What Are Your Clothes Saying About You?
International Fashion Blogger and Image Consultant Imogen Lamport tells how to make sure you’re sending the right message.
It turns out that one of the very first decisions you make every day can have a huge impact on your workplace effectiveness. No, it’s not what you decide to have for breakfast, it is the clothing and accessories that you choose to wear. “Most of us choose what we wear every day, which may or may not be such a good thing. There are so many options — and so much room for error,” warns Imogen Lamport, author, fashion blogger and celebrity image consultant.
If you watch a movie or a television show, you will notice that there’s a lot of thought that goes in to the characters’ wardrobes, because wardrobe is arguably more important than the script. When it comes to clothing choice, Imogen says it’s a silent language: “There is an unwritten language — we all read what people say with their clothing, before they open their mouths.” Imogen calls this “The power of aesthetic communications.”
Imogen was an enlightening Guest Czar on my Communications Czar Podcast. You can listen to the complete interview on the February 23, 2021 episode. In the meantime, here are 7 of Imogen’s tips for making a professional impression:
1. Remember that You Are Always Communicating
If you’re in front of people, you may not be speaking, but you are still communicating, so make sure you are sending the messages that you want to convey. This means that you have to consider what you are wearing and how you are groomed. Make sure every element of your appearance transmits the same message. “It’s so much easier to get your message across when it’s not incongruent with your appearance,” Imogen suggests.
2. Make Time for Grooming
“Grooming is so key,” she says, “Because this is the first thing that goes when we are sick or tired, so we read poor grooming as, ‘you are not in control.’ We want people at the top to be in control and look like they know what they are doing.”
According to Imogen, she and her colleagues in the image industry use the term “visually distracting” to describe people — like the perennially bed-headed Boris Johnson — who look like they’ve been pulled backward through a hedge. Imogen’s advice for Boris and for you is “Just brush your hair!” Something as simple as that can have an impact on the message you are trying to convey.
3. Save the Designer Sweats for the Gym
Turns out, Imogen is not too keen on trends, and she’s really not keen on the upscale tracksuits and designer yoga leggings that seem to be everywhere. “Athleisure is just taking comfort to the extreme end. Comfort over everything else — is it actually communicating what you want?” Imogen asks. Working from home or not, Imogen won’t give the nod to looking like you just game from the gym. “Unless,” she says, “your job is a personal trainer, and then it’s perfect.”
4. Accentuate the Positive to Distract from the Negative
“Allusion and distraction,” Imogen explains. “What I teach my clients is how to be a magician.” Let’s say you want to draw attention away from your stomach. “If I have a tummy that I don’t want people to look at, I am going to be very weary of things like belts,” she says. Instead, ask yourself, “What do I want to accentuate?”
Maybe you want to accentuate your shoulders so your waist looks smaller. Imogen says horizontal lines broaden and balance, so pair a bright shirt or jacket with a seam (or some sort of embellishment) on the shoulders with a dark, solid color pant. Since we are talking about slimming, I have to tell you that Imogen says, “Gray is actually more slimming than black.” That was a mic drop moment for me!
5. Four Eyes are Better Than Two
Glasses are not only going to create a great focal point on your face — they are going to make a positive statement about your intelligence! “Just wearing glasses makes you look 38% smarter,” Imogen reveals. “We think that people who read and that are smart wear glasses sort of thing, there is this association there.”
6. Wear Some Color!
“Studies have shown that we remember a colored experience 70% more than a black and white one, so wearing black and white makes you much less memorable,” our style czar relates.
For example, “If you’re a real estate agent, part of this is asking, ‘Who am I? What’s my brand and how do I visually communicate that brand with what I am wearing?’”
Your clothing choices will depend on what your brand is, “Because you know if you are pitching to a client and say, ‘we’ve got the most creative way of marketing your house,’ we don’t want anybody wearing a boring corporate suit, because that doesn’t say ‘creative,’ so it’s thinking about, ‘How do I align my clothes with my branding?’” Imogen relays.
7. Make a List of How You Want to Be Perceived
Maybe you want to look trendy? Intelligent? Established? Brainstorm traits that you strive to identify with. “Then ask yourself, ‘If I had a movie character that I was going to dress that had these traits, what would I dress her in?’ and that’s going to start giving you a really good idea of how to dress for your brand and for your business.”
Now that you know what to do, maybe you will find more time to put your work outfit together. Think about what you want to “say” with your clothing and accessories and watch what happens when the work world responds to your message!
Roseann Galvan, hosts The Communications Czar Podcast, which is available on Apple, Amazon and Spotifiy, or on the website, www.CommunicationsCzar.com.
