Women in Financial Services
Olga Anderson ‘Style is an expression of your personal style.’
Katie.Dix / 07 Nov 2019
How personal style communicates your personal brand and how to make that first impression count.
Personal style is an amalgamation of many things - what suits your body shape, the things you like, the colours that work for you, the pieces that make you feel great. Personal style is the unique combination of how you dress. It’s often a way to define one of the many elements which make up your identity and personal branding. At times, it can become a look that you’re known for. Take Fran Lebowitz’s ‘uniform’ for example, often consisting of men’s tailoring with suit jackets from Savile Row tailor Anderson & Sheppard, a pair of Levi’s, wing-tip boots and a pair of tortoiseshell glasses.
For Lebowitz, she is as much of who she is because of her work- her critical mind, writing and her unfiltered social commentaries. But she is also who she is because of her style. She dresses for convention. She dresses for her place in the hierarchy. And yet she is a fashion oxymoron- both loving and hating fashion, despite a fashion icon being exactly what she has become. A brand, and a possessor of consistent, curated and well-suited personal style.
Like Lebowitz, defining the way you dress is an important step to expressing yourself visually. How you identify, how you project your attitude and how you carry yourself.
Within the initial moments of a first meeting, at the very first glance, your personal style can communicate as much as your first spoken words, though more often than not words are only secondary.
A colour palette, the elements of comfort, or discomfort, and the cut of your clothes. They affect the way that you carry yourself and they also possess their own inferences. You can cultivate your wardrobe to say what you’re not saying.
How do you want to be seen? What unique qualities of oneself do you intend to project? When defining your personal style, you may want to ask yourself these questions:
- Is there an element to the outfits you wear that remains consistent?
- How do you want to feel? Physically, mentally…
- What is it about yourself that you want to show, without having to say it? A well-tailored suit could suggest your place in the hierarchy. A crisp white shirt tucked into a metallic pleated skirt can show you mean business where business is concerned, but that fun and femininity are also paramount to who you are. Long dresses could accentuate your figure and make you feel powerful, and thus, the way you carry yourself within your daily practices will be altered thusly.
- Why do you like wearing particular colours or styles?
- Do you dress to suit mood, practicality or comfort?
Having an idea of why you dress a certain way can help you adopt a wardrobe for the most effective output. And though you don’t have to stick with any one style, having a solid foundation to how you dress can be a force of nature when it comes to selling yourself, or selling yourself as a brand.
Olga Anderson is a bespoke and ready-to-wear womenswear designer. She specialises in clothing designed to empower her clients, and as of 2019, became a ‘Women Appreciating Women’ (WAW) Honorary Award winner. She runs her brand with the belief that “fashion and design should empower women”; working meticulously to encourage and celebrate women’s individuality, accomplishments and passion, both in and outside of their careers.
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