Do you dress to show the world how fantastic you are? You know, all that great lovely warm stuff about you; like what you are good at, your loving characteristics, your playful side, your creative flare, you loyalty, your courage?
Or do you dress to hide something away? To shrink away from the limelight.
Many people I meet to discuss their image and how to make the most of how they look do the latter. Their main focus is hiding their bottom, their thighs, their tummy, their chest, the list goes on.
Most of the time when I ask someone to tell me something they like about them self they get a stuck.
Many of us are so used to looking in the mirror and focusing on what we don't like that is all we see and that makes it exaggerated. People always think they look a bit bigger than they actually are.
How about this year doing something completely different?
How about this year choosing to just focus on what you like about yourself?
Then show this to the world.
We all know that people make assumptions about you in the first few seconds of meeting you, which is largely based on your image and body language (followed by how you speak, only a small per cent is the actual content of what you say). If you are hiding yourself away how are they going to know how fantastic you are?!
Consider the times when it could be important to make a great first impression; a few examples are networking for business, dating, wanting to step up your career ladder or make new friends.
I am NOT saying you need to dress to conform, wear something that does not feel comfortable to you or be head to toe in high fashion.
What I am saying is celebrate your greatness, dress in a way that feels totally authentic for you not based on a need to cover up or hide away.
Look in the mirror and focus on only what you like about yourself, dress to draw attention to this.
Grab a pen and paper to make notes on the following;
- Write 3 qualities you love about yourself
- Think of someone who loves you, write 3 qualities they love about you
- Think of someone you have worked with and write 3 qualities they like about you
- Think back to a time when you feel really good about yourself, write 3 words to describe how you were feeling, what you were saying to yourself.
Looking down at your pad these words are an expression of who you really are. Pick the top 3 you are drawn to the most, that you really feel represent your true self.
Next consider how you could show these qualities through how you dress. A few suggestions are:
Fun - bright colours, fun jewellery, quirky accessories.
Creative - mix matched colours and patterns, individual vintage, hand made pieces, unusual make up.
Friendly - softer colours are perceived as more approachable where as anything really contrasting (eg black and white) or really high fashion can be perceived as more powerful so could give off the impression of being less approachable. Yellow and orange are seen as friendly colours.
Loving - red, pinks, flowers and heart shaped accessories or patterns.
Confident - bold patterns and colours, statement pieces, high heels.
Have fun with this and enjoy fully expressing yourself. Remember like attracts like so if you are really showing the world your true self you are likely to attract people like yourself into your life.
Louise x
PS If you'd like some extra help with your image, learning what colours and styles will really suit you and how to express yourself fully please do get in touch! [email protected]
