Your Personal Brand Has a Dress Code

Sarah LaFleur is the Founder & CEO of M.M.LaFleur. She founded M.M.LaFleur in 2013 with a mission to help women take the work out of getting dressed, so they can focus on the work that matters to them.

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My mentor, who is a longtime fashion executive, once said to me, “Every successful person I know has a signature fashion statement.”

She threw it out so casually like it was a commonly accepted fact, but I had never heard it phrased like that before. Yes, we know how Steve Jobs loved his black turtlenecks and Anna Wintour wears sunglasses even in the dead of night, but it’s always portrayed as a feature, even an idiosyncrasy of successful people: “Look at these crazy cats — they wear the same thing every day!”

What my mentor was saying was altogether different: Your signature fashion statement is a condition of success. If you want to be successful, you better have a signature look.

“Yours, Sarah — yours are your earrings. You always wear bold, interesting earrings.”

And it’s true, I love jewelry, and especially earrings (such is the case when your mother runs a jewelry business), but I had never thought about it as my “signature” until that moment.

Why does a signature style matter so much? It’s because, like it or not, being successful requires having a brand. And we are visual creatures. Researchers at Princeton found that people form judgments about your competence and trustworthiness within a tenth of a second of seeing you, before you’ve said a word. The visuals communicate a big part of who you are and what you stand for.

Even leaders in non-fashion industries have signature looks: Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank, keeps her hair chic, short, and grey, and always finishes her suits with an elegant scarf. Mellody Hobson, the co-CEO of Ariel Investments and former chair of the Starbucks board, is known for her pixie hair cut, Peter Pan collars, and bold color choices.

All are high-achieving, intelligent women who work in the financial sector, but their looks communicate completely different things to me: Christine Lagarde is signaling trust, formality, and elegance. Mellody Hobson is signaling sharpness, originality, and contrarian thinking.

Did I mention that I’ve never met either in person? And yet, I’ve already formed opinions about the kinds of professionals I think they might be.

A signature style communicates that you are a brand. You are someone who has taste. You have standards to uphold — for yourself and those around you. You are an individual who cares and sweats the details. In other words, you are uniquely you.

So, how can you go about building a signature style for yourself? Allow me to share four steps.

1. What are your adjectives?

Think about the three words you want to be associated with. Don’t overthink it; go with your gut. Some questions to inspire you:

1. Imagine someone is giving you the best compliment you’ve ever received. What are they saying? “Astrid, you are so _______.”
2. When you’re not in the room, what do you hope people are saying about you?
3. How do you like to feel when you get dressed in the morning?

Now, take these adjectives, and think about pieces of clothing or accessories that would help you project those adjectives.

For example: One of my words is charming. I want to communicate that I am a creative thinker and that I find beauty in unexpected places. Therefore: I like wearing unexpected accessories, and I make sure to switch them out everyday. I almost never wear logos or pieces of jewelry that people can recognize.

Another one of my words is decisive. While I love a cardigan jacket (favored by the likes of Jackie O), they tend to communicate class and elegance, not the adjectives I am looking to communicate when I’m on stage at a conference. I often opt for sharper jackets with a collar and a tailored waist.

2. Be consistent

I was recently in a conversation with our PR firm on how to build my LinkedIn presence (a personal goal of mine heading into the year ahead). I peppered them with questions about what I should share: My perspective on macro events? Fashion? Being a working mom? Their response: “We don’t really care what you write about, just make sure you post every week.”

And there it was: the most important rule in building a personal brand — consistency.

The same way McDonalds never deviates from the golden arch and Chanel brands everything in black and white, your signature style must be consistent. People will not recognize your personal brand if you change your style everyday. If you show up in a T-shirt one day, a dress the following, and then a pantsuit the next day — it’s like the movie “50 First Dates” — your individual outfits may look nice, but you’re not building on the credibility of the previous day.

If a white shirt is your thing, then wear a white shirt everyday. Pair it with denim, pair it with slacks, you can even put a sweater over it. But you better have a white shirt on.

3. Follow the rule of three

How to go about finding your personal style? As is true of all things fashion, there is no rule — it’s all about how things come together, and how it looks on you. (Case in point: I love a red lip on a woman, but it makes me look like Cruella de Vil; it will never be part of my signature style.)

For the eager student, however, I will offer this general guideline: Signature styles are a combination of a clothing item, an accessory, and a make-up accent / hair style.

• Anna Wintour: Dress + sharp bob + sunglasses.
• Sanae Takaichi, the current and first female prime minister of Japan: skirt suit + short hair + string of pearls.
• Carolyn Bessette Kennedy: neutral colors + long blonde hair + red lip. (See? Red lip. Just not on me.)

(And while I will not spend time on this topic in this essay, I cannot underscore the importance of a good haircut. My hot take: Hair is the most important accessory. Should I write about this for my next essay?)

Usually one item is not enough to create a distinct look. It’s the combination of three things that make your signature style sing. So, what are your three things?

4. Have fun with your accessories — no really, go at it!

Accessories are a place to show that, while you take what you do very seriously, you don’t take yourself too seriously. And really, isn’t that the kind of person we all want to work with?

A very suave gentleman I know who is the definition of sprezzatura always wears an animal pin on his jackets and then often gives his pins away when someone compliments him on how much they like his pins. How charming is that?

I always look forward to seeing him and wonder what pin he will be wearing that day, and I bet I’m not the only one.

Scarves and brooches are making a comeback, and shoes are always an easy way to show personality even in a more uptight corporate environment. Since my mentor helped me identify mine as my earrings, I’ve leaned into them. When I go on trips, I almost always buy myself a pair of earrings at an antique shop or a local jewelry store.

Go scavenging! Build a collection, play with it, and don’t be afraid to show a bit of yourself. This is your signature style, after all.

So here’s my homework for you: Pick your three things and wear them for a month. When someone finally says “I always notice your ___,” you’ll know it’s working. No rebrand or stylist required, just a little consistency and a lot of fun.

Start today: Your future signature statement is probably already in your closet.