Abby Young is a local Bay Area and Los Altos-based personal stylist and image consultant and CEO of Abby Young Styling. She is a certified fashion stylist from the Fashion Stylist Institute, has her Master’s Degree, and is certified in color analysis. You can find her on Instagram @abbyyoungstyling or on her website abbyyoungstyling.com.

As most of you reading this blog post may be entrepreneurs, CALL ME CRAZY but, there is a certain way you can market yourself, your brand, increase sales and promotions, and inspire trust simply by wearing specific colors!

We use clothing to mark significant events in our lives; like the first day of school, the first day of a new job, your first business pitch, or going public with your business! The clothes we wear are tied to specific meanings that we ascribe to clothing and therefore can influence our state of mind as well as others’.

The term researchers have coined for this is “enclothed cognition.” For example, if you wear bright colors such as yellow, orange, or green you might feel more cheerful, friendly, and calm because of what these colors symbolize. If you wear a suit you might feel more confident and assertive because the suit symbolizes power. It is extremely important to recognize how you are feeling based on what you are wearing. The specific clothes and colors you choose to wear will not only impact your mood but will affect how you are perceived by others.

Below you will find a few key color strategies to use:

What to Wear When?

When wearing a suit:

• The darker your suit, the more powerful you appear; conveying dependability and reliability.
• A black suit conveys power, strength, and charisma. But, beware, black can also appear intimidating.
• A chocolate brown suit portrays a person who is supportive, stable, reliable, and non-threatening.
• Wearing a dark navy blue suit displays professionalism and trustworthiness.
• A dark grey suit shows professionalism, trustworthiness, success, and strength.

When selling or promoting:

• True blue or lighter shades of blue (inspires trust)
• Orange (appears friendly and appeals to all)
• Yellow (shows cheerfulness and is stimulating)
• Blue based pinks (appear calm and inspirational)

Business meeting or business lunch:

• Black to convey power
• Navy blue to convey trustworthiness
• Royal blue to convey kindheartedness and compassion
• Deep Grey to convey success and strength
• Brown to convey non-threatening, stability, support, and reliability
• Terra Cotta or Brick to convey warmth and sensuality
• Blue reds to convey warmth and vitality

What you’re wearing will make an impact on how you feel, and in turn how others perceive you. I challenge you to plan your message with color! Think about what you’re trying to achieve and then choose one of the colors listed above. Take note of how you feel wearing that color, how people respond to you at the time, and what your outcome was! 

Please comment below and let us know which color you are going to try out and what you hope to achieve! Want to try out working with a stylist on your next branding photoshoot? Emily illustrates 3 reasons why working with a stylist during your photoshoot is so important; check out her blog post here.

Further questions or comments? Please feel free to email me at abbyyoungstyling@gmail.com or shoot me a message on IG @abbyyoungstyling or abbyyoungstyling.com