What you wear matters – not just to the whole rest of the world but most importantly to you. Because what you wear is a visual sign of your essential self that lives within you, as well as the goals and intentions you have for your life and your work. What you wear is actually an opportunity to a hint at, or shout out, your essential self. It allows the world to see what you love, be inspired by your strengths and be guided by your vision. That’s transformative style – it changes the world around you because others connect to you visually and they feel your passion.
When I talk about transformative clothes I like to start with how to choose your most flattering colors. First, because when you wear your colors you immediately look happier, healthier, fresher and more energetic. And that is quite empowering. And secondly, because it gives you the opportunity to look closely at your physical features. Most of us never look closely at the colors and shapes in our eyes, hair and skin but you will be greatly rewarded when you do. Eyes are gorgeous! Skin glows! And hair shapes and frames your face so it’s the first place anyone looks when they see you!
Let’s start with the colored part of your eyes, or your iris. If you look closely for a few minutes in the mirror you will start to see that there are usually three different colors in your iris. Colors collect around your pupil and then flow outward to other colors. And then there is a ring of color at the outer edge of your iris. Look closely and name the colors. Blue can range from gray to midnight. Green can be Caribbean sea green all the way to moss or olive. Brown can be chocolate or tiger eyed gold. Black is onyx. Then go looking for tops, scarves and jewelry that contain those same colors. When you repeat the colors in your eyes, others connect more closely to you and they actually look you in your eyes which are the center of your power.
Now on to your hair. Your hair should frame up your face and make your face visible to the world. It’s a good idea to look now at the shape of your face – is it long, wide, round, square at the jaw or pointed at the chin – and decide if your hair style enhances or highlights your best features or balances out any others. This is an opportunity to look closely and choose what you really love about your features – we all have some gorgeous aspect of our face such as prominent cheekbones, shapely lips or brows, a straight and regal nose – and purposefully choose to highlight it. We also have parts of our faces that we love that may not be classic or correct – mine is my prominent nose but I wouldn’t change it for anything! Name it, own it and show it off! Being bold and courageous and taking a purposeful stance is the starting point of transformative style.
Finally, pick up a piece of gold and silver jewelry and hold it up to your face while looking in the mirror. One will make you look fresher and happier and the other will make you look a bit tired or shadowed under your eyes and next to your nose. Again, choose to highlight yourself with the metal that looks gorgeous on you and makes you look and feel glowing. And don’t be afraid to mix metals if both flatter you or just because you want to. That’s part of what’s transformative in your style when you choose to wear what you find attractive and let the world see it.
Finally, transformative style requires learning about you and what expresses your way of acting, the colors and textures and styles that allow you to feel purposeful and comfortable when you wear them. Let’s say you love yellow – which is one of the on-trend colors of the season. Yellow is vibrant, friendly and a bit exciting and you may want the world to know that this is how you relate. Go to the store and pick up four or five different items of yellow clothing and hold them up to your face. One of them is guaranteed to highlight you and make you glow more than the others. Choose that one and know that you made a purposeful and educated choice about style and allowed the clothes you wear to be transformative for you!
Kerry Cordero is an Image and Style Consultant who speaks on all manner of style and clothing empowerment topics and she is the Owner of The First Look Image. Kerry has extensive training in image consulting from The Fashion Institute of Technology and the AICI, training in color analysis, makeup application and transformational style.
Kerry assists individual clients by creating beautiful and fulfilling ensembles and assisting them in dressing to express their personal brand. Kerry also writes substantive and humorous blogs and articles on clothing and style and works backstage at New York Fashion Week.
Corporations and associations hire Kerry to speak because she focuses on the power of clothing to add authority, appropriateness and authenticity to the world of workwear. Kerry’s personal belief is that style uplifts you, clothes fortify you and that ensembles have the power to make you feel unstoppable.
Meet Kerry here… thefirstlookimage.com
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