Dressing for Your Personal Brand

How many times a week do you say “but what should I wear”? Or in the same light, have stood in front of your closet trying to find something to wear as you actually have to go into the office this week? Many of my clients ask those same questions when they start planning for their branding session. And let’s face it, picking out your wardrobe for your shoot is a big factor when ironing out the details. When you’re just running errands you have no problem pulling on anything and heading out the door. But when it comes to dressing for the camera, panic can set in. For my podcast, Cocktails & Content Creation, my co-host (Kate Andrews) and I recently spoke with personal stylist and my client, Nicole Otchy, about how to dress for a branding shoot and she had some amazing advice. If you have the time, you can check out the full episode. But here are my three takeaways from our discussion on dressing for your personal brand.

1) Focus on Fit

The most important thing you need to focus on as you assemble your brand shoot wardrobe is fit. You need to wear clothes that fit, regardless of the number on the label. 

Nicole told us that if you’re not buying clothes in the sizes you should be, you’ll look in your closet and think, “Oh, they don't fit me when I put them back on. This is upsetting. And then we have an emotional spiral.”

And she said if you focus on the fit, you’re more likely to feel confident because you’re not worrying if clothes are too loose or too tight!

“Just buy the pants, because you're going to be amazed at how much better you feel, which is then going to spur more action towards whatever your goals are.”

2) Consider your Colors

The next thing you should consider when assembling your brand wardrobe is color and aesthetics as they relate to your brand. But before you run out and buy every single outfit in your brand colors, Nicole says to put on the brakes! 

“The misconception around this that I think is important to talk about is people think that they have to wear their brand colors. Now I did that for our shoot because I wear those colors anyways. So I think there is something to be said for brand colors. Now does every color have to be a color you would wear? Absolutely not. But are the main colors [something you could see yourself wearing]?” 

She said, “You should be thinking about, ‘Are these outfits when they show up on my site going to clash? Are they going to compliment [my brand]?’”

She suggested taking a color wheel and figuring out what colors compliment your brand colors so that you have more options when it comes to picking out the clothes you wear to show up in your business.  

3) Wear Items that are Authentic to who You are

Finally, when you are considering your outfits, you should be thinking about your personal brand outside of the shoot. You should be picking items that don’t just match your brand, but are authentic to who you are throughout all contexts so as to not break trust. 

Nicole says that how you show up online in your brand should have some connection to how you show up in person to create recognition. She gave the example that if you show up online with piercings and tattoos and then one of your clients meets you and you’re wearing something preppy, that could potentially break trust. 

But she stresses that, “You are the driver of those aesthetic choices. We are not playing to other what other people want, because honestly, other people don't know what they want. They just want you to keep showing up consistently. These sorts of things are not as big of a deal as we make them. It's just, are there markers, if I meet you in person, that would make me feel like, oh, that's you?”

You don’t have to worry about every image you put up on Instagram, but consider your brand pillars when choosing how you show up. 

‘I think that if you think of it as brand pillars, in terms of your look, it feels less like confining. And you can still kind of get that trust element,” Nicole said.

Thank you so much to Nicole Otchy for her words of wisdom on how to show up in your brand. If you’re trying to figure out what colors best suit you, I can help you out! Check out Color Guru and save 10% with CODE JWPCOLOR10! And for more great advice on how to show up in your brand, make sure you check out the full episode.