The Lifecycle Of Your Style – Nothing Lasts Forever

By Brian Maynor

 

You’ve worked hard to create and cultivate your signature style. From finding the right balance of taste and fashion to your favorite brands, you have invested a lot of time, trial and error into your image. So how do you keep fresh, or know when it’s time for a change?

We’ve talked about the importance of keeping your image current to remain relevant and at the top of your game, but it might surprise you to know there is a timeline that your professional style follows. What isn’t surprising is the fact that the timeline tracks the demise of your professional style. Here are the major milestones in the life of your work wardrobe in coordination with the timeline of your job:

 

1.    First three months. This is the dress to impress phase. In an effort to make the best impression possible, you tend to put more time and care into your image by laying out your clothes the night before to actually planning your wardrobe based on your daily agenda. Comfort also takes a backseat to style with shoes, fitted suit jackets, and ties staying in place all day. And there is nothing casual about your Fridays.

2.    Three to Six months. You are still striving to set your standard and make your mark, but familiarity with your job and colleagues makes it easy for those standards to start slipping.   You still plan your outfits and look your best in the morning, but after lunch is a different story. It starts with loosening your tie or slipping off your shoes then progresses to jackets on your chair and shirts being loosened.

3.    Six to Twelve months. Your routine has changed slightly and now instead of planning your outfit the night before you decide what to wear while standing in your closet wiping the sleep from your eyes. It’s harder to hit the floor running so to make it as easy as possible you start recycling looks. The uncomfortable dress shoes are now at the back of the closet in favor of a slightly worn pair of “comfortable shoes.” You also start embracing casual Fridays, but still keep the jeans professional with a blazer and dress shirt.

4.    One to Three years. This is style purgatory. You are fully committed to a uniform of similar looks day after day because they are easily pulled together in your sleep. The suits, ties and pencil skirts are only pulled out when necessary in favor or slacks, polo shirts or other casual tops. Any extra money seems to go to weekend wear instead of professional wear, but when you start wearing them on Thursday that only makes sense right? No. What makes sense is that your look is starting to turn frumpy and dated.

5.    Over Three years. Chances are your style is dead. You haven’t bought new work clothes for years and consequently wear the same outfit so many times that people can tell your mood or schedule by them.   Not only are your clothes, shoes and accessories dated, they are worn and in need of some care, maintenance or replacement.

 

We all start a new job with the best of intentions and desire to dress well five days a week for fifty weeks a year, but that’s reality.   As we become more comfortable in our jobs, we loosen the demands on our image making it easier for our standards to slip. The only way to prevent this from happening is to stay as dedicated to maintaining your image as you are to succeeding in your career.

 

Click here or on the images below to learn more about the outfit.

 

 

Click here or on the images below to learn more about the outfit.

 

 

 

I am always curious to hear about your weekend wardrobe dilemmas and help make your work wardrobe pull double duty. Email your questions, quandaries and conundrums to [email protected]. Also find each of these storyboards at http://brianmaynor.polyvore.com with links to purchase each item.

 

 

About Brian Maynor

Brian Maynor has built a reputation as one of the leading style coaches in the Southeast and is quickly expanding his eponymous company, BRIAN MAYNOR and his FIND, FLATTER & FLAUNT line of image consulting services. A professional with a fresh, upbeat and down-to-earth personality and boundless creative energy, he works frequently with with local celebrities; Fortune 500 companies and nonprofit organizations; modeling agencies; fashion designers; production companies; record labels; media and individuals. A regular contributor to various fashion blogs and online communities, Brian Maynor is one of the most trusted and recognized style experts in the region, utilizing his education and training as a broadcast journalist to serve as a style lecturer, emcee, and commentator for over a decade. He has appeared at fashion shows, expos, and charity fundraisers, as well as events with big brands like Banana Republic, Ann Taylor, Chico’s and Macy’s. His approach is innovative, creative and fashion-forward, balancing fresh, modern styles with classic pieces to keep one’s look grounded. To learn more, visit http://www.brianmaynor.com.