BRAVE NEW WORLD
With Questionable style choices creeping into Live Feeds & Zoom Rooms in the days of Covid 19, Tania Sterl asks, How will you choose to bee seen in this…
Who knew all those sci-fi movies and books you were obsessed with would become our new reality – or surreality lately? Most of us are still in lock-down or quarantine. Working from home is the new norm, unless you are an essential or emergency worker (moment of silence for deep gratitude for their service). For the rest of us, virtual meetings, zoom rooms, Instagram live, are the new normal to interview, network, build an audience, & stay connected while safe-distancing.
Showing up online can be even more confronting as everything is magnified and then some. Bad lighting, poor positioning of your device, and well, your face up close and personal can be a personal dilemma. That small screen frame on zoom is like showing up in your own talk show. While it can be confronting, it is an opportunity to showcase yourself in the manner in which you choose. From the clothes you wear, to your grooming and glasses, to your lighting & background, showing up online is like “show-time.” So here’s some tips on how to make some savvy sartorial choices to take control of how you want to be seen in virtual world.
Before you get dressed and show up online, ask yourself these questions:
What online events are you showing up for? How do you want to be perceived? How do you want to be remembered? Are you willing to take responsibility for how you’re showing up? Are you willing to dare to be seen as this new persona?
Of all the things that are out of our control lately, waiting for unemployment, PPP or PPE to come through, handling an even busier than ever work load while home-schooling your children, pivoting your business to virtual world and expanding globally, our sartorial choices and what we wear is actually one of the few things in our control. So make a choice of how you want to present yourself online and own it.
Before you show up online for that next virtual appearance ask yourself,
What is that virtual appearance you are showing up for? What is the event? (interview, company meeting with the entire team, networking group, or is it a casual evening mixer or happy hour)
If you are interviewing, research the company see how business formal, business casual or business creative it is so that you can create a look that’s going to blend in and still stand out as your own personal brand, that relates to that organization firm or business.
Ask yourself, How do I want to be perceived? Beyond making a first impression on an interview in a zoom call meeting someone for the first time whether it’s a client an employer or someone who’s reporting to you ask yourself what are your defining words?
Do you want to be seen as the creative one, the humorous one, the calm one, the confident one? All these play into your clothing choices… calm and confident evokes grounding cool colors like navy‘s and blues creative.Dynamic evokes brighter more bold colors yellows oranges bright pinks so choose your colors according to the energy you want to convey.
If you showed up to a zoom room and everyone was in the dark and all you saw was from their nose up and they were wearing disheveled dirty dark clothes how would that make you feel? Think about how your appearance is not only affecting your own mood and mindset but how it could be affecting others.
How do you want to be remembered? Do you want to remembered like that lawyer in Miami that showed up for a virtual court appearance with no shirt on? Or the woman who took her device to the bathroom with her? Or do you want to be seen as the calm, cool, and confident consultant whose clients can trust you? Or do you want to be seen as the dynamic creative Instagram influencer that you are?
Beyond the first impression you want to leave that interview, client consultation call, zoom room with how you want to be remembered and wear a little something that will make you memorable. It could be a bold pair of red glasses, it could be a bright pink dress shirt, it could be a leopard print blouse, think about how you want to be remembered and choose your clothing and accessories from eyewear to jewelry to a bow tie to make a statement and stand out. The details matter, make them count.
The Power of Color:
Color is a potent source of energy. Black absorbs light, the absence of color, and appears somber. Black is usually worn to formal events and funerals. While black can be chic live and in person, online, black absorbs light and can dull you out. Unless you mix it with sheen, or texture like leather or satin, and mix up textures like a black moto jacket with a graphic tee. White reflects light, and will make you disappear if you’re pale and on a white background. Colors can energize or soothe. There’s ways to choose colors and close to capture your character and that you want to convey online. Bright colors like orange, yellow, and pink energize. Deep dark colors like burgundy and navy convey a serious attitude. Midtones and neutrals convey calm, like Dr Brix in her neutral colors and signature scarves.
Time to experiment:
This may be an interesting time to experiment as well. One of my clients is growing out her grey roots, and deciding to go from brunette to all grey – like a true Jane Fonda reveal on Oscar night! Whether you decide to keep your hair, shave it all off, keep the gray or rush back to the salons for a fresh new coat of color, or get those nails done, take this time to really explore these different expressions of
yourself.
A great way is to go on Pinterest and start a style Pinterest board and pin images and references for inspiration. Growing out your hair to chopping it into a bob, growing out a beard to keeing it groomed, see what the celebrities are doing, and see what inspires you. Everyone is trying new things like making bread and virtual mhajong, so play with your image now is a really fun time to experiment. A bold new lipstick color, a fabulous new pair of frames. And now there’s a ton of DIY and how-to videos online from touching up your roots (a la Samantha Bee thanks to Eva Scrivo NYC)
While there are so many things out of our control, you do have a certain amount of control over what you wear and how to show up online. It’s going to be very interesting to see how we emerge from this with both of our inner changes and outer changes. Are you brave enough to embrace the new you? Or will you run back to the salons and gym and stores to retain the former you? Either way, show the world the YOU that wants to be seen, and own it.
