformity, or even individuality.
In this article, we will explore setting fashion identity development goals to help you effectively showcase your personal brand which will be achieved by using the S.M.A.R.T approach created by Mikara Reid.
Besides having a significant impact on how others perceive you, having a good fashion identity has a lot of psychological benefits. By knowing who you are and what results you want to achieve with your personal appearance, having the right wardrobe can boost your self-esteem and self-confidence. Knowing you look your best gives a sense of well-being and makes you feel good about yourself and as a result, your performance will skyrocket and bring life to your overall image.
Having that certain level of confidence paired with an outfit you know you look good in makes a statement wherever you go, even before you utter a word. Confidence is such a vital value and is the starting point of fashion. As a professional, whether your style is conventional or not, you should try to improve your confidence and personal style. Try out these exercises if you want to learn how to be more confident in your personal style.
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Research shows that people can tell a lot about you just by looking at a photo of your shoes. Yes, shoes! Therefore, as a visible professional showcasing your personal brand, your wardrobe, and fashion identity must be part of your strategic plan. When we say fashion identity, we mean the uniqueness of who you are through your style.
The camera-ready world seems to be conflicted on what to wear as life post-pandemic has had a lot of professionals work full-time from home while others go to the office 2 or 3 days out of the week. The mix of how to dress up while factoring in comfort has been a struggle. The path to managing your fashion identity and personal brand does not have to be hard. You can schedule a consultation with Mikara and get to know how to leverage the power of your fashion identity by setting actual development goals to showcase your brand effectively.
You can spend a lot of time and money designing your digital media content and layout, take away material for speaking engagements, meetings, production gear, and other advertising but forget about managing your personal appearance. In 2023, you need to remember that you represent your business. Your personal style controls whatever message or narrative you want out there, digitally and in person. You are your brand’s walking billboard. People learn more about your brand through your appearance. What a potential client sees when they meet you may definitely affect the outcome of that encounter. Take our previous example of trying out two completely different outfits, a very casual look and a well-put sharp outfit, when meeting with clients and observing the treatment and conversation you receive in both instances. Will that not affect the result of your interaction? You don’t want to be the reason your business doesn’t flourish.
While coming up with an immaculate personal style as a professional, people fail to realize that the colors of outfits they choose are important. Studies have shown that colors play a HUGE part in dictating people’s moods. This is one of the top 10 questions Mikara Reid asks her clients whether it is an attorney, keynote speaker or real estate agent, the way you show up visually and physically matters and must be aligned. Color sets the tone for your message. Take, for instance, that you have an upbeat message prepared in your speech to 500 people. The first thing that may come to mind is summer as this is the season where people are out in the sun and are happy and laughing. The colors that associate with the summer and bring out the upbeat mood are yellow, orange, and red. These are also known as warm colors on the color wheel and color of psychology.
With that said, strategically plan for your personal appearance by allocating a portion of your time and money to it. Then, find a professional stylist to help you discover your fashion identity. For you to make the best out of your personal style, that will ultimately represent your brand, avoid going for a quick fix.
It is now evident that your appearance is the first “statement” or impression you make when you meet someone. Understanding what your clothing personality is will create a solid foundation for creating fashion identity development goals suitable for you. Let us dive into it.
Recognizing your clothing personality.
The factors that majorly influence your wardrobe choices are your personality, lifestyle, and work environment. Before you make a wardrobe plan and learn how to strategize your wardrobe with your personal appearance, which will be discussed later, it’s imperative that you take a look at your way of life and how you spend your time.
What type of work do you do? Are you a broadcaster? A home based microsellor? A remote consultant? A working single? A volunteer? Do you have clothing that is suitable for the events you attend and places you usually visit/go to?
Once you’ve identified your various lifestyle needs, you can then estimate the amount of time you spend at each of these places: at work, at casual places, and special events. Then, go to your closet and analyze it to see whether the types of garments hanging in there are roughly proportional to the time spent in each of the places mentioned. It is important to note that whenever you make a major lifestyle change, you need to update your wardrobe as well.
Another factor that influences your wardrobe is your work environment. The attire you put on is affected by whether you work online or offline. For example, someone who moves around while working needs to wear a particular fabric shirt that is more comfortable to walk around in as opposed to someone whose job requires them to sit at their desk most of the time with minimal movement.
With the increase in entrepreneurship and businesses, it is important to know how to influence people’s views about you by using just your personal appearance. Did you know that your most powerful form of communication is the visual message conveyed by your presentation? Your image does play a role in communication. How you use your image to communicate will determine how well you’ll be received by others which will ultimately affect your personal and professional success. Therefore, work on your fashion identity.
Designing your fashion identity development goals
How often do you grab a client’s attention just because of your striking image? And no, we’re not talking about wearing the one-of-a-kind fashion statement pieces or the big-name brands but a clean-cut and pristine image of outfits that fit you so perfectly that you influence someone. A lot of people would respond with "Not me" or “Don’t even look at what I’m wearing, I pull this old thing out of my closet”— well someone already looked at you, and your wardrobe is a part of your brand, remember. If it is an embarrassing topic to talk about or you’re ashamed about your overall personal appearance then do something about it. Designing and setting fashion identity development goals using strategies like the S.M.A.R.T. approach will help establish an authentic quality image that suits you, your brand, and your way of life. Just as businesses use the SMART goal-setting criteria (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound) for projects, Mikara has her version of SMART that is customized just for styling. Here is the breakdown of the S.M.A.R.T. approach for highly visible professionals in 2023:
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Style-Specific: turn your wide idea into a specific concept. There’s not much you can do with ideas that don’t connect or zero in on your challenges or mission. If your goals aren’t specific, then they are just wishful thinking. To avoid this type of thought, you first have to ask yourself these questions: what do I want to achieve with your image? What changes have I been making to achieve this goal? (These are questions we ask potential clients before bringing them on board). Being specific with your image will allow you to know what is going on from top to bottom.
Meaningful: set intentions for the new wardrobe direction. Once you have specified your image goals, ask yourself: Why am I doing this? What is the importance of this change? Setting intentions will help you understand the importance and purpose of your image and lead you to take action to help you achieve it. It will also give you more clarity on what you want and take the guesswork out of where to invest your time and focus.
Attractiveness: align your clothes and confidence with your profession or lifestyle. Does this hairstyle flatter your face? How relevant are these updates to your lifestyle? Is this color highlighting your attribute correctly? Are you aware of your body shape and what silhouettes complement it? You should always aim to align your appearance with your profession or persona. Your image is an element in life that is forever developing, and making sure that your image aligns with your values, and long-term objectives can attract the results you want. Identifying your value system and long-term objective are a huge task that becomes one with your outward image. You are what you attract, so appear like it!
Rewarding: internally fulfilling you. We have talked a lot about how your image influences others in this article, but how rewarding is it for you internally?Are you checking yourself out? The idea of the image is engrained in your psyche and self-fulfillment. Without that, what good is it to put in all that work to bring out your full potential? How you carry yourself shows what you want to be. So before moving on to the last step, you must understand how rewarding it is for you. To add to this, we all have an emotional attachment to clothes, when we try them on, wear and get rid of them. A certain type of undies may make you feel more confident, while another woman may feel more confident in a particular fabric for pants. You have to know what works for you and makes you feel great about yourself. It starts with you before anyone else can believe it.
Trackable: Set goals and journal your observation and progress. TIME! Many people think this is just an overnight process, but don’t understand that it takes work to strategize and create a personable system suitable for someone. Track your progress as you make these adjustments to work toward your full potential. If you don’t track your progress, how will you know if it’s working for you or not? That is why, to my clients, I recommend journaling their thoughts, feelings, and the progress they are making. Set goals with appropriate timelines based on your personal and professional schedule. Set short-term goals (3-6 months), medium-term goals (6 -18 months), and long-term goals (anything beyond two years). Outside of setting a timeline, answer the following questions: Will this goal fit into the professional and personal timeframe you had in mind before starting? Do your goals apply to where you are now, or do they reflect where you want to be in one, five, or ten years?
Managing your image is about more than outward appearances, it’s an in-depth process that highlights your individuality. What activities do you need to do to achieve your image’s full potential for better opportunities? Does your visual presentation say what you want to say without uttering a word?It is crucial to set fashion identity development goals as they help you establish a clear direction for your fashion choices and build a strong personal brand that can positively impact your personal and professional life.
So, are you trying to figure out how to set your fashion identity development goals? Try out MIIEN’s S.M.A.R.T approach to creating your best image yet! And let us know your current status, updates or thoughts in the comment section.