Posts tagged confidenceiskey
Style from the Inside Out

Style from the Inside Out.

We’ve all had that feeling “I have nothing to wear” as you enter your closet.

It’s frustrating, especially when you’re getting ready for an important event.

It can feel very defeating, you want to look and feel like a million bucks, and nothing seems quite right.

And most times it’s as simple as loving what you see when you look at yourself in the mirror.

Recently, I have had several conversations with women about evolving and feeling more coherent with who you are and how you dress.

In my most recent masterclass, The Authentic You Wardrobe System, discover the 3 simple steps to finally feel like your outside matches your inside.

I asked the participants if they could relate to; finally feeling like your outside matches your inside. It was a resounding YES!

How does it resonate with you?

As I was thinking more about it for myself, I thought about my first job out of college.

I can remember being so eager and confident to land my first job. I was ready, I had a marketing and communication degree, and I couldn’t wait to utilize my expertise.

But then my bubble burst, I walked into my interview with Travelers Choice, an elegant family-owned boutique, filled with the most beautiful quality clothing.

I was wearing clothing from the Bon Marche Jr. department from my college days.

“What I noticed immediately is my outer appearance needed to catch up with how I was feeling on the inside…confident, eager, and ready to be a successful businesswoman.”

The journey began.

The clothing allowance I received and desire to be an exceptional businesswoman changed everything for me, as I began to try HER on.

Have you thought about what the next version of you looks like?

One of the things that makes me different...

“I believe your outward appearance should be the persona that represents the authentic you, from the inside out.”

For many, it’s a new concept. And it's exactly what I teach.

As you evolve from the inside, most times you don’t fully grasp how much transformation has gone on until you go to your closet, and realize…

You’ve changed. But your clothing has not.

Once you understand the authentic you, it’s time to create a signature style so that you can elegantly step into the fullness of YOU!

Is the time NOW for your outward appearance to catch up with your inside evolution?

Have you stepped into a new position with your career, and not feeling put-together is impacting your confidence?

Are you serving a new level of client, and you've also evolved as a businesswoman, and now your wardrobe needs to do the same?

Are you in the spotlight more, and want to make sure your style is revealing your confidence?

Have you gone through a divorce, and it’s time to step into the new you as you begin to put yourself out in the dating world?

Has your lifestyle changed, you're in a new place and you want your wardrobe to represent that?

My Vision: "A world where every woman embodies her "authentic style" revealing HER beauty and confidence from the inside out."

Definitive Style Tips!

Tip #1 What do you want others to know about you when you show up in the zoom room?

  • Choose ONE word?

  • When you get dressed, do your outfit and energy reflect your ONE word?

Tip #2 What is ONE goal that you get excited about this year?

  • Do you have pieces in your closet that reflect that goal? Such as creativity, boldness, innovative, excellence, vibrant....

  • What if...you began aligning your clothing with how you want to feel?

You are invited to join me in the Private Style with Significance Facebook group for more engagement and FUN with other savvy women just like you! I have lots of extra special stylish things planned for you in 2023.

Join the Private Style with Significance Facebook Here:

Essential Ingredients to Elevate Your Style Confidence Part 4: Self-Acceptance

Essential Ingredients to Elevate Your Confidence, Part 4 of 5 Parts series: Self-Acceptance.

Have you caught your self being critical about your image, maybe more than you should?

Saying things like, “I don’t like my arms, I’m having a bad hair day, I hate my middle section?”

What if you began to focus on what you do like about yourself?

In business we talk say, “what you focus on, expands.”

Let’s chat about self-acceptance, I know it feels like a big emotional word.

In simple terms, it is, accepting you as you are.

Recognizing your strengths.

Self-acceptance is one of the most essential ingredients to elevating your confidence and letting your radiance be revealed.  

Love to invite you to be part of my private Facebook Group: Style with Significance where we can continue our conversation.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/stylewithsignificance

Essential Ingredients to Elevate Your Style Confidence Part 3: Quality

Do you ever question the fit or quality of your clothing style?

Wondering if you’re truly stepping into your excellence?

When looking at the way a garment fits, quality is an attribute you need to take into consideration.

Most times, the higher the quality the better the fit.

Have you ever bought a pair of workout leggings at Ross or Target and thought they were, OK?

Then you purchased a pair of workout leggings at Lululemon and thought OMG these are the best fitting leggings I’ve ever had.

I have. You don’t think there is going to be a difference even though the style looks exactly the same, but there is.

The quality of the fabric can reflect how your clothing fits, how it hangs on your body, and the way it feels.

If you’re like me, I love my clothing to feel like it was custom made for me.

Many times, there are two camps of women; the camp that says, it is good enough. And the second camp who values quality, luxury, and refinement in her clothing.

I believe, those who say this is good enough have never given themselves the permission to experience the kind of quality I’m talking about.

Let’s look at a pair of pants.

You purchase a $79 pair of pants and after a few machine washings they don’t fit as well, they lose their shape, they are baggy in the butt, and now the fit and quality is compromised.

The pant hangs in your closet. And you’re not sure why you don’t wear them.

What if you decided to raise your standards and invested in better quality clothing?

Let’s talk RIO.

For example, you purchase a $300 pair of pants, wear them 1X a week, 48X a year…turns out that every time you wear the higher quality, better fitting pant, you invested $6.25 every time you wore them.

Is it worth it?

Heck yes, the pants made you feel like a million bucks.

That is priceless in my opinion.

The next time you’re thinking about confidence or style confidence, think about the quality of the pieces you’re investing in.

If you’re new to this, begin by investing in ONE piece that allows you to feel like a million bucks.

This is about fit, how the fabric feels against your body, and the way the style adapts to your body type.

Something that may have never occurred to you; your non-verbal confidence oozes when you walk into a room.

You are experiencing your clothing supporting you to step into your excellence.

You are invited to my upcoming Style Strategy and Confidence Masterclass on Thursday, August 19th @ 1pm PST

Register at: https://www.annettebond.com/masterclass

Essential Ingredients to Elevate Your Style Confidence Part 2: Courage

Have you wondered if you could pull off a specific look?

But you stopped yourself because you were afraid of what others were going to think?

In Part 2 of the 5 Part series, we’re going to talk about Courage.

You may be thinking what does courage have to do with style and image?

More than you think.

The dictionary defines Courage as bravery, which is also the opposite of fear.

Thirty years ago, I learned a concept from the book, Feel the Fear and Do It Anyways.

The ‘bullseye’ of a target was a metaphor of staying inside your comfort zone.

When I learned that, it was a picture I wanted to change.

Are you someone who tends to wear the same styles and same few colors all the time?

If you knew that you would not be judged, what would you love to wear? What image would you like to project?

If you never go outside the ‘bullseye’ circle because you are afraid of what others are going to think, how long will you stay in your bullseye style comfort zone?

What if you took one small step towards a style that made you feel like a million bucks?

One small step to the next circle.

Observe your comfort zone of style growing as well as your Courage and Confidence.

You may be thinking, it’s time to be more visible online or when you enter a zoom room.

Try one NEW accessory piece. Maybe a statement necklace. How does it feel?

One baby step leads to the next big step of courage.

Instead of a head-to-toe red dress, maybe it’s a red shoe. A red necklace.

One step of courage leads to increased confidence which then leads to elevating your Style Confidence.

It’s time to look as good as you feel!

If you are feeling stuck in your style comfort zone and not sure how to get out of it or where to begin, I’m here to help.

Let’s Chat, https://www.annettebond.com/contact

Imagine if You Stopped Questioning Your Personal Style

As a woman I have often felt that society has put women into a generality that all women love to shop and have a natural fashion sense.

Agree or disagree?

From my experience, many women only shop because they “have to” not because it is enjoyable.

It can sometimes feel hard and stressful according to clients who I work with.

Well, I did some of my own digging to see where this paradigm began, and this is what I found according to Psychology Today.

According to the socio-biologists, women are linked to shopping in the same way that men are linked to sports. Often women's behavior is explained by something like the "shopping gene": men are the "hunters" (conquering stuff) and women are the "gatherers" (finding stuff).

Interestingly, it began historically, as an offshoot of advertising and commercialism, as a way to encourage women to feel in charge—deceptively inviting them to make choices and decisions of their own.

What if I told you that adopting a personal style was reflective of the real you?

Not what someone else told you to be.

What if I gave you permission to be try new styles that intrigued you?

Garments that made you feel joyful.

Like my client Mary, who wants to experiment with yellow.

Pieces that make you feel beautiful. Maybe a feminine color, like blush pink.  

An accessory that yells, BOLD.

Why not?

It all begins in the investigative process of discovering who are you?

What are your likes and dislikes?

What is your current lifestyle and what kind of pieces can you add that support your way of life?

This is how I work differently.  

We begin with the Power of You.

You are a woman in charge.

And you get to make choices that bring out the best of you and allow you to step into your excellence.

As a personal image consultant who empowers women to get dressed with ease and show up confidently, one thing I know for sure….

Many women question if they have a personal style, and are not sure where to begin.

Join me where we will be talking more about this at my upcoming Style Strategy and Confidence Masterclass on Thursday, June 24th @ 1pm PST.

Register: https://www.annettebond.com/masterclass

What Does an Image Consultant and Deion Sanders Have in Common?

My son Ryan introduced me to Deion Sanders favorite quote years ago.

 Look Good. Feel Good. Play Good.

 Then they Pay Good.

 I remember so clearly how Ryan memorized the quote and was buying into its truth.

 As a twenty-something young man at the time, of course he looked up to the professional football player.

 He was cool and successful.

 Being in the business of image and style for over 25 years, and working with 1000’s of women, it’s never really about the fashion but how the clothing makes one feel.

 It affects your self-image and self-esteem.  

When a piece of clothing is worn, it exerts an influence on the wearer’s psychological processes by activating associated abstract concepts through its symbolic meaning, Galinsky, Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.

The term coined by Galinsky, is “Enclothed Cognition.”

Dr. Adam Galinsky study found, "Clothes invade the body and brain, putting the wearer into a different psychological state. You have to wear the coat, see it on your body, and feel it on your skin for it to influence your psychological processes."

 The study featured undergraduate students who were either given a white doctors coat or told to wear street clothes and were administered a test for selective attention, such as spotting minor differences in similar pictures.

Those who wore the doctor’s coat made about half as many errors as those in street clothes.

When you are gearing up to put your best foot forward, what do you do?

As a businesswoman, you choose your most “confident look” in the closet.

Just like professional athlete Deion Sanders, it is gameday.

Expressing yourself and being confident in your self-image is one way to give yourself an edge whether you are powerful businesswoman or professional football player.

As a professional football has a brand with his uniform.

What does your businesswoman wardrobe say about you?

Is it expressing your uniqueness?

Do you have a signature look that differentiates you?

Does it reflect your expertise and brand?

Maybe it’s time to try on your ‘look the part’ confident look and step into your excellence?

You are invited to join me at my upcoming Style Strategy and Confidence Masterclass on Thursday, June 24th @ 1pm PST

https://www.annettebond.com/masterclass

What Does Style Have to Do with Strategy?

You may think of the word strategy as business related or the serious stuff in life.

We’re talking style, right? Yes.

For some, you identify with the word strategic, that’s how you operate best, and others may think it feels so masculine to combine it with personal style.

You may feel style is presumed to be fun, fashionable and personal, certainly not strategic.

Have you ever had an experience that you couldn't stop looking at the presenters clothing and wondering, "what were they thinking”?

I believe most businesswomen have a closet full of clothes they never wear because they don’t have a style strategy.   

A strategy is your approach.

If you want a wardrobe that is aligned with your personal brand, you need to be strategic.

If you want to get noticed in 7 seconds or less as a powerful woman, you need to be strategic.  

If you want others to listen to you as a thought leader, you need to be strategic.

Agreed, choosing clothes for the next level version of YOU can be....

·        overwhelming

·        lots of second guessing

·        wasted mental energy

Is it time to ‘try on’ and create your personal Style Strategy?

Are you ready to take this to a deeper level and truly understand what it looks like to have a Style Strategy?

You are invited to the upcoming Style Strategy and Confidence Masterclass on Wednesday, May 26th @ 1pm PST

Sign up: https://www.annettebond.com/masterclass

Strong Women Advice from My Mother

Strong Women Advice from My Mother

How to be confident can sometimes be a very abstract thought or concept.

You can read books.

Seek advice from other confident women.

Step outside your comfort zone to try new things.

Or maybe you are seeking competence in a particular area of life, and confidence is a natural aftereffect.

If you’re like me, confidence in whatever area of life is something we’re all looking to embody and improve.

With Mother’s Day upon us, I wanted to honor my mother who I only had for 48 years of my life.

My most memorable years were in my teens. She was trying to teach me things that I wasn’t always 100% on board with.

But I listened anyways.

It wasn’t until I was an adult that I appreciated the “strong woman advice” she was teaching me.

Honestly, I’m not really sure that elevating my confidence was the goal she set out to accomplish, but in the journey of her motherly love to help me be the best version of me, confidence was achieved.  

In my vlog, I share the three memorable virtues that I lovingly refer to as, “strong women advice.”

My mother’s strong women guidance is not just helpful advice, but is a gateway to healthy self-esteem, self-love, and being the BEST version of you.

1.       The Golden Rule, treat others the way you would like to be treated.

2.       Believe in Yourself, you can do anything you set your mind to.

3.       Show up as the BEST version of you. Mentally and physically.

As a personal image consultant who helps women with their personal styling and creating confident looks, one thing I know for sure….

Confidence is Attractive