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Linda Thomas AICI CIP designs and delivers
“Image Awareness”
programs throughout corporate America. Linda earned the credentials
of Certified Image Professional through the Association of
Image Consultants International, is an award winning member
of the National Speakers Association of North Texas, and is
a published author.
Topics in Demand
Color Me Promoted, Color Me a Leader,
or Color Me Going-Nowhere
Learn how the colors you wear every day affect others and
how they can support your business agenda for any day of the
week. Everyone has a physiological response to color. Ensure
that you are eliciting the desired response from people in
your sphere of influence.
Creating a Powerful Appearance: Professional
Dress for Men and Women
Wouldn't you like to be able to create the most dynamic and
powerful appearance possible? Learn from Corporate Image Advisor
Linda Thomas what you are doing right and what needs to be
changed. Discover how to be more confident, have more energy,
and elecit more respect from clients and co-workers.
What To Do When The Spotlight Is
On You
Are you running a meeting or are you involved in functions
that include entertaining clients? This is a cutting-edge
course in what to wear and how to achieve the results you
want when the spotlight is on you.
Business Appropriate: It is Time
to Put the "Business" Back into Business Casual
You may have noticed "Business Casualties" in your
office or around your city. "Business Appropriate"
is the new term for lifting people out of casual confusion.
Project authority and respect while retaining the benefits
of comfort and convenience.
For Women Only: Style & Proportion
~ What Fits You Best Today
Discover what is current in fashion and which body types will
look best in those designs. This is the information you will
need to keep your wardrobe current and to ensure that you
look your personal best when wearing new trends.
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Top Ten Guidelines for Organizing The
Closet of a Highly Successful Person
Organizing our closet is one of the most
powerful actions we can take to improve our image and our
lifestyle! I work with clients across the United States, and
whether my presentation takes place during a one-on-one session
or in a seminar with several dozen to several hundred individuals,
I invariably close the program with a call to action, urging
my clients to go home and remove five or more articles of
clothing from their closets. By discarding clothing that no
longer fits or is worn out, faded, stretched, or in need of
repair, we are taking the first step toward gaining control
of our wardrobes … and our lives! When our clothing
is organized and easily accessible in a closet that “works”,
we eliminate the stress that ensues from a daily, time-consuming
search for “something to wear”. We also discover
the empowerment that comes from choosing what we
wear, rather than allowing the state of our wardrobe and the
contents of our closet to make that decision for us.
1
If you seek a promotion or a salary raise, you will want to
dress as if you already hold that position. The clothing
which directly affects your income will become your regular,
ongoing work attire. It should be located in a section separate
from all of your other clothes, preferably near the front
of your closet. Choose visually prominent dividers for your
closet. A belt rack, a few empty hangers, or a rack of ties
or scarves serve nicely for this purpose. Your goal is to make
the process of getting dressed in the morning so streamlined
that there is no way to make a mistake.
Clothes for work must appear neat and coordinated, and must
be appropriate for the workplace. Unfortunately, many employees
today are confused by their company’s dress codes, often
misinterpreting the standards provided by the Human Resources
department.
For instance, Business Casual is frequently taken by employees
to mean the same as Weekend Casual, although the two are very
different. Weekend Casual clothing is defined as clothing
worn when we work in the yard, wash our cars, or participate
in such off-duty activities as picnics and sporting events.
Weekend Casual clothing is not appropriate for the workplace.
It is essential to take the time to divide your clothing between
those items that are “work-appropriate” and those
that are not.
2
Be sure you understand which types of clothing are appropriate
for your workplace and which are not. Are any of your colleagues
being sent home from work because they are not adhering to
the company’s dress code?
This type of “questionable” clothing usually
includes the following:
- Skirts that are too tight and/or too short
- Skirts with thigh-high slits
- Blouses with revealing necklines
- Sleeveless tops or dresses (revealing a person’s
undergarments)
- Halter tops, tube tops, or “spaghetti” straps
worn without a jacket
- Cropped tops that reveal your navel, your waistline,
or tattoos
- Shorts – any variation
- Capri’s – such as you might wear to the beach
- Leggings
- Workout clothes
- Overalls
- Low-rise hip-huggers (pants or skirts)
- Satin slip dresses
- Sheer fabrics or anything that is “see-through”
- Anything that is so wrinkled it looks ‘slept in’
- Clothing that you might wear to wash your car or work
in the yard
In a section of your closet separate from your work attire,
you might wish to keep your Weekend Casual attire. This would
include clothing worn when you are:
- On vacation
- Participating in sports-related activities
- Engaging in outdoor work, such as gardening or home repairs
- Attending special or formal occasions
- Participating in seasonal activities
- Attending a holiday or costume party
- Wishing to attract a member of the opposite sex
Some examples of Weekend Casual attire would be T-shirts,
Hawaiian print shirts, or any clothing that is intended to
attract attention, such as articles incorporating:
- Loud, bright, or “neon” colors
- Dangling fringe, with or without beads
- Prominent advertising or slogans
- Sequins, excessive shine, or a “metallic”
finish
- Garish, wild, exciting prints or “animal”
patterns
- Any item that might be worn by a rock star, a runway
model, or a popular celebrity
3
Paying attention to the details can play a significant role
in improving your image in the workplace. An individual who
is meticulous in his or her appearance may be assumed to be
someone who will be detail-oriented regarding the company’s
interests, as well.
The following items must be eliminated from your closet:
- Anything that is not something you wear
(for example, gifts, photographs, sports equipment, luggage,
or furniture). Find a permanent home elsewhere for those
items.
- Any clothing that:
- Is too tight or too loose
- Is frayed or stretched out of shape
- Is stained, dingy, or faded
- Has unintentional holes or rips
- Has gaping buttonholes
- Has not been worn in more than two years
- Induces unpleasant memories
- Represents a “buying mistake”
4
Hang up ONLY those clothes that are clean and ready
to be worn again. A frequent source of stress can
be walking into a closet and seeing clothing that needs to
be repaired, washed, or pressed before it can be worn again.
Often, when we are in a hurry, we will pull a stained or frayed
shirt off the hanger, throw it on, and run out the door to
attend an important meeting, reassuring ourselves that “no
one will notice”. But, the fact is, people do
notice … more often than we realize! It is much wiser
to keep our closet free of these potential hazards.
Train yourself not to hang up any articles of clothing that
require:
• Repairs or alterations
• Laundering or dry-cleaning
• Ironing or steaming (to remove wrinkles)
• Removal of price tags
• Shaving to remove pilling (for instance, on such items
as coats or sweaters)
Clothing that is outdated or beyond repair no
longer may be worn and should be removed from
your closet and discarded. Separate these items into two piles:
- Clothing that will be donated to charity or given to
children for playing
“dress up”
- Clothing that you are unwilling to part with for sentimental
reasons.
(For these items, you may wish to create a “memory
box”.)
5
After sorting your wardrobe and discarding all non-salvageable
items, you now are ready to organize your remaining clothing
into these four basic categories:
- Tops
- Blouses
- Shirts
- Pullovers
- Polo shirts
- Twin sweater sets
- Bottom pieces
- Skirts
- Pants, jeans, khakis
- Dress slacks
- Matched suits and dresses
- “Third” pieces (These are your “power”
pieces.)
- Jackets
- Sweaters
- Cardigans
- Vests
- Oblong or large scarves
- Ties
Within each category, you may wish to further separate the
items according to such features as sleeve or hem length.
Or, perhaps you may decide to organize your clothing according
to color. If your wardrobe consists of more than 50% black
or dark-colored clothes, you may be able to use your white
or light-colored clothing to separate individual black pieces.
On the other hand, a variety of colors in your wardrobe might
lend itself to sorting by color, from light to dark (which
is most aesthetically pleasing): Whites – Tans –
Blues – Brights – Reds – Grays – Blacks.
Make sure that your closet is well lit, so you can accurately
see the colors that you are coordinating.
6
Leave space between your hanging clothes. This allows air
to circulate throughout the closet and among your individual
articles of clothing, reducing body odors and wrinkles, and
making various items easy to find and access. Remove plastic
dry-cleaner bags as soon as you place the clothing in your
closet.
7
The dry-cleaner usually sends your clothing home to you on
wire hangers. Return those wire hangers to the dry-cleaner!
They will kill your clothes! Clothes spend
more time on the hanger than on your body, so make sure they
are hung properly on quality hangers. Invest in hangers that
are sufficiently wide to protect the shoulders of your clothes,
especially your heavier items, such as jackets and coats.
8 To prolong the life
of your wardrobe and create more room in your closet, you
may wish to use shelves or drawers for the following types
of clothes:
- Delicate fabrics that tend to slide off hangers
- Heavy, bulky sweaters
- Weighty knits
- Exercise clothing
- Casual clothes for “at-home only” use (doing
yard work or washing the car)
- Holiday costumes
9
Keep the following clothing-care tools on hand:
- An iron and ironing board or a professional steamer
- A fabric shaver
- A sewing kit
- A lint brush
- Wide hangers (cedar, wood, molded plastic or plastic
tubing)
Keep the air fresh in your closet with such items as:
- A small fan
- A negative-ion generator
- Cedar chips
10
To ensure that every outfit is a favorite, clothes on
both sides of the closet should:
- Fit your body as it is today
- Be up-to-date and reflect the latest styles
- Be in season and appropriate for the current weather
- Incorporate colors that communicate your personal message
(Please refer to E-zines #1
and #2.)
- Be comfortable and create a smooth silhouette over your
body
- Empower you because you feel so terrific when you wear
them
TO CREATE A CLOSET FULL OF FAVORITES,
MAKE TIME TO TAKE ACTION EITHER TONIGHT OR THIS WEEKEND!!!
Place charity donations in your car right away or call for
charity pickup and leave the clothes outside for collection.
If you are planning to mend your clothing yourself, be sure
to schedule time for making those repairs. If you intend to
have a tailor do the repairs, place the clothing in your car
so that you can drop it off while you are running errands.
Place clothing that goes to the dry-cleaners in your car,
as well.
Be sure to schedule “at-home” laundry days.
Check your closet before you go shopping, and make a list
of the items that you need. It can be all too easy to give
in to our passions (“I can never have too many pink
skirts!”) when what our career really requires is a
classic navy suit. Know what your wardrobe lacks and be prepared
to make thoughtful purchases, keeping in mind such considerations
as color-coordination, current trends and fashions, mix- and
match-ability, and seasonal changes.
Using the tips discussed above, you can have a closet full
of favorites that will serve all your clothing needs year-round
… and give you the personal and professional power to
propel yourself into your next career success! |
