It's January, the first month of the New Year 2011, a time for new beginnings.  That said, it's time to begin our newsletter with attention to Conselle's Wardrobe Strategy #1 dealing with Clothes Power.  The power of personal appearance can work for you or against you, often without you even recognizing the effects.  People have largely forgotten the powerful effects of appearance. It's not taught in most homes or schools anymore.  

The power of personal appearance is literally, the fact that "the way we look or choose to present ourselves affects the way we think, the way we feel, the way we act or behave, and only then, the way others react or respond to us."  Most of the world is caught up with attention on the first impressions on others.  Most people fail to recognize that the real first impression is on the wearer, and that's us, affecting us and the achievement of our goals.  In turn, others react to us, also affecting us and the achievement or non-achievement of our goals.  Now that's power, and it's up to us to manage the power of personal appearance if, in fact, we want to achieve our goals.

That brings me to the need for appearance or image management in our lives.  I define image management as the "ongoing process of evaluating and controlling the impact of your appearance on yourself and others.  It is creating an authentic, appropriate, attractive, and affordable personal/professional image which increases your confidence, capability, and productivity; contributes to the achievement of your goals and simplifies your life!"   Now those are powerful benefits!

January is a traditional time for making resolutions to aid us in achieving our goals for the New Year.  May I challenge you, knowing that benefits are in store, to become more aware of how your appearance affects you, your family members, and the achievement of goals.  I want to invite you to consciously notice how you think, feel, and act after you've groomed and dressed yourself for the day or for an occasion during the day.  Notice how people respond to you throughout the day.  Notice what family members have to say reflecting their thinking and feelings.  Notice the way they behave.  Notice how their day goes.

I want you to think about resolving to manage your image more consciously than you ever have before.  There's no time like the New Year to make a resolution to do something for yourself, and your family.  It might be something as simple as getting a new haircut to remove distracting fly-away split ends and better balance or frame your face shape.  This will allow attention to go to your eyes for better communication with others.  Then schedule regular haircuts on your calendar so you don't get caught up in the busy-ness of everyday and forget taking care of yourself.  Schedule haircuts for the whole family on the same day.  Make it a family event and include a pizza supper or ice cream afterward.  Make it a habit.

On the other hand, you may decide you'd like to reflect your values in your manner of dressing.  Now this takes a lot of thought and self-discovery.  This is what we call "dressing from the inside out."  Values are those things which are important to us, including economy, efficiency, cleanliness, orderliness, simplicity, modesty, beauty, harmony, creativity, comfort, belonging, individuality, durability, and so on.  Research has established that our clothing values are consistent with our general values.  In other words, the same hierarchy of values that motivate, direct, or drive other life choices also motivate our clothing choices.  Values are a motivating force for action, an indication of likely behavior and decision making.  Over time, our values can be expected to change, depending on our circumstances. Maybe it's time for your clothes to catch up with your emerging values.  Simply by becoming aware of our clothing values we are more likely to acquire clothing that is consistent or in harmony with our values and who we really are or want to become.  Now that's image management.

Yesterday is gone forever, but it's never too late to become who we want to be and appearance is a factor.  Today is a new starting point.  What we do tomorrow and throughout this New Year creates a new set of circumstances that can propel us toward achieving our image and our life goals.  So I challenge you to resolve to use some amount of those 525,600 minutes you have available in 2011 to become more aware of ways in which your image affects you and others.  I invite you to manage your image as a resource capable of aiding you in the achievement of your goals in this New Year-and that's the power of appearance!

If you'd like the whole discussion of Clothes Power strategies, order Conselle's wardrobe strategy book #1 Clothes Power at $27.97.  Order through Conselle's Store or call 801-224-1207 and order directly through Kathy or Sarah.  
 

Order Clothes Power here!

I want to hit this hard this month.  It's true that many people don't recognize that the first impression is not on others, as is generally accepted and assumed; the first impression is really on ourselves --influencing the way we feel when wearing different clothes or seeing ourselves in the mirror.  A jacket is the most valuable garment to own.  Putting on a sharp looking jacket when you go out will first affect the way you think, feel, and act, before it affects those around you.  You will stand a little taller, feel more confident, competent, and capable, and also look a little more in charge, which will influence your interactions with others.  When the weather is hot, choose a shirt jacket.

For individuals who work from home or own their own business, they have the flexibility of wearing whatever they choose.  While it may be tempting to stay in pajamas all day, this can have negative effects on productivity.  The simple act of taking a shower, styling your hair, and wearing a shirt with a collar and nice pants will have a positive impact on productivity and profitability.

Teach your clients this simple truth that I have taught my clients for decades: "The clothes you wear affect the way you think, the way you feel, the way you act, and only then, the way that others react to you." While some people think that working in fashion and image is all about vanity and frivolous purchases, this is not the case.  Working with people and their personal or professional appearance delves deep into semiotic non-verbal communications expressed through clothing, grooming, and body language. Teach your clients the value of this important work. 

Many of today's fashion trends include excessive use of shiny satin, ruffles, lace, bows and beads, and fishnet stockings, details that are loaded with both positive and negative meaning.  Helping your clients become aware of the messages that they are sending through their clothing will make sure that both they and their clothes are sending the same message -- at home, in the community, and in the workplace.

 Rave Reviews for Conselle: 
 

"She has provided a true service in helping to expose and correct much of the misinformation and incorrect 'gimmicks' about appearance promoted in recent years, and does so without being negatively critical or substituting other gimmicks. She has a 'touch' that shows genuine interest in the well-being of the user......"
Marian L. Davis, Professor & Author, Tampa, FL

 "AICI Convention certainly confirmed that I made the wise choice. An excellent, comprehensive overview of the image industry, with complete academic background knowledge! Be prepared to be exposed to truthful and time-trusted theories behind all that we do. The portfolios inspire us to the same excellence. Consider this your jump-start to learning-you have a gold mine handed to you in one file box!"
Bev Dwane, Durham, NC

 Click here for detailed information or call 801-224-1207 and talk to Kathy.

Consistently, the most common new year's resolution is to lose weight.  Equally consistent is the fact that most people give up on weight loss within the first month and continue to retain negative feelings about themselves and their bodies.  Setting reasonable goals and staying focused are the two most important factors in sticking with a weight loss plan or program.  But regardless, by learning to dress slim, we can look so much better that we are better able to accept our body and develop a more positive body image.  Feeling better about ourselves, things begin to fall into place in our lives, new opportunities present themselves, lives are literally transformed for the better. 

Man in a sport coat. Photo manofstature.co.uk

General dress slim skills include:

1. Enough ease in the fit of the clothes so that the fabric skims easily over the body without getting "hung up" on the body.  The clothing silhouette must be dominant, not the body silhouette
2. Attention is drawn into the middle of the body by a center-front row of buttons, a necklace, a belt buckle, color and texture contrast and other design details.  Read Dress Slim info archived in previous issues of this newsletter
3. Unless already broad shouldered, fill out the shoulders a little with shoulder pads for better balance with your hips, tummy, or behind.  That's why men look so terrific in a sport coat or suit jacket.  They have "shoulders"! 
4. Draw attention upward to your face and hold it there.  Do this with interesting collar or neckline detail, a tie, jabot, or scarf, a necklace, and color contrast between the face and the clothes or between a shirt and jacket, sweater, or vest.  You have options.