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Have You Ever...- 1-17-07

Cared About Your Image?

By ChaChanna Simpson

I have a confession to make. I’m conceited, very. Let me explain that a bit. I don’t sit and look in the mirror all day long and tell everyone how great I am. I just take pride in my appearance. And that is not necessarily a bad thing as people always seem to make it. Let’s take a look at the definition of the word. According to dictionary.com it means, “having an excessively favorable opinion of one 's abilities, appearance, etc.” Yep, that’s me. So that is why in this issue I decided to discuss image. To help me out, I enlisted the help of Desiree E. Spivey, Image Consultant of A New You Image Consulting & BeautiControl.

You don’t have to be conceited to care about your image. Most everyone cares about what they look like. “Image is a visual representation of who you are, what you stand for and what you believe in,” says Spivey. Some of you I know couldn’t care less about what you look like or what people think of you and that is fine. I am right there with you. I’m not one for caring about what other people think about me either but you best believe I care a whole heck of a lot about what I think of me. Don’t you?

I had a friend who would just roll out of bed and throw some clothes on. Her hair was hardly ever combed in the same direction. She just looked a mess. I would say to her: don’t you care how you look at all? She would reply that she has no one to get dressed up for and when it came to men, if they couldn’t take her as she was she didn’t want them. At a point I could agree with her, that people need to take you as you are, but on the other hand if you always look a mess, what it says to people is that even you don’t care about you so why should they? And as for her question of who she has to get dressed up, the answer is obvious, herself.

Whether I am going on an interview, to a special event, date or even to bed, whatever, I make sure I like what I have on. It makes me feel good. Don’t tell me that when you have on something you really like, you don’t feel good about yourself that entire day. It could be something as simple as a pair of new undergarments. No one can see them but you are strutting through the office.

As anyone knows, when you go on a job interview or are meeting someone for the first time, image is very important. People judge you from the second they see you. It is not intentional. They just immediately get an impression of who you are when they see you. “It’s the very first conversation you have with someone. It’s non-verbal communication. Before you have even opened your mouth, your appearance has spoken volumes,” says Spivey.

There are different fashion personality styles and you could be any one or a combination of these styles: (These styles pertain to male and female, minus the comments about makeup, unless that is your thing.)

Sporty — more casual, informal and most of all comfortable; jeans and jumpsuits; little to no makeup

Dramatic — bold colors, exotic prints; leather; unusual jewelry and accessories; striking makeup

Classic — well-tailored suits; plain, quality fabrics; designer named clothes; natural colored makeup

Feminine — prefers to wear dresses; high heels, strap pumps; dainty, dangly jewelry; soft colored fabric, dark makeup

Creative— prefers to mix and match fabrics, prints, and colors

Color and size

There are two issues I want to address. The first being color. Spivey says that the color you wear closest to your face should compliment your skin complexion and work well with your undertones. “There are three different undertones: warm, which has more yellow; cool, which has more blue; and neutral which has more red. Wearing colors that compliment your complexion can literally “light” you up and make you appear brighter and healthier,” says Spivey. It also works in reverse, if you are wearing a color that doesn’t compliment your skin complexion then you could look depressed and sickly. Just think about that the next time someone walks up to you and ask if you are not feeling well when you are actually feeling great. Could be the color you are wearing is not working with your complexion. So before you buy that snazzy red shirt, try it on or put it to your face to make sure it’s still snazzy on you.

The second issue that should be obvious but for some reason is not: If it doesn’t fit, don’t wear it! I know you used to be a size 6 back in the day but today your size 12 just can’t fit in those size 6 jeans anymore. All you are doing is making yourself uncomfortable and just to let you know, we can see that you are uncomfortable. Buy the size that fits you right now, not a month from now when you lose those ten pounds. And don’t do the opposite either as in wearing clothes that are too big. That will exaggerate your size and make you look sloppy and I know you don’t want that.

What it all comes down to is: wear what works for you and expresses your personality, rather than what is the latest fashion trend or what the salesperson is pushing on you. Happy shopping!

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