The way you dress is the first impression people have about you! For this reason, your style should be a reflection of who you are now and who you want to be in the future. As Seth Godin would say, that’s the story you’re telling about yourself, it’s part of your brand!
Which is why we’re happy to introduce our “Style Experiment Series” to get people a little out of their comfort zone and make them fall in love a little or a whole lot more with fashion and, of course, get them to try different styles respecting their core DNA and adding an extra The Montreal Fashion Society touch. For our first edition, we had the pleasure to style experiment with this gentleman, Ilias Benjelloun, creative director at MTL New Tech and interpreneurship catalyst at Desjardins LAB, under a Sillcon Valley meets James Bond theme.
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For anyone who wants to experiment with us or like us, remember, just like about anything in life, you’ve gotta experiment to determine which style best represents you, makes you feel comfortable and which sends the message you want to send out there to your target audience. So, how do I experiment with style you might ask? Here’s where the fun begins…
Experiment as you answer these questions and enjoy the process.
1. How do people in my industry dress like? Every industry has its own kind of dress code. You can find out about the dress code in yours by determining the recurring clothing pieces and styles you see through networking events, conferences, summits and by what its leaders usually wear. If you observe its gurus, they usually represent well the industry’s image, as they inspire many and act as leaders of all sorts of trends. Per example, the tech industry, similarly to the video game industry loves hoodies, sneakers, geeky t-shirts and jeans. On the other hand professionals like lawyers and accountants often rock suits and more corporate like styles. People in the fashion industry are expected to add one or many creative twists to their look, which generates those killer fashion week street styles.
2. How do my idols and mentors dress like? If you chose someone to be your idol or your mentor, chances are you admire the person for her work, accomplishments or what they exude in general and you’ll get a whole lot of inspiration for the person you want to become from them, which is cool.
3. Which TV character’s style would be closest to mine? Harvey Specter, Carrie Bradshaw, Richard Hendricks, Blair or Serena and any other character you secretly wish was your real life BFF or a future, under construction, version of you. Who did you identify with growing up and who do you identify with TODAY.
4. Do I want to be loud or discrete? Once you figured out what type of clothes you want to wear, or which style you want to embrace, you can also explore its loudness. This basically falls under which color palette are you venturing in, will you be zero accessorizing or will you stack up on those little style enhancers just like an experimented fashion blogger or icon.
5. What are Google, Pinterest and Instagram suggesting for you to try? Just by googling some keywords that best represent your style and personality, it will not only inspire you some killer outfits, but it will also guide you through putting them together and purchasing them and those are sources that keep on giving if you check them out every now and then for updates.
6. What’s my budget? Would you believe me if I told you, your budget shouldn’t have any impact on your style? Well you should! The only impact your budget has, if any, is on where you shop and when you shop, meaning which brands, designers and boutiques you have to put on your radar and the sale seasons you’ll have to add to your calendar. Other than than, you can put together pretty much any look, and by that I mean any look, with any reasonable budget, and by that I don’t mean $3.00.
Remember to continuously experiment and update your style as you grow and evolve. You don’t want to look like you’re visiting from the past, like you’re still sporting your high school clothes or worst, like your look is telling an opposite story from the story you want to be telling!
