#49 | Darine with Julie Louise: Learn The Secrets Of Dressing For Success
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[00:00:00] Darine: Are you ready? Let's go.
[00:00:10] Darine: Hello! Welcome to the STANDOUT From The Crowd podcast. The first live podcast dedicated to no BS leadership, and today we are talking about your style. Finding the right balance between comfort and professionalism is key when it comes to dressing for success. But it's easier said than done, right? So if you want to learn how to make smart changes that can have a big impact and improve your image as a leader, then you want to stay.
[00:00:42] Darine: If you like us, as usual, tell your friends and colleagues to go over Apple Podcast, Spotify and give us a five star review because we are worth it. We do deserve it, right? Don't you think so? Our Standout guest today Julie Louise is the founder of Science of Image, and creator of the Style System.
[00:01:04] Darine: And during our conversation, we are going to discuss how to leverage your style as a tool to commend respect, attract more opportunities and feel more confident. So grab your notebook and pencil because this is going to be an interesting one. Please help me welcome Julie.
[00:01:24] Darine: Hello Julie! How are you doing?
[00:01:28] Julie: Hello Darine.
[00:01:29] Julie: I'm wonderful. How are you?
[00:01:31] Darine: I am wonderful and let me tell you something people, Julie is based in the Philippines, so she's Canadian, but she has relocated in the Philippines. So I think it's, you told me one, 1:30 AM there!
[00:01:44] Julie: Yes, yeah, it's the middle of the night here.
[00:01:47] Darine: See, here's the thing, you know when you want to make some something happen, you make it happen no matter what.
[00:01:54] Darine: And thank you for taking the time out of your night to be with us today. So today we're going talk about a topic that I love, that I believe is crucial and I try, you know, to put myself together every time I go live, on the Standout podcast. But I know that can be tricky for a lot of people.
[00:02:14] Darine: You know, it's how to dress for success, how to dress in a way where you feel comfortable, you feel empowered, you know, and that you feel like you can do it on a daily basis, and I know it is not easy. It is a challenge that I'm facing myself. But before we dive into the nitty gritty and all the secrets that you will be sharing with us, I wanna learn more about you because your story is super interesting and we were having a conversation prior going live, Julia and I, and I was telling you how story was perfectly imperfect because like so many of us, and so many of you I'm sure will relate to it. So let's talk about your professional journey.
[00:03:05] Darine: You were an IT recruiter then a language instructor and you finally ended up being a style expert. When I read here, when I look at your journey is, okay, you had a job, but you had a passion, maybe, you know lying somewhere, and one day you decided to follow your heart and to follow your passion. But I would like to know, because I know a lot of people would like to make the jjumpp and would like to make the transition and it is very challenging for them. So I would like to know, what was your process, you know, going from a corporate job to finally pursuing your passion?
[00:03:46] Julie: Well, I would say that it started a long, long time ago. Ever since I was very young, three years old. I've loved style. It's always been, you know, a part of me that came naturally that I loved.
[00:04:04] Julie: You know, I loved dressing up Barbies when I was young. I loved clothing playing dress up, so it wasn't something that, you know, just kind of became an interest at some point in my life. It's always been a part of me and it's really served at me at different times in my life. When I was discovering more about who I am and trying to figure out like, you know, what makes me different?
[00:04:30] Julie: Who am I? Where do I fit in this world? And it's really served me in developing my own sense of self and sense of self-confidence. And that's really what brought me to study psychology in university. I was really interested in self-esteem and, you know, the cognition behind what makes someone confident or not.
[00:04:58] Julie: At the time I didn't know image consulting was a thing. It wasn't until I worked with a career coach in university that I realized this was actually, a field of work and a combined style and psychology. And I knew right away. This was something that spoke to my heart. I felt really called to do it, but I was, you know, in my second year university I think, and it wasn't the right time.
[00:05:23] Julie: And so like you highlighted, I have had different phases of my professional career where I did explore other areas. I taught English abroad. That was where I really discovered my love for teaching, and after a couple years of that, I felt like it was time to really start taking image consulting seriously and see how I can make a goal of it.
[00:05:46] Julie: So I got my diploma in image consulting in Singapore and moved back to Canada to pursue this and I really had to support my own dreams by working in jobs, you know, allowed me to support myself because being an image consultant, companies don't just hire image consultants. If you're, if you wanna do this, you either become a stylist working for a retail store or you might go into, you know, retail or design or you start your own practice which was the route that I wanted to go.
[00:06:23] Julie: And there's been many iterations. Worked with clients in person. At one point I did a lot of workshops for newcomers to Canada and the job search that really translated well when I shifted into it recruiting and and then even their image played a role in my own growth, , in that part of my career.
[00:06:45] Julie: But also seeing the impact of image. The candidates that we were presenting that were interviewing for jobs, and then recently, we had an opportunity my partner and I had an opportunity to escape the Canadian winter and just be able to create the space to go all in with image consulting and be able to devote a hundred percent of my focus to the business and working with clients.
[00:07:14] Darine: So, Let's talk a little bit about, you know, the lessons you learned when working at the IT firm, you know, recruiting IT firm, and what did you notice? How did you notice that the way candidate would present themselves would either have an impact, a positive impact or negative impact on their success in getting a job?
[00:07:38] Julie: Well, the first, the first aspect that I would say played a really key role is the candidate's confidence in how they showed up. You have to be able to present yourself in a way that you're communicating both visually, non-verbally, and verbally your value and if you are confident about that, it translates non-verbally through the way that you're speaking and the way that you're showing up on camera whereas if you are not confident, advocating for yourself and speaking about your value, that's also gonna translate. So confidence was a big piece, kind of separate from the clothing that someone was actually showing up in for an interview. But then of course, clothing became a part of that as well, where candidates, you know, sometimes don't realize the importance of their image and the non-verbal aspect of how they're showing up.
[00:08:42] Julie: And I remember having this one conversation with a hiring manager and he just vented to me about someone showing up, basically looking like they just rolled out of bed, their hair was a mess, and basically wearing pajamas, and he is like, this speaks volumes to me about, you know, if they're taking this interview seriously and if they're taking me seriously, and if they're taking themselves seriously.
[00:09:10] Julie: So it's very much about, you know, what are you saying about yourself non-verbally through the way that you're showing and a lot of hiring managers really do notice that.
[00:09:23] Darine: Oh, so you hear people hiring managers like they do look at that. And it's very true because the way you portray yourself and the way you are perceived is reality.
[00:09:34] Darine: So you can be the most talented person in the room and you can be very confident if you just wear like a large, I don't know black T-shirt with a pair of jeans and sneakers depending on the industry you are in. But still, you know, you can be the most competent person in the room, but that's not what people are gonna see.
[00:09:52] Darine: This is not people are going to perceive about you based on the first impression, because first impression does matter. You have three seconds, I believe, to make a first good impression. And how are people going to judge you by first is your appearance and the way you dress. So when we say like, dress for success, I strongly believe it can have a positive or negative impact on your career progression because you know at the smart woman and here at the STANDOUT From The Crowd we are all about getting more women into leadership roles.
[00:10:31] Darine: So you have to think in terms of the hiring manager and maybe the leadership team, like if we hire her, if we give her a promotion to become a leader, be part of the leadership team, what is the image that she will portray and what is the perception that employees will have of her.
[00:10:51] Darine: Again, you know exactly the way you dress, impact your success.
[00:10:55] Julie: Yeah, and I can speak to that like I personally have been promoted because, not only because of my image, like I've been very good at what I've done, but like in just my previous role when I got promoted, I had a conversation with my boss and she said: she told me that, you know, from the beginning she could see me progressing into higher levels of the company. And I said, like, what was it that you saw? And she said: it's the way you present yourself. You come across a very confident and very professional and you know, within, the company, they could see that.
[00:11:37] Julie: But I think that gave them a sense of confidence knowing that I would also represent the company well. Because, you know, moving up you're, you know, often in more client facing positions. So I personally can speak to that. I have experienced that exact thing that you're talking about, where the way you're, the way I was perceived, in fact, opened the door for me to be considered for a promotion and get it and get it, which is the most important.
[00:12:10] Darine: Yeah. So now that we are shifting into a hybrid, workplace, right where most of the meetings are taking place online, how do you see the role, and we know it right now that we are working from home, most people they just dress up casually for their Zoom meetings, right? They don't feel the pressure, or maybe they don't feel, you know, they are just no longer motivated to dress well just to sit at home behind their computer, right?
[00:12:44] Darine: So how do you see this workplace shift having an impact on the way people present themselves that do you believe it is still important for people to dress up even though they stay at home and sit behind the computer?
[00:13:02] Julie: A hundred percent, there's still so much value in still dressing up.
[00:13:07] Julie: Even in my, you know, recruiting role, I was working partially from home and I did still dress up. It wasn't the same level as I did when I was going into the office, but the simple act. Like starting your day and taking some time to put thought into how you're presenting yourself and actually changing out of your comfortable clothes into something that you wear for work.
[00:13:33] Julie: There's a mindset shift that happens and there's actually a research that supports this where you know, it's called enclosed cognition and you associate d ifferent attributes to different items of clothing. For example, a blazer you would associate more with, you know, working and you know, authority, maybe credibility versus sweatshirt that you would probably associate more with, you know, being laid back, casual, kicking, watching TV or something. So there's like these mental associations that we make with our clothes that we literally embody when we are wearing the clothes. So it has a very an undeniable impact when we're actually, you know, wearing garments that we associate with working versus relaxing. Aside from that, I can say for sure I experienced this.
[00:14:31] Julie: It's easy to let your standards slip for how you're presenting when you're not showing up and people can't see, you know, what kind of pants you're wearing, if you're wearing sweatpants or if you're wearing even jeans or dress pants, maybe if you wanna wear that. So it's easy to let your standards slip, but I think that's where, this is something that I work on with my clients.
[00:14:53] Julie: It's not about what other people see, it is, but another piece to this is how you see yourself and your own standards for yourself. You're not, it like if you're always dressing for someone else's standards, you're standards are gonna constantly probably decrease and decrease. Like, but yeah, so you have to set your own standard for how you're going to show up and whether that is a t-shirt and that's your standard and that's good. Like you have to find what works for you, but, you can't rely on other people to set that bar. You have to set your own.
[00:15:36] Darine: And actually, so how do we find our style? I was having this conversation last week with a friend of mine and we were shopping around and she was like, Darine, what's your style?
[00:15:48] Darine: And I was, that was a good question because I don't know, you know I buy clothes that makes me feel good, comfortable. I like, you know, to look the part and put myself together. But still, what's my style? I don't know. I don't have an answer and she didn't know either. So what would be the first steps, actually, and I know many of you watching and listening, you wonder what's your style?
[00:16:12] Darine: You're still searching for it and sometimes I see women wearing like very simple clothing that looks so good on them, but I would never be able to put it together myself, even though it looks that simple. So where do we get started? That's the question to find and to identify our style.
[00:16:33] Julie: I love this question. It's actually the very first thing I work on when I start working with a client. Because usually, when we start working together, they're in the exact same place. They don't know their style. And you have to have a vision, you have to have that clarity for. How you want to look, how you want to present yourself and what you want to convey about yourself.
[00:16:56] Julie: So you have to have that vision. Where people go wrong is they are externally referencing and they look at what other people are wearing and try to pick out like, oh, I think that's my style, or I think that could work with me, work for me. That's not how to do it. How you do want to do it is you wanna build your style from the inside out, because style is really what it is an outward expression of who you are internally.
[00:17:24] Julie: So it's getting clear on what makes you who you are, what what do you wanna say about yourself? What do you want people to see of you through your style? So your style is built on your vision, value, skills, talents and goals. So it's clarifying what are your values? What is your vision for your career, for your relationships? How do you wanna show up? How do you wanna be seen with the people, by the people around you? What are your skills and talents that you really want to embody and translate through your style and what are your goals? You know, they say dress for the job you want. So you have to know like where you're going so that you can dress for that as well.
[00:18:11] Julie: Once you've clarified all of that as well as, you know, taking your preferences into account you know, because some women really want to feel comfortable in their style. I'd say like probably that's 99% of us. We wanna feel comfortable in our clothes. So it's knowing what your preferences are as well, and then creating that game plan and dressing for your personality.
[00:18:36] Julie: So I have a few different frameworks and exercises that I use when I'm working with clients to clarify this. And once we have that, the intention and what we're trying to capture, we work on, you know, what's going to translate that visually through the different frameworks and models that I work with around personality dressing as well as understanding how to dress for your body type because that's also a component where you need to understand your proportions.
[00:19:04] Julie: What cuts, shapes, materials are going to be flattering for your figure because that needs to be taken into account as well when you're creating that vision for your style so that you can apply it to your wardrobe.
[00:19:16] Darine: So let's say for example, I'm a woman in my thirties, I wanna get into a leadership role within the organization I work with.
[00:19:24] Darine: And so I want to dress for success. But I don't wanna fit in, I don't wanna look like everyone else, you know, I wanna add some pop of a little pink, you know, purple because this is my personality and I wanna come across confident, friendly, but still, you know, committed to the mission.
[00:19:46] Darine: So, this is the example, so what should I look for to be able to present myself in that way?
[00:19:58] Julie: Totally, so ideally, you know, we would start off really clarifying what is that style? What are we trying to capture of your personality and translate through your style. And then from there, if it's really about, you know, your career progression, it's understanding how to dress appropriately for the occasion is a big component of that. So let's say you're going for a role that you would be in a leadership position and you'd have, you know, people looking up to you. You need to be able to convey authority as well as credibility, and you need to come across as confident.
[00:20:41] Julie: The confidence is gonna translate when you know how you're showing up, you know your style. It's coming from a very intentional place from the inside out. And then the credibility and authority is going to come from understanding how to convey visual credibility. Visual credibility can be translated in a lot of different ways from, you know, the different garments that we associate with our blazer, for example, is a big one. as well as how you're putting your clothing together, for example if you look at, if we wanna talk about, , color combinations and coordination, when you're wearing really high contrast colors like black and white, it really translates to authority and kind of conveys a seriousness.
[00:21:31] Julie: That's why we see a lot of people in let's say the banking industry or law, they'll usually wear very high contrast colors. Maybe it's a baby blue shirt with a charcoal blazer.
[00:21:45] Darine: You know what, that's true. I have never seen someone at the bank wearing a bright color. Actually, that's very true what you're saying.
[00:21:55] Julie: So it depends on industry. That's a very, very big piece of understanding how to dress for the occasion and navigating even like the business casual dress code, it depends on a lot of different factors. The industry, the size of the company, the company culture, what your role is, how the people you are working directly with our dressing. Even if you're in a leadership position, if it's with a really casual company where everyone else is wearing jeans and a t-shirt, you're probably, you're not going to dress and convey authority the same way that you would if you were in a company that has a culture that is more formal naturally.
[00:22:40] Julie: So it's kind of ambiguous, like you really have to navigate. How you're going to convey credibility relative to all of these different elements in your environment. The people, the culture, the workplace, the industry, all of those things. So, it ultimately depends, but that's where you need to understand or that's where it's really valuable to understand like, okay, if I wear this color with this color, it's gonna come across as you know, black and white will come across as more authoritative and like pink and light blue, like what I'm wearing, which is much more of an approachable, friendly, color combination. So all of the different elements of your style is going to convey some kind of underlying visual message, and it's understanding how to craft that based on the effect you're trying to create.
[00:23:34] Darine: It's about doing your homework also. You know, and look out, look at the industry you are working, you are evolving in, or you are trained to enter. Right? How do successful people dress up? Look at them, you know, and, don't imitate them which is exactly what you said.
[00:23:54] Darine: Don't look at them to try to reproduce the style, but look at them to try to understand, you know, what's the vibe in your industry. That's very important. What is the one statement piece if there was one statement piece that you would recommend every woman to in her closet, which one would that be?
[00:24:21] Julie: A blazer, a hundred percent. Blazers are so versatile, you can, you know, obviously you would layer a blazer but layering it with, like I was talking about, color combinations can create a more authoritative or a more approachable look. The other nice thing about blazers is that they polish off a look.
[00:24:44] Julie: If you throw on a blazer to any outfits, even jeans and a t-shirt, it's instantly going to elevate the look. So it really completes a look. It elevates the look. It can convey authority, but if you're wearing it, something in, you know, a color or a print, it will also kind of tone down the authoritative vibe that you're giving off. So Blazer's, hand down, hands down.
[00:25:15] Darine: Blazer, blazer, hands down. And actually we have a few comments here that I cannot see on the screen, but I see that many of you actually are watching the live. So drop your comments, questions, if you have any questions about your style, your body, type, whatever, this is the time. And so I see, people, I see Amed, I see Fatima, and Shannon also who says: great topic for back to work. We have lost a sense of professionalism, individuality. And she says, yeah, she says, love a blazer, just did a purge of my wardrobe. Ooh, that could be a topic we could address and donated it to dress for success.
[00:25:58] Darine: Exactly, and I did exactly the same thing before Christmas. I purged my dress, my wardrobe, because that was too much, and that's a mistake that we make also, right? And we can talk about it a little bit. We accumulate clothes so much that we don't use them most of the time, and then we are confused as what to wear and we don't know how to put those clothes together.
[00:26:23] Darine: So what would be the advice you know, or the best practice here to ensure that you buy clothes? A few of them, but that you will know maybe how to pair them, but then you don't become overwhelmed with like a quantity of clothes that you will never put on.
[00:26:44] Julie: So there's a few different steps to this. The first one really goes back to what we were talking about with clarifying your style. You need to know what works for you. You need to know what effectively translates. The parts of you that you want to convey through your style. So then once you turn to your wardrobe, and this is exactly, you know, part of the process that I walk through with clients, once you turn to your wardrobe, you're looking at each item to determine whether or not this item serves the vision that you created for your style.
[00:27:23] Julie: And if it works for your body type? Is it something that you actually feel comfortable in? One of the biggest mistakes I think or challenges is when women have items that they don't actually feel that confident in, but they wear it anyways, and then they're self-conscious and thinking about what they're wearing and if it looks okay or they're fidgeting with it throughout the day.
[00:27:48] Julie: We don't want that, so we wanna clear out any items. you don't feel you're best in or that you're unsure of, or you don't feel like yourself. Because if it's not serving you, there's no point. Your clothing is a tool. It should serve you in your life. , it should facilitate your lifestyle. And if it's not doing that, it's just taking up space.
[00:28:11] Julie: So you wanna really go to your wardrobe and refine based on what works for you and your style and then once you refined what you already have, you wanna look at what do I have that already coordinates well, And this is when I work with clients on creating a capsule wardrobe essentially and looking at that capsule wardrobe method which I have a post about on my profile with a guide for anyone that would be interested at.
[00:28:39] Julie: I can send that out. But yeah, creating a capsule wardrobe and understanding, okay, what of my wardrobe do I have that already coordinates well? And then from there you can identify holes in your wardrobe so that you can shop strategically for items to fill those holes. Or maybe in creating refining your wardrobe and creating those capsules, you realize that, you know, I have, I've had this white blouse for 10 years.
[00:29:06] Julie: I love it, it's now offwhite and it could really stand to be replaced. Then you are replacing any staple items that serve a place in your wardrobe, but have gotten worn out. So it's taking that approach of like, what do I have that serves that purpose? What already, what can I coordinate and where are the holes or what items need to be replaced so that I can.
[00:29:38] Julie: Shop strategically for those items and then when you're shopping, you are aiming to get items that you can wear with hopefully at least three other items in your wardrobe. That's a rule that I have. Don't buy something that you can't coordinate with three other items in your wardrobe or create three other outfits with your existing.
[00:30:00] Darine: Wow, that's a good one. I'm gonna check my closet and see if I can, if all my clothes like fit into this role. We have another question from the audience. How to choose accessories that compliment your clothing
[00:30:20] Julie: So that comes back to style again. Understanding what you're after with your style and what's true for your personality. So, for example, in the framework that I use for personality dressing, one of the archetypes we could call it is kind of more of a natural Personality dressing style with that style, the accessories that you would most often see are more like simple and delicate pieces.
[00:30:50] Julie: For example, the necklace that I'm wearing. And, so yeah, it's understanding what your style is, what those pieces are that are going to work, and then if, if you are kind of more of that natural style and you're wearing simple delicate pieces, it's quite easy to, you know, throw on a necklace like this.
[00:31:09] Julie: It pretty much goes with anything. But it will also depend on the overall look that you're going for and the, yeah, the overall Outfit combination. So if you're wearing something that is maybe more simple, for example, a turtleneck and some dress pants, I'm actually gonna, I'm posting an outfit, outfit post on Friday about this, but Then you might wear something that's a little bit more bold to add flavor to the style and add some visual interest to an outfit that is otherwise really simple.
[00:31:43] Julie: So it's kind of, there's an art to it. It's a balancing game. It's understanding what your style is. It's also knowing how to put outfits together and knowing, you know, what could use a little bit more visual interest versus something that's really simple. You know if we're talking about the overall look, just with what I'm wearing today with a blazer that has, you know, a print and a color, like there's a lot going on.
[00:32:11] Julie: I wouldn't wear a really big chunky, loud necklace with this because the blazer is the statement piece. So, you wanna balance, like what are you featuring of your outfit? Is it one of the garments or is it a simple outfit overall that you're gonna add some flavor with accessories?
[00:32:29] Julie: So it's kind of a balancing game and there's an art to it, different things to take into consideration.
[00:32:35] Darine: But you have shared like quite practical tips and great tips here so thank you for that. And my last question to you is what do you see being the greatest impact that you have on your clients?
[00:32:52] Julie: It's definitely the greater sense of self and inner confidence. When I work with clients, typically I'm working with ambitious women that are highly intelligent very skilled at what they do. Usually have come from like a strong education background and. Never, ever thought about their style.
[00:33:14] Julie: They're completely lost when it comes to style and like, it's one thing for someone to tell you what to wear, but it's another to actually understand what you're doing and why you're doing it. And that's what I impart on my clients, is actually equipping them and empowering with the skill. Know how to dress for themselves so that they have that skill the rest of their life.
[00:33:41] Julie: And once they, once we've worked together and they learn that skill and they see, you know, they see that they can do it for themselves, their confidence, just like exponentially increases, and by the end, sure they have great style, they look wonderful. But they're like, I feel like a new person. Like I actually feel confident in how I'm presenting myself because I've done that work to figure out like who I am? What am I conveying about myself, and I know exactly how to do it?
[00:34:17] Darine: That's amazing, wow. I love it and that's powerful and that's empowering, right? And so, you have shared so many great things with us during this conversation today. For the people who wanna learn more about what you do, and let me tell you something, I follow her. If you don't follow Julie, also on LinkedIn, I strongly encourage you to follow her on LinkedIn because she drops like high quality content and that's what, that's one of the reasons actually I decided to reach out to her to invite her as a guest on the Standout podcast because I really appreciate, you know, the quality of her content and the information and the way she put things together. So if you wanna learn more, follow her. But now for the people you know who are ready to work on themselves and to empower themselves and to dress for success, how can they connect with you and contact you?
[00:35:14] Julie: It's all through LinkedIn, so you can find me on LinkedIn at Julie Louise. You can follow my profile. I'd love to, you know, hear your thoughts on any of my posts. And when you're ready there is a link to schedule a free image assessment where we can have a conversation about where you're getting stuck and what your goals are, and create a plan to get you where you wanna.
[00:35:38] Darine: Yeah, and we will add the link in the comment here so you have direct access to it. Again, thank you so much for being with us today, Julie, that was a wonderful conversation for those of you watching and listening. I hope you enjoyed it and that you, I personally, have learned a lot, and I'm sure you did too.
[00:35:56] Darine: If you would like to listen more episodes, from the STANDOUT From The Crowd Podcast, you just have to scan the QR code here that you see on your screen, the link is also available in the comment section, and in the meantime, you take care, you stay safe, and I will see you next week for another live episode of STANDOUT From The Crowd.
[00:36:19] Darine: Thank you Julie, and thank you everyone. Bye-bye. Thank you.
