"I had a image consulter before, but I felt like the person didn't translate me"
The phrase I heard most in the last few days that made me review and understand several things about my own path
A client contacted me to schedule a meeting, interested in doing image consulting with me. We set up a time and started talking.
She told me that she sees herself as a very basic person! She doesn't like heels, she likes sneakers. She doesn't like a lot of colors, she prefers sober tones. And trying to understand her better, I started to clear up my doubts along the way. That's when she told me
I've been through this process before, but the person who helped me didn't know how to direct me, I think. I continued without really understanding everything and how the things she was proposing to me was actually me.
A few days later, I went to an event and there I started talking to a beautiful woman that after a few minutes of talking told me that
It felt like when I was talking to the consultant, she wanted to put me in a little box, you know? A box that wasn't mine... Like I had to always wear the same things she was telling me to wear without it connecting with me in any way.
Touché. This happens a lot - more than it should, unfortunately. What you don't know is that there is a huge difference between making an image proposal and harmonizing your image! There is a subtle difference that few people talk about because they don't really understand what it means.
What do you mean?
Let me explain.
Wearing the right neckline for your body, buying the right glasses frame according to your visagism, coordinating colors using the color wheel, using your personal color chart etc. can help make your image more organized and harmonious, but that doesn't mean that your image is actually communicating what you want it to convey!
When the human brain sees its surroundings, it always seeks order because order often communicates security. Our brain works much more on a primitive basis than we imagine and, well, the most evolutionarily advanced part is still being adapted, so bringing a bit of logic to this primitive process of seeing things and processing information takes a bit longer...
What many people do is harmonize their image - calling it an image proposal, saying that it will help you achieve your goals and dreams, gain that self-esteem that you seek so much, when in reality, what happens is just a harmonization of your figure as a whole.
It seems that in the market some fashion consultants and stylists prioritize the harmonious result of the image or an already established standard rather than actually understanding what can be done within the universe of expression, knowledge, understanding and desire of the client.
It seems that many times the client is not the center. The priority is often to fit the client in the right shape of glasses for her face, when the client, in reality, has a style signature based on unusual glasses or to put her in high heels because the objective of her image is to convey more respect and power, when in reality there are several ways to do this without having to sacrifice comfort that may even be more important to her than power.
Don't get me wrong! It is extremely important to know how to harmonize your image! Once you know what to do, you have the power to choose what to do it, right?
Okay, but when does communication come in?
Communicating through your image goes beyond a harmonious image.
Communicating does not always mean being harmonious. If it did, there would be no feeling of rejection for something you saw and didn't like, you know? Communicating through images involves understanding much more than what the correct length of your jeans is!
To build an image, you need to understand semiotics (studying the signs and systems that make up an image and establish communication between people), history - because it tells you what the Universe has done to human beings in different times, behavior - how these events impacted the way we interact with ourselves, with spaces, with other human beings, between nations... and, on top of all that, understanding your client's history, tastes, sensitivity and level of knowledge of fashion and style.
However, what often happens in practice is: the client often arrives wanting to get out of a box that they were put in, or often seeks to better understand how to dress well to be more accepted, or understands that this is hindering their development in some way, and the person goes there and puts them in a box again!
A box without the elements that she thinks represent her, but which are elements that the person learned in a very superficial way were the elements of success and elegance. She arrives looking for a direction and someone to guide her through this process and in the next second the person kills her authenticity, as if she could not be accepted for who she is because she does not have those elements in her life.
There is little listening and a lot of imposition in the area. Little sensitivity. Little knowledge.
The image of a photo is very different from a real life experience that is experienced in a tangible way at 360º. The clothes are worn by someone and, because of this, there are other factors that go beyond just what the eyes of others or ours are seeing, such as the comfort, authenticity, identity, expression etc. of that person.
Ignoring that in reality - as consultants and stylists that are supose to guide, support, understand, listen, teach and translate everything that our client cannot do because she has not yet developed these skills is - at the very least, is killing someone's authenticity right at the start of the process.
Making an image proposal for a businesswoman, a doctor or a lawyer often follows general guidelines! When we talk about any of these professions, we all imagine in our heads how these people would dress, but not everyone who works in these fields identifies with these signs (the suit, the shirt, the tailoring, the lab coat...) and that's all very well!
It's about time, in fact, that we start to include more of our clients' identity and authenticity in all of this, because they are more than that! They are more than their professions, more than necklines and skirt lengths, and simply harmonizing an image by adjusting their glasses, hair, etc. It's not about making an image proposal that helps them get what they want, but rather, simply making something more acceptable to the eyes.
Not everyone wants to live in harmony. The very act of living involves messing up your hair a lot, and it's good that it is that way! Life is not pasteurized, and neither does our style and image need to be!
For more days and consultants who can truly understand their clients and what they are looking for in the entire process. So that the exchange of knowledge and value of the service provided results in a delivery that represents both! Without impositions, without lack of listening, without lack of authenticity, without only harmonization.
With love,
Brisa