Showing Your Closet Confidence on Video and Beyond
Your closet should give you the confidence to strut into a meeting (real or virtual) and achieve your goals.
In the latest podcast episode, I spoke with Amy McBride, owner of Your Closet Confidence, located in Columbus Ohio, about how your clothes can give you a boost, whether you’re on Zoom all day or meeting up with friends for a social distanced gathering.
Amy’s Journey Into Fashion
Amy McBride is a CPA working in corporate who has a passion for clothing and styling. In her side-gig, she’s a personal stylist who helps women simplify their closets and empowers them to competently focus on the things that they are most passionate about. Amy has loved and used fashion as a tool to navigate corporate and her finance career. Now, whether it’s through personal shopping, wardrobe consulting, or personal styling, she’s out helping women find a wardrobe and a closet full of items that really support them in life and represents where they are, make them feel good, and allow them to show up as your best self from the inside out.
Amy had always loved to dress up. “I was putting costumes together, I would wear the zaniest things like, pop the eyeglasses out of a pair of yellow sunglasses and wear glasses or wear slips… as a dress, I was always kind of creative. And I always really liked it. I honestly never really thought about it as a career.”
When she first started her career in corporate finance, Amy found herself trying to really look the part. “I found that my closet and my clothing sort of became a tool to do that to dress the part and it evolved over time,” she says. “I started dressing the way that I thought a serious finance person should dress and it did give me a level of confidence when I would show up to work every day.”
When she realized that she wanted to feel like herself, she started to add pieces that did just that while still being appropriate to the work environment. She then started helping colleagues and friends with their own fashion dilemmas before finally deciding to go full in.
Amy says that fashion was a thing that she was pretty good at. About a year and a half ago, it finally came together. Her aha moment was when she realized that she wanted to help women with their style, their closet and help them feel good from the inside out.
How to evaluate your style and closet.
You have to ask yourself questions that sometimes feel like they have nothing to do with fashion. A few that Amy asks her clients are:
Describe what kind of person you are.
What kind of music do you like
What's your favorite band?
What's your favorite song?
What are you listening to right now?
These questions help Amy get a sense of who her clients are as a person. Then she asks her clients to describe their style.
Oftentimes, the answers are pretty different. So, Amy and her clients dive into that. “If you describe yourself as creative, and energetic and bold, and then you describe your style as simple and conservative, and maybe not so exciting, we'll kind of dig into why and to why that is,” she says. There are a lot of reasons for the differences, from changes to their life to weight gain or loss.
Finally, Amy suggests looking into your closet to see if it represents who you are. “A confident closet is going to have things that serve all aspects of your life, it's going to work for your lifestyle.”
How to add fashion confidence when stuck in virtual meetings.
First, know that people are only really seeing you from about the mid-chest up. Think about the proportions of skin showing on the video. Although a cute tank might have worked before, the proportion of skin showing might be a bit much when the video only shows half of you. Keep comfort in mind when choosing pieces. You don’t want to be uncomfortable during an entire Zoom meeting. Finally, add small details to polish up the look. Whether that’s a lip color hair accessory or earrings, you’ll want to add a pop into your upper half.
How to pick clothing when recording video or doing a brand photoshoot.
If you’re like a lot of us, you’re thinking of creating content for your business and that might mean video. Amy’s tip is to know your brand and show up as yourself. Beyond that, “...you want to be cognizant of fits and colors and how things are going to look on camera,” says Amy.
Make sure your clothing fits properly. It’s not a great look to be fidgeting or pulling on your clothing.
Avoid the really high hemline or low necklines. The goal is to be comfortable and not worry about anything hanging out while recording.
Wearing white on camera usually isn’t the best. Amy says it’s “kind of difficult in terms of the way that it tends to photograph.” When it comes to the color black, Amy thinks it’s great, especially with a pop of color or a statement piece.
Think of your brand’s vibe and colors. Although, “...you might not want to be all matchy-matchy and look like a mascot,” she says, “but it could be really cool to maybe incorporate some pops your brand colors.”
Know what works best for your skin tone. Play around with items in your closet and choose pieces that give your skin a glow.
Keep the location and background in mind when choosing your clothing. Make sure you’re not going to blend in and stay consistent with the vibe.
When styling for a photoshoot, Amy focuses on pieces of clothing that the client will actually use afterward. It’s almost like a closet refresh. “I really do try to help people with versatility. And so I hate to buy something or help them find something that they're going to wear just one time for a photoshoot,” says Amy. She suggests focusing on finding pieces that fit within their business brand as well as their own personality as an individual. Brand vision boards or collateral pieces will often help hone in on the direction as well.
The importance of getting the fit right.
Making sure that clothing fits appropriately won’t just avoid awkward moments where you’re tugging at your clothes during a video but will also make you feel more comfortable. “Think about starting at the top with your shoulders,” says Amy. Make sure the seams run on your shoulders along the middle of your collarbone. “That's going to ensure that it sits on your shoulder blades correctly.”
When it comes to sleeve length, you’ll want to go for something that's hitting right at your wrist. “...even thinking about the way that you're maybe adjusting what you're wearing,” she says. For example, if you have a long sleeve top, it might look great if you just push up the sleeves a little to let your wrist and bracelets show. Not only does it add a nice touch, but it avoids you from looking overly dressed.
Finally, have something that you love but it just doesn’t fit quite right? Take it to a tailor. Even a small tweak can make a difference in how confident you feel in the piece.
Dressing for your day job while building your side-hustle.
Many people have very distinct sides to their closet. It’s what they wear to their day job and their weekend wear. Throw in clothing for your side-hustle and you’ve got quite a bit to strategize. “I really help people think about a way we can bring that all together,” says Amy. “...as we get things going forward, they don't have to squarely always fit within one of those categories.”
As an example, while working in a corporate setting you’re likely wearing nicer tops and jackets all the time. In order to bring your personality to the wardrobe, think of pairing the jacket with a cool t-shirt or a fun necklace and a pair of shoes. Your goal is to make the outfit still unique to your own style while still fitting into the confines of the environment. That way, when running into a client meeting during your lunch break, you’re not also having to change in the bathroom.
Fashion trends for the end of 2020.
According to Amy, we’re in an in-between time with COVID and how it’s affecting our ability to go out. Not many people are going out as much as before and those that have distinct sides of their closet (work and play) might find themselves stuck.
“What people are looking for is kind of that in-between clothes where you want to feel good, you want to feel cute, you want to feel like yourself, but you're probably sitting in front of a camera all day in meetings, you're maybe with your kids and trying to work with them while you're doing your day jobs, you have to be comfortable at the same time,” says Amy.
At this point, it’s important to look for pieces that are versatile. The great part about it being the end of the year is that it's getting cooler so those fall and winter clothes will provide more opportunities to play around with layers.
Amy wants us to have a bit of fun with our pieces while staying comfortable - such as the sneaker trend or find pieces that create texture and layers such as jackets. Want an investment piece? Amy suggests a blazer because “it's something that's really classic, it's never gonna really go out of style.” More importantly, it’s something you can wear now - whether you’re rocking it on a zoom call or running to pick up your groceries. You’ll be able to wear it once people can start going out again and in a variety of different ways.
Amy’s final tip on gaining closet confidence?
“Just a little tip is to get dressed,” says Amy. I know, it’s 2020, it could be a Monday, a Friday and any other sort of excuse but getting dressed can really boost your confidence throughout the day.
But it doesn’t have to be hard. Amy mentions that it could just be putting on some lipstick. Other things that could add a touch of fashion on Zoom calls would be a hairpiece or statement earrings.
Catch Amy on her website, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn. She works with clients locally and virtually so that they can simplify their closets and gain confidence in themselves.
