Is Your Personal Style Authentically You?

A picture speaks a thousand words; and thus it is important that the image you project accurately reflects who you are, making it easier for people to connect, communicate and relate to you, including you to yourself. 

‘Authentically you' is a phrase that was recently repeated to me and which contains great power when considering our appearance.

We dress for two people

1. Ourselves! This might appear obvious but we need to feel comfortable and at ease in our clothes in a way that supports our self-esteem, giving us confidence.
2. Other people! Again, it might be obvious when you consider the situation of an interview, business or social meeting, first date or special occasion; but is less obvious on a day to day basis.

Wearing the best colour, shape and character of clothes make us look more confident, professional, friendly, approachable, and the best of all for most of us: younger, slimmer and fitter!  If you take care of your appearance, you give a clear message that you take care of yourself and thus by implication are competent and interested in taking care of me and what's important to me, whether that is my property, health, money, family or even, in the case of carers';  my feelings and emotions.

If you don't look ‘authentically you' then at some level the message is received that something is slightly off. And if you consider the days when you are ill, this is probably true.  When we feel under the weather we are less inclined to take care of our appearance (think hangover if you're stuck for an example!)   On those days we crawl out of bed feeling like a slug, usually dress rather like one, in neutral colours and often ill-fitting clothes.  These are the days a woman's hair and make-up are neglected as they seem to be just too much effort or a man decides that stubble will be fine today, and the message we give is clear: that we are not quite up to looking after ourselves and therefore less likely to be interested in someone else, when in fact, this may not be true. 

The same is true of companies; a company's branding and image gives many messages about the values of the company.  Where I work we have long known that clients hold us in high esteem; acknowledging our expertise and  commitment to delivering great, reliable, consistent and accurate results for individuals and companies.  We have hundreds of testimonials extolling the benefits of our services but our branding was giving a message that we were old fashioned and out of touch.  It was time to address the fact that the wider world seems to be largely unaware of the life transforming effects available from working with us.

So as with many others in the same position, we have taken advantage of the expertise of an objective opinion from a creative marketing design company who with over 40 years of experience in the international world of branding have come up with something that lets everyone know clearly who we are.  As a company we enjoyed the process of working together and with our partners, clients and the wider world to define our values.  Everyone within the organisation now knows that everything we do needs to be measured against the following words:

Quality,  Credible,  Colourful,  Relevant,  Engaging,  Supporting,  Aspirational,  Successful and Profitable and Integrity

When was the last time you had an objective opinion on your image?  I can highly recommend it for providing inspiration, motivation and energy as well as a whole range of practical benefits in any area relating to you and your clothes. Life becomes so much easier, less stressful and far more enjoyable with improved results at home and work. How you look reflects how you feel and thus if you can enhance your appearance, regardless of how good you are feeling, you will gain a positive impact in your life.  Even on those ‘slug' days!

Come for a Personal Style day at house of colour with one of our Personal Style Consultants, so that we can help you know how to create your own personal brand and individual style.