Comfort = Confidence??

by Karen Elizaga | Posted: February 12th, 2009 | No Comments »

I don’t know about you, but when I hear comfort clothes, I often think white nurse’s shoes, big baggy jeans soft from overuse, and elastic waist bands. Well, I am not suggesting that you wear any of these as a fashion statement, either together or separately. What does comfort have to do with style or confidence?

Comfort is a big part of confidence, and you can weave comfort and fashion together to maximize yours! Susan talks about knowing and being true to your own style, and I agree. That’s incredibly important. In order to be confident about your style – and really, about anything – you’ve got to be comfortable in your own skin as well as in the clothes you don.

Imagine this. You’ve got a big interview for a job that you have been dreaming of! You prepare for the big day. You do your Google sweep. You’ve got your mantras down pat. (More on these later!) You know everything there is to know about this company and more! As you get ready for your big day, you reach for that conservative navy power suit that hasn’t been touched in months (hey! no one’s interviewing in this economy – this interview is a big deal!). As you zip up your zipper and button that last button, you are feeling pretty darn good about yourself.

You walk into the interview. You look around, and for some reason, you are soooo inappropriately dressed. Everyone around you is styled up, all seeming like they’ve tumbled out of the pages of a Barneys catalog. And they’re a lot more casual than you’d expected. Uh-oh. You look down at what you  now view as your stodgy combo. Yuck. “I won’t fit in here,” you think to yourself, all the while knowing that in your closet, you have plenty of apparel that belongs in this office. On that woman over there!

Because you’re so uncomfortable with what you’re wearing, you are distracted during your interview. Your “I won’t fit in here” sentiment manages to betray the confidence you’d built up, and the interviewer can feel that energy. You are mentally berating yourself for not doing the research to see what was appropriate attire in this office. You feel like a sore thumb…

This is so unnecessary and highly avoidable! I suggest instead… Comfort. Knowing what people might wear where you want to be working contributes to that comfort. Knowing that what you’re wearing jives with your own personal style AND is appropriate for the environment really enhances your confidence. It’s not about comparing yourself to others. In an interview setting, it’s about feeling comfortable and making it very easy for the people interviewing you to imagine you right alongside them. Comfort does = confidence.