“What should I wear?” is the most common question to come up when I’m prepping someone for their shoot. Second only to “I hate my photos taken”, uttered with so much pride. 

(Why are people confident that this line is the best thing to say to a photographer? Do they think this somehow breaks the ice? Makes our job easier?)

Branding with photos for online personalities and coaches is a combination of a lot of things coming together in perfect harmony - and WARDROBE is a huuuuuge part of it. I hope that’s self-explanatory. 

But what isn’t obvious, is that -

if you create your EVERYDAY wardrobe to be a perfect reflection of you - you will never have a problem choosing clothes for your branding shoots - because you’ll always be on-point. 

Right? Right. So let’s go with that today.

I recently took a training with a pro stylist who coaches other pro stylists and thought her approach was SO GREAT, that I must apply it to branding a personality.

Because I want you to be in that magical place in life where you

• never have to ask your photog “umm… what do I wear?” and

• realize that it’s now too late to start shopping for anything new, or

• that your photographer is not really a stylist and

• can’t help you other than offer their personal taste and opinion. Often questionable...

(pssst… if you heard of a rule book for what not to wear for photos or videos - it’s true it exists, but with branding - let’s toss it out the window, cause it’s nothing but noise. We are not here to create “perfect” photos, we are here to create IMPACTFUL photos. Ok? Cool. Read on...)

And now… ta-da!!!

In my 1:1 “branding with photos” work I now include an option of taking a closer look at your wardrobe from a brand perspective. It’s an exercise where you uncover even more about who you want to be - through clothes. 

I want to cover all aspects, and clothes are a biggie! You are, after all, a leader, and if you also want to attract attention, then your wardrobe must reflect that.

Here’s a structure of that exercise and if you’re motivated you can do this all by yourself

and start creating your own perfect wardrobe!

Please be mindful that building a wardrobe is a long term work. But it’s also very easy to start RIGHT NOW. Once you understand this approach - it doesn’t matter how long it takes you to find the clothes, because you will never approach shopping the same disorganized way.

Also please note, that in the developed countries we often buy clothes based on our fears, and this approach helps to eliminate that kind of behavior, and provides an instant “AHA!”. When shopping, ask yourself - why do you ACTUALLY want to have a particular outfit or an item. Is the want coming from YOU, or is it someone else’s idea of what you should wear? I invite you to play along and focus on creating a foundational and highly functional capsule and see what you discover about yourself and how your shopping behaviors change. I enjoy it so much for myself! Let me know in the comments if you do too.

Rules of the game:

1. There are basic items and accent items. For the sake of simplicity and learning we’re going to focus on your BASIC items and then I’ll tell you how to choose ACCENT items (it’s super easy once you have built the foundation). You can begin this work before you go hire a stylist, and DEFINITELY before you go and spend money on stuff you might wear once, or not at all.

2. Basic items are neutral colored. Black, gray, beige, white, light and dark blue. That’s it! No other colors. Keep it SIMPLE. This is a foundation. If you like and want colors in your wardrobe (and only want to wear colors so people recognize you from a mile away and have a chance to run away from you (just kidding!)) - you take the same structure and create a colorful / accent capsule but please consult a stylist or become one yourself (so you don’t hurt other people’s eyes).

Step 1:

Here we focus on your SELF-EXPRESSION and PREFERENCES.

Create the fashion moodboard (use Google docs, Pinterest, Evernote, etc). I like Pinterest to create lists and moodboards, and also - it has a TON of fashion pics. And after you pinned a few - it suggests you more of the same style, which is brilliant and priceless. And it’s free (at least for now). And initially I’ve pinned over a 100 outfits on there. Yeah, it was a lot.

Here’s the “tip of the iceberg” screenshot of my own moodboard:

the idea is to save a lot on this 1st round. Set the timer for an hour and really go to town. Pin everything that excites you or catches your eye! I come back and do it from time to time when I can’t fall asleep. Or in other situations when you wanna pass the time, but watching a movie is not an option.

Step 2:

See if you can spot the patterns in the clothes you’ve chosen. For me I saw:

• oversized scarves

• relaxed bottoms (nothing “skinny”!)

• oversized sweaters

• drop-crotch pants

• more scarves

… and otherwise styles that say “I don’t care” but at the same time “well put together”.

What do you see in your board that keeps coming up?

Step 3:

Now it’s time to get real.

Hopefully you took some time to step away from the moodboard and are coming back to this step later. Next day at least.

Take a good look at your everyday life - how much time do you spend doing what activities?

Then categorize what clothes you need the most to satisfy more of those activities. For me it was:

• exercise

• work (at home or in cafes)

• photo/video production

• travel

• hanging with friends

• meeting people.

I never go out at night because I neither drink nor eat past 6pm. The only reason to be out when I’m not traveling / sightseeing has thus been eliminated, and I don’t need or want ANY evening-wear.

For my workouts I created a separate capsule. Makes sense, right?

In my example - my life is simple and I only need one capsule. I don’t need “office” clothes (yay!) And I definitely do not need (nor want) any heels in my capsule (heels are heavy and even deadly in travels) because I’m on the road all the time.

Step 4:

Now take a look at your moodboard and delete all the outfits that don’t go with your lifestyle (we're talking about simplifying your life, not complicating it. So do it! Delete.) Also delete all outfits that look like they might be painful or otherwise uncomfortable to be in for prolonged periods of time. For me - besides all evening-wear I deleted all the skirt / dress / heeled shoe based outfits - cause I’m almost never in a situation where any that would even be acceptable or comfortable, so who am I doing this for?

Reminder - we are creating the FOUNDATION of your wardrobe here.

When I’m back to having a home base - I might go back to owning dresses and heels, but for a traveller - NAH. Too impractical and too heavy. 

On this step you want to think “what will NOT work for me”, instead of “what do I want”. This is not a manifestation board. Come to think of it - this is almost the opposite of it!

Delete, delete, delete.

And now delete all outfits that don’t make your heart sing. Those could be outfits that you chose because your parents/friends/society make you “want” (fear-based). For example, things you could never afford when you were poor/young/whatever and now you find comfort in owning something that costs more than a month’s rent or mortgage payment in the rest of the world. Answer to yourself - why REALLY did you save it?

(I hold no judgement agains high cost brands. If you can afford them and they actually do feel good to wear, as opposed to just being a status thing - I’m all for it. I have a few bags and shoes, for example, that are as stunning as they are considered expensive, and they are worth every penny to me. I’m a big fan of Dior and Chloe brands. But most other premium brands - I don’t understand their stuff. It’s all status and no aesthetics). Again - this is my personal opinion and preference. Not necessarily any good on the market! Ha.

Step 4.1 (optional): now you can take an extra step here and add MORE of the outfits that survived this thorough filtering. But if you think you’ve got enough - let’s get to the hard part!

Step 5: we’re creating the capsule!

This is the part that takes time, unless you have a whole floor in the house dedicated to your wardrobe, in which case - please enjoy a good day or 2 of wardrobe-shopping without leaving your own home! (And don’t forget to remind your butler to order more extra-virgin monkey puzzle seed oil for your chinchillas beauty treatments.)

Two things here:

Thing #1: This is the step where you can also potentially begin working with a stylist.

This is the person who

• knows about colors that go well with YOUR complexion

• knows what styles of items that will highlight the best of your figure without compromising your priorities (which you’ve already outlined for yourself above)

• will also force you to try things you wouldn’t otherwise choose, which is why it’s so genius. I’ve discovered some of the best things in my chats with professional wardrobe stylists that I consulted with

• know what brands carry what and they make shopping easy for you. Some even will shop for you and bring it all home! How great. Don’t forget about the chinchilla. Juuust kidding. 

I cannot advise you on what you should wear for your complexion and figure. I’m not a stylist. I can only offer my professional and personal opinion as a photographer and a woman with EYES. I’m usually good with telling what colors and styles people should NOT wear, and happily offer my advice when we work on your branding with photos.

Thing #2: have you taken my “5 Senses Framework” mini-training? (at the moment being re-recorded, signup for Newsletter to hear when it’s available).

Remember there’s a bit there where I explain how to pick the right fabrics for the clothes to work FOR you in the pictures and not AGAINST you? It’s time to go and re-watch that bit.

Now grab all the stuff you’ve come up with at this point and use below algorithm to build your capsule!

Adjust the numbers to your liking but I would start small to make it easier.

1. Find 3+ bottoms that are NEUTRAL-colored (existing wardrobe or go shopping). Pants or skirts - I don’t care. I only have 3 pairs of pants traveling with me, and I’m not counting gym clothes (remember, that’s a separate capsule?). Jeans are neutral, yes.

   
   

2. Find 6+ NEUTRAL tops that go well with ANY of those bottoms, so you have all these wonderful combinations that seem to never end, and you feel creative, yet don’t have to work hard making those choices. Remember that there is a limited number of choices that we can make in a day without heading into burnout. In fact - I’m ready to claim that choosing clothes every day leads to burnout in the entrepreneurial community. We are too busy for this stuff! 

   
   

3. Any outerwear and shoes in your capsule - must be NEUTRAL and go with any of the bottoms and tops you already chose. I’m just here to remind you that it’s a CAPSULE! (And to be bossy for a few more mins.) Bear with me - you’ll get to shop more fun items in a sec. 

There you have your capsule wardrobe and you’ll never have to stress about what to wear - just toss on whatever is ready to be worn (is clean/ironed) and go! It is also minimal and is perfect for travelers! And if you don’t travel for a living - you can create a separate section in your wardrobe for this capsule and mix and match all you want without a risk of putting on something wrong when you’re sleepy and then feeling stupid all day. Unless it’s by choice.

Want accent pieces?

• use patterned/bright/non-neutral color accessories, or add tops/bottoms/shoes/socks/hats/glasses/etc. as accent pieces as needed. Your basic capsule will support your accents and make your life easy no matter what. 

• Accent could mean “quirky”, but that doesn’t mean that some of your foundational items can’t be quirky too. Where do you draw the line? Ask your stylist!

• Do not risk mixing accent pieces into the same outfits without knowing exactly what you’re doing and why that works.

• Each accent piece must go well with EVERYTHING in your capsule wardrobe.

You can start saving a collection of possible accent pieces that will become a signature for your brand. From orange frames to red socks and shoe laces - I think I’ve seen it all. But if you want to REALLY be noticed - it needs to be something bigger than that.

Ann Handley (Instagram @annhandley) is famous among marketing folks for her stand out wardrobe. Every time she’s on stage - she wears a suit I never laid my eyes on anywhere else. Makes it very difficult to forget her!

Wanna start following what’s trending?

Follow stylists on social, they are quite prolific and fun to watch these days. Everyone has different styles, so find the ones YOU like!

I’ll tell you that right now - in 2021 - I keep seeing oversized everything here in Europe. Oversized coats, oversized shoes (that fit, of course), oversized hats and most importantly - scarves! I love scarves, so I got myself a very large scarf to don around. It’s quite chilly so it’s perfect for the season. Could be in neutral color, but still an accent piece! Win.

And now you know how to - and can - create capsule wardrobes for other parts of your life in a similar way if needed. I don’t need more than one capsule, but people who enjoy night life and dressing up in hot evening clothes can create a capsule wardrobe just for that, and then also enjoy the ease of making choices when the phone rings and the taxi is downstairs in 5.

One last branding tip is to make sure that your wardrobe is sense-ational to the eye. Think about the “5 senses” in your images. Clothes are the #1 thing to stimulate the sense of TOUCH - they are the closest thing to our skin and to our ears. In my “5 Senses Framework” mini-training for branding with photos I talk about that in detail (it is being re-recorded at the moment. Signup to Newsletter below to hear 1st when it’s back up!)