Today, in the era of furious social media development, everyone from couch analysts to the biggest spokespeople for industries is talking about the importance of developing a personal brand. And no matter what field you belong to – cooking, IT, or equestrian sports – a personal brand will play in your favor in the most unexpected places. But most importantly, a well-established personal brand will help you attract clients or customers who are willing to pay more for your name, expertise, and reputation.
Hundreds of books have been written about how to achieve this, thousands or even millions of videos have been shot, but all personal brand experts will confirm one simple truth: to succeed, you need to go public. And that means always having an impeccable appearance.
Most designers agree that men’s wardrobes are formed chaotically. However, it is extremely important for a person from the business community to approach this process consciously, because appearance can be a clear signal to partners and indicate seriousness of intentions, complexity of approach, or simply self-confidence. Most likely, your partners will try to learn as much as possible about you before taking serious steps, and they will involuntarily compare how you treat your appearance with how you manage the company or your subordinates.
Traditionally, the style of a businessman has always been strictly regulated – a man could not appear at negotiations without a suit or tie, but now, in the era of fashion democratization, there are no problems with this. The style of an entrepreneur is becoming more and more light and comfortable. This process began with the tech boom of the 90s, when the market exploded with a large number of young and creative companies led by equally young and progressive leaders. All of them had ambitions to break stereotypes and prejudices not only in business models but also in clothing style. White collars were replaced by jeans, sweatshirts, and hoodies.
Today, this overly simple style of dress is often associated among entrepreneurs with geniuses like Steve Jobs or Mark Zuckerberg. However, if you have not yet reached this level of genius, you should still think about a look that resonates with your personal brand.
First of all, you need to clearly define what values you bring to the audience. If you are all about established traditions, time-honored truths, and respect for the canon, you can easily choose a monochromatic classic suit for everyday wear. If you value creativity, deconstructivism, and experimentation, you can safely choose looser silhouettes with unexpected colors. The most important thing is that both options can be comfortable for everyday wear, and this is one of the main style criteria. So, from the first seconds of meeting, partners will get information about your values and preferences, which they will obviously take into account when making decisions.
Today, there are many men’s styles with their own laws and principles: formal business, sport chic, normcore, military, preppy, old money, casual, or smart casual. Designers believe that with the modern rhythm of life, smart casual can be the most organic style for a businessman. This is a style about “life at speed”, but at the same time, smart casual is about conscious wearing.
The main difference between smart casual and formal business style is the lack of clear frameworks, which opens up a huge space for self-expression and even experiments. For example, if we are talking about an informal meeting, the combination “jacket + jeans + T-shirt” will be appropriate. But if you’re going to work, even if the dress code allows it, it’s still better to give preference to chinos, which don’t look as relaxed as jeans.
Very often, a smart casual look is an opportunity to let one sophisticated piece of clothing fill the entire outfit, but in this style, the most important thing is a well-prepared base. It is best to use the 80/20 rule, i.e. 80% functional basic items, 20% trendy items that can create an expressive accent. In any case, to put together an effective smart casual capsule, you will need: a pair of classic denim jeans, chinos in pastel colors, a few laconic shirts, a blazer made of thick structured material, a pair of good sneakers and classic oxfords, and accent accessories.
In the end, we need to remember that clothes are not just a set of fabrics that we wear every day. It is one of the most powerful means of communicating our personality and individuality. And if the message that your appearance carries coincides with what you say, do, or think, then your personal brand will certainly become holistic and therefore effective.