Stylin’

I am going to be the special speaker at our next Women Worth Knowing event, and I’ll be talking about a topic I am frequently asked to discuss: Style. I won’t be telling you how to get MY style, though. I’ll be talking to you about how to take your personal style, your personal comfort level, and build on that to find the next step up in your look.

Here’s what I dislike about the shows where stylists go throw away everything in someone’s closet and force them into a-line skirts and tiny blouses: Not everyone feels comfortable in Spring’s Hottest Fashions. I sure don’t. If you don’t feel good in it, you won’t wear it with confidence, no matter how cute it is. And, 3/4s of Style is confidence.

I firmly believe that everyone’s personal fashion choices are valid. How else can you explain the success of Patricia Fields? It’s a matter of fit, and functionality, and feeling good about yourself. It’s also a matter of understanding your audience and your core demographic.

If you are looking for a job in the finance industry, you have to adapt your style to meet that audience. Your core demographic is different from Lady Gaga’s. If you are dressing for a night at the opera, your audience is different from a night at Coachella. (My grandmother loved telling the story of a friend who dressed up in finery and furs to go see the Grand Ole Opry, thinking it was her Southern friend’s way of saying Grand Old Opera. Boy was she disappointed. Grandma was delighted, though. Gave her a story to tell for 60 years.)

So, I’ll be talking about a few different things:

• Finding your personal style/comfort zone
• Understanding other people’s perception of your style
• Adapting your style to different audiences/occasions
• Appreciating yourself and other people as fine art

I hope we see you there!