DRESS CODES 101: For Self-Employed Women

Congratulations!  You’re self employed.  No more dress codes.  You get to wear whatever you want!

BE CAREFUL!!!

As women entrepreneurs working in a highly complex and competitive society, you must recognize and understand the impact of your appearance as it communicates first to you and then to others.

What you wear and the way you look affects:

  1. the way you think,
  2. the way you feel,
  3. the way you act or behave, and then
  4. the way others react or respond to you.

A couple of years ago, I was invited to a Cinco de Mayo party at a private home.  I didn’t see the invitation (I was somebody’s “plus one”).

I was anticipating margaritas, some tacos, and chips with salsa.

I wore my favorite faded jeans and a casual top.  I threw on a “fancy shmancy” statement necklace, just because, I’m random like that.  It was my version of Mexican Chic 🙂

BUT!  I was mortified when I arrived at the house party and discovered it wasn’t just a casual get-together with tacos and tequila…

It was a FULL BLOWN business networking event with vendors,

a Chef in the Kitchen preparing fresh seafood (tacos) and a

Bar with Bubbly Bartenders serving specialty drinks!

I was NOT at the proper DRESS CODE level.

I was embarrassed for myself (and the woman that invited me).  I felt irrelevant, insecure and inferior.

I wanted to crawl inside my jumbo “jalapeno margarita”… and die.

That night I promised myself I would never, ever, be below dress code level again!

Can you relate?

Here are FOUR Types of DRESS CODES to help you avoid a dress code disaster and dress appropriate for the occasion:

FOUR Types of DRESS CODES

  1. Casual.  Pull out your favorite jeans!  You can opt for a comfortable tee or dress things up with a stylish top, jewelry or even a blazer.  Footwear – Can range from sneakers to heels to boots.
  2. Business Casual.  Dress pants or khakis with a fashionable top is appropriate.  A casual skirt is also an option.  Feel free to dress up your outfit with heels, jewelry and/or accessories.  Hair and Makeup everyday style.
  3. Business.  Wear a business suit or a business style dress with heels (high or low).  Tip:  Stick to business colors:  black, navy blue, gray or brown.  (Knowing your best business color is vital so you don’t look tired, old or sick)
  4. Smart Casual.  Smart Casual (or dressy casual) is basically a combination of casual, business casual, and business dress codes, where you can combine them into a “smart” ensemble.  It’s safest to go with nice slacks or a skirt, though you could also wear a nice pair of dark jeans dressed up with a collared or otherwise dressy top.  Throw on a blazer for an extra touch of class.  For Smart Casual, you should look sharp, stylish and neatly put together.

I’ve come a long way since my dress code disaster – As for me, I believe blazers are the answer for all occasions!

 

Was this helpful?

I challenge you to become more aware of how your clothing and grooming affect the way you think, the way you feel, the way you act, and the way others react to you.

Make the power of personal appearance work for you!

Kisses!

Nancy

PS  By the way, if you want more information like this, feel free to reach out to me.  I have a lot more tips that have helped women entrepreneurs create a powerful, attractive and visible personal brand and may help you, too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Continue Reading

Dress to Impress – How to Know if Your Dress is Too Short/Long

How short is too short?  How long is too long?

There’s a fine line between stylish —————- and unstylish.

 

Getting the right length, but also the right fit and shape, can make all the difference between looking fabulous or looking frumpy.

Let’s talk hemlines.

How to choose the right hem length for your body.

To determine your best length, stand in front of a full-length mirror, heels together, toes pointing toward 10 o’clock and 2 o’clock.

Check to see where your legs touch and where they don’t.

The places on your legs where your legs don’t touch, or rather the “openings” in the legs, are called “diamonds” in your legs.

Make sure all lengths, including skirts, dresses, shorts, capris, cropped pants and cuffed jeans end in the center of the diamond.

Note:  The openings will vary depending on the shoes you are wearing.

 

The bottom line is wearing a dress of the right style and ideal length to suit your body type is sure to make you feel beautiful and look fabulous!

Was this helpful?

Please SHARE this with your fashion challenged friends on social media – they will thank you for it!

PS – If you’d like to create a SATISFYING wardrobe made up of fashionable clothing that FLATTERS and creates a feeling of SELF CONFIDENCE, then SIGN UP to subscribe to this blog – so you can receive fashion and beauty tips, tricks & training; and as a special gift – you will receive a FREE eBook.

Resources:  Excerpts from: Fashion Meets Faith Training Manual (if you have ever thought about becoming a Certified Christian Image Consultant – please CONNECT with me so we can TALK about that), and the popular self-help book –

The Fashionating Life Formula:  How to Build Your Self-Confidence by Nancy Joseph

In these pages you’ll discover:

How to identify and develop your personal image

How to take care of your skin  so you can put your best face forward

How to get healthy and increase your happy factor

Why your image impacts your income and your outcome

How to build your wardrobe and your bank account.

If you want to be more confident but don’t know how, this book is for you. 

https://www.amazon.com/Fashionating-Life-Formula-Build-Self-Confidence/dp/1533558493

Continue Reading

Three Rules For What to Wear When Doing a Presentation – First Impressions

First impressions are especially crucial when delivering presentations.  You can control how the audience perceives you by taking extra care with the clothes you choose to wear.

I recently attended a conference where the presenter was not wearing a belt.  He was a rather large man.  No big deal, right?  Well, during his entire presentation I was distracted by the sight of him holding up his pants with his left hand.  I felt anxious about the possibility that his drawers might drop to his ankles right there in front of God and everybody.  Then I noticed that I was annoyed that he didn’t make the effort to polish his appearance.  I left the conference early…. I wasn’t impressed.

When you are doing a presentation, you have the opportunity to attract more clients, make more sales, get more leads into your funnel and build a high performing team.

It’s proven that people react to us according to how put together we are.  If someone is distracted by your presentation, they won’t pay attention to your expertise.

You must dress strategically.  What you wear signals your tribe.

Let me say that again, “What you wear signals your tribe.”  Now YOU say it out loud:  “_______ _______ ________ ________ _______ ________”

Here are three rules to keep in mind when deciding what to wear for a presentation:

  1.  Dress consistently with your brand.  You should dress to mirror your brand, or embody it.  Are you the creative type?  Please wear something that signals that.  Are you a boring banker?  Then wear the gray suit.  Your vibe attracts your tribe.
  2. Be yourself.  Whatever you wear, you should think about how it makes you feel.  If you feel confident, that will spill over into your presentation.
  3. Dress strategically.  Think about the audience.  What accessory can you wear, or slight change you can make, that will allow you to stand out from the crowd, without looking freakish?  A lot of Silicon Valley types wear suits (to show that they’re successful) but add brightly colored sneakers (to show that they’re still hip and rebellious).  The outfit you wear sends a message; figure out what you want to say with your style.

The bottom line:  Let your personality come through just enough to make you stand out without being distracting.  A polished appearance is the perfect complement to a polished presentation.

Was this helpful?

If you are in direct sales, sell a product or a service, then it is imperative that you do lots and lots of presentations.  You can’t be successful if you are a “secret agent” and nobody knows about your business.  When you dress to impress, you will attract more customers and make more money.  Whether you do live presentations or video presentations, I can help you make the best possible first and lasting impression with your wardrobe.

Do you feel uncertain about the way you look?   Several years ago I was unhealthy, overweight, didn’t like the way I looked, had low self-esteem, and nothing to wear!  I was inspired by a true story about beauty and self confidence and spent an entire year discovering and developing my personal image, my purpose and my potential.  As a result I lost 50 pounds, gained self confidence and built my dream business.   God impressed upon my heart to help women with their self esteem and style and that is why I created The Fashionating Life Formula: How to Build Your Self-Confidence.  It’s a proven, step-by-step guide to building your personal brand, your self confidence and your bank account.

PS – If you want to join the tribe of beautiful women entrepreneurs who are inspired by this blog, please SIGN UP here. You’ll receive trainings, tips and tutorials and we will send you a FREE ebook right away, to help you live the superabundant life that you were put on this planet to live!

PSS – Did you know that women who wear makeup earn up to 30 percent more than women who don’t?  Go ahead, put your lipstick on and hustle!

 

 

Continue Reading

5 Reasons Why You Should Dress to Impress Everyday

Believe it or not, people judge you based on the clothes you wear.  I don’t care if you’re walking down the street or sitting in a networking meeting; people are constantly looking at what you’re wearing.

The absolute first impression you will make on someone will be through your clothes.

Do you know how to dress to create your best possible first impression?

A guy goes into a clothing store to buy a new suit, but he doesn’t want to spend too much money.  The tailor shows him a really nice suit for $400, but the guy says it’s too much.  Then the tailor shows him another suit for $200, but the guy says it’s still too much.  After showing him several others, he finally shows him one for $10.

“That’s more like it!” the guy says, and he goes to try it on.

He comes back and looks in the mirror and one sleeve is about two inches shorter than the other.

“No problem,” says the tailor.  “Just hunch up your right shoulder.”  So the guy hunches his right shoulder way up and the sleeves look OK, but the lapels are crooked.

“No problem,” says the tailor.  “Just stick out your left arm and rooster it like a bird’s wing.”  So the guy sticks out his left arm and the lapels look OK.  But then he notices that one pant leg is shorter than the other.

“Well, just keep that leg stiff” says the tailor, “and no one will notice.”

“I’ll take it!” the guy says.

So the guy leaves the tailor shop wearing the suit, walking with his left leg stiffened, one arm stuck out like a bird’s wing, and one shoulder hunched way up.  As he’s walking down the street he passes two orthopedic surgeons.  One of the doctors says to the other, “I have never seen anyone in such bad shape in my twenty five years of practice.”

“Me neither,” the other doctor says, “But he sure has a nice suit!”

Disclaimer:  You may have heard this anecdote before, it’s been around the block a few times. (Hehehehe!)

 

Well-dressed people are typically given more respect and attention than those who could care less about their looks.

Regardless of what people say about not judging a book by its cover, people’s first impression of you are the ones they’ll take away with them.

Here are 5 Reasons Why You Should Dress to Impress Everyday

1 – It makes a good impression

2 – It will give you confidence

3 – Getting compliments on your outfit feels awesome!

4 – It will keep you productive

5 – You never know who you’ll run into

Never underestimate the power of your personal image.  When you dress in a way that lets people know you have a sense of confidence, and present yourself in a professional manner, it makes a huge difference.

Everyone makes snap judgments about the people they come in contact with everyday.

In other words, Your Image Impacts Your Income and Your Outcome.

Was this helpful?

If yes, I would love for you to receive my FREE ebook on First Impressions and Networking.  Please SIGN UP on the top right hand side of this page and I’ll send it to you!

PS – If you want to take things to a new level with your wardrobe The Fashionating Life Formula will teach you how to dress to impress so you can attract your ideal clients and make more money!

PSS – If you need an entertaining Guest Speaker at your team meeting, conference or training, please consider me!  Thank you and make it a beautiful day!

Source: The Fashionating Life Formula: How to Build Your Self Confidence by Nancy Joseph

 

Continue Reading