I remember as a child seeing Superman II for the first time. In times of trouble, mild mannered Clark Kent, became the blue tight-ed red caped Superman, flying in and saving the day.
If I would walk down the street today in a full body suite and cape, super hero would not be the first thing that would go through peoples minds. Nuts, flake, crazy are much more likely.
But when Superman Returns came to the theaters, I know that 10 of thousands of people flocked to the theaters waiting breathless for the first appearance of that spandex-ed super hero, who represents all that is good and true, and all the hope and possibility that lies within human kind.
Now to be honest, I haven’t nor do I see myself in the future running around in a Superman costume, but I do want to discuss the impact of personal image.
I am the type of person that rarely changes his style. My Style is Classic/Clean. Slacks and button down shirts, and maybe an occasional sweater. For almost a decade I have been buying the exact same socks, shirts, pant, slippers etc. Almost everything I currently own is either from Costco or Old Navy. I am practically a Costco clothing model. I also am quite frugal (some would even say cheap), so I tend to buy things that are less expensive (Hence Costco and Old Navy).
Until recently I never really paid much attention to the personal impact of my appearance.
About six months ago I began to take some new directions in my professional and community interactions. I went from spending most of my time working in my basement office (alone) to interacting with many professional and highly successful business people.
On one occasion I was heading out to a meeting with a group of local business men, and as I was leaving I passed the mirror and did a bit of a double take. My pants were looking a bit faded, my shirt a little baggy and my winter coat which is over 15 years old, was well over 15 years old. I decided that maybe I needed a slight updating in how I presented myself.
So I cut down on khakis and switched to suit pants, cut down on the plaid and patterned shirts and switched to white, blue, and pinstriped shirts. At this point I still had not bought anything new, I just stopped wearing my less casual clothing.
But then I took the first big step. After 15 years of wearing the same coat I decided it was time for something new. Instead of going to my regular stores (Costco and Old), we went to the more high-end stores. we went in to Stonehouse, where Nik proceeded to pick out a jacket that would best suite my size and build. He then helped me put the jacket on, laid it just right on my shoulders and buttoned it (Talk about customer service). When I turned around to look in the mirror, you would have thought that I was wearing blue tights and a red cape. I felt like a completely different person. I stood taller, smiled wider, had an added sparkle in my eyes and just felt confident. All because of a jacket…
Now being me, I still needed to look around a little more, also the jacket was over $300 so I wanted to see if I could find something a little more economical (yeah there’s the cheep thing again). We went to The Bay and tried on some jackets, we found one that seamed nice and was around $200. We bought it but decided to go back to Stonehouse and compare. I tried on the jacket again and then tried The Bay one. I asked Nik to help me put The Bay one on, because I thought it was just the good service that made the jacket look good. There was no comparison, the Stonehouse jacket looked like it was made for me, it sat perfectly on my shoulders and the overall quality was vastly superior. I bought the Stonehouse and returned The Bay.
You might be thinking all this seems very superficial, and with the wrong intentions it could be. This is not about playing dress-up and trying to be something you are not. This is about how you want to be perceived by yourself and others.
For me as a business man and coach I want to create an air of professionalism, attention to detail, quality and confidence. Dressing well helps with that. I still dress simply, but my clothing fits better, shows of quality and makes me look very presentable.
Also quality is cheaper in the long run. I recently bought a merino wool sweater from Costco for $30. After wearing it three times it started pilling all over, needless to say I returned it. A few weeks after I bought it I ran into a friend who was wearing a similar sweater that he had bought years ago. It still looked like new, everything about it spoke of quality. The long term value of quality is immense. Pants that I spend $30 on look lousy after 6 months, pants that I spend $60-$80 on still look great after 2-3 years.
Clothing is not everything, but the clothing you wear and the quality of that clothing is an important component of how you present yourself to the world around you. Worn clothing, messy hair and a 3 day beard, is going to create a very different impression than a clean cut, clean shaven, well dressed person.
The first thing that people see is YOU, how you look and how you are dressed. Make sure your outer image speaks true of who you are inside.
As the saying goes “You never get a second chance to make a first impression”
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