CareerPrints with Caryn Reddick

For some reason, I have always loved great fashion photos. Not the touched up, boring ones in magazines. I like the ones that show real people who have great style.

I have no idea where this desire comes from. I love fine clothing. I have spent an embarrassingly large amount of money on handbags. But the best way to describe my style is “comfortable” (and that is probably being kind).

Regardless, I was thrilled when I discovered a website called “The Sartorialist” (www.thesartorialist.blogspot.com). On this site, photographer Scott Schuman posts wonderful images of (mostly) normal people on the street who have an amazing sense of style. I don’t always like the looks,  but it is extremely interesting to see how these folks decide to dress and style themselves.

Scott said it best in the intro to his new book, The Sartorialist:

The Sartorialist, at its core, is about fashion, but I don’t often think of ‘fashion’ when I look at my photos. I have been sharing photos with my audience on a daily basis for the past four years, and over the course of that time I have begun to see my images more as a social document celebrating self-expression than as a catalogue for skirt lengths or heel heights.

This is exactly why I like Scott’s work.

So, you are probably wondering, what does this have to do with decision making? Good question. I’ll get to the point.

The way we choose to present ourselves is one of the most obvious ways we communicate with the world. The features given to us by our parents don’t say nearly as much about us as our decisions regarding what we do with them: clothing, hairstyle, accessories, cosmetics. These seemingly insignificant adornments say volumes about what is important to us, what we want to say, how we want people to see us, and who we want to become.

I’ll give you a personal example:

About a year and a half ago, I couldn’t start my day until I spent an enormous amount of time straightening my hair. The problem was, I had recently decided to spend more of my life on things I enjoyed. My hair was not cooperating. So, I decided to let my hair be itself (see my picture at top right to see the result). It may not be sophisticated, but it is the “real” me and it is more aligned with the decisions I have made about how I want to live my life.

Martha Beck, author of Finding Your Own North Star, says there are several decisions we often make when we are in the process of changing our lives (or careers). Here are a few of her examples:

- You change your clothes
- You change your hair
- You remodel, redecorate, or renovate your living space

So, every time you make a decision about what to wear or how to style your hair, think about these questions. They apply equally well to your personal and professional life:

• Does this make me feel closer to who I want to be?
• How can I use my style choices to better represent my decisions?
• Do I want to change something about my look, and if so, why? What does that say about the decisions I am making?