This month we’re excited to share with you an article from Image Consultant and Stylist, Laurice Brown. If you are like me, you may worry when you hear the words “image consultant” and may think of floppy red bowties and blue power suits. Then I met Laurice, part artist, part therapist, part philosopher. Her approach to consulting is all about connecting and projecting the authentic beautiful UNIQUE you to the world. I’m in the process of working with Laurice, and the process has been fun and amazingly revealing. You have to trust someone a lot to strip to your underwear and try on all your clothes in front of her! I trust Laurice that much and know you are going to have a lot to think about from her article. Carol
Are Your Clothes Supporting the Authentic You?
Laurice Brown
by Laurice Brown, AICI
Very few of us learned how to dress in a way that is congruent with who we are and that supports our authenticity. Our clothing sends messages to the world and we may not even be aware of the messages we send. Sometimes we are living in the past wearing a style that was flattering on us when we were 25 but not so amazing at 45. Or we are drawn into a trend that fashion says is good, but on us, is uncomplementary.
We may use clothing to hide and make ourselves smaller, not in physical size, but in attitude and to shrink from the perceived judgments of others. Or wear louder clothing in pattern and/or color to compensate for insecurities.
Often, it is hard for us to realize when we are in these patterns without some outside help. But if you want to start on your own, the first thing to do is to get rid of everything in your closet that you know doesn’t fit, doesn’t feel right or isn’t you anymore.
Why are you holding onto things that don’t work for you? They only take up space and make you feel like you don’t have anything to wear.
I find that many of my clients hold on to old clothing as tenaciously as they do to old belief systems. Clothing that doesn’t fit or doesn’t work for them fills their closets. Belief systems about the limits they place on their lives clutter their mind. Both actions are often subconscious, and neither one serves them in the present.
Because my work involves personality and energy, I see a “pattern” among someone’s coloring, bone structure, intensity of energy and personality attributes. Harmony exists when you work with those energies that are you.
One client, a plus-size woman, was hesitant at first to work with me because she didn’t want to focus on the body when the body was “in that place.” During our consultation, she said she wanted to see herself as gentle, caring, patient, and reserved. But in actuality she is warm, determined, bold, sensitive, and quick to laugh. She was trying to compensate her strong energy particularly for the sake of her husband, who is gentle, romantic, loyal, and composed. She wanted him to be the man of the house, and felt the subsequent suppression of her natural energy was a key reason she overeats. That’s when I broke out the tissues. (It can be an emotional process to get to the real you!)
Hiding her light, in her marriage or her clothes, was not in her best interest. To feel good, she needed to accept her natural attributes; they are part of her gifts. To look her best, she needed clothes that harmonized with her dynamic and extroverted energy, rather than contradict it. When she dresses to support this, she’s perceived as warm, strong, sensitive, and a delight to be with-making her more approachable and attractive.
Is how you dress holding you back? What messages are you conveying when you present yourself to the world? Are you being perceived the way you want to be perceived? Is the way you want to be perceived really you?
It’s time to let that beautiful, authentic you out. If you feel that you don’t have anything to wear, that your clothes just aren’t doing it for you any more, that you want something different, but you don’t know where to start, find someone to help you and your wardrobe get unstuck.
Dressing for your own brand of authentic success will make it easy for you to be perceived positively. Happy dressing!
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Laurice Brown, AICI, is a certified image consultant and an insightful personal stylist. She expertly demystifies how to have great personal style and still be comfortable in one’s clothes. It’s not about a makeover-it’s about a transformation and creating harmony between one’s clothes and oneself, resulting in authentic beauty.
Laurice offers services in color, style, makeup, wardrobing and shopping. Go to www.LB-image.com and get her free report and special message on “7 Clothing Mistakes That Turn People Off and 5 Fixes to Attract People Instead.”
If you are outside the Los Angeles area, the Association of Image Consultants International at www.aici.org is a great place to start. Determine some goals for yourself, and interview several consultants. They should also be interviewing you, so you can both determine whether the fit will be a good one.