As a long time image consultant, who mostly works with Silicon Valley based entrepreneurs and executives

Zuckerberg wore that trademark hoodie on purpose to make a statement to Facebook employees and to investors alike.  I have no doubt that he wanted to communicate to his employees that, although the company is about to go public, the culture from the top down is not about to change. A change to his appearance could have signaled other unintended messages.  Investors drawn to the company are likely enticed by the company’s ways of doing business, and could similarly be turned off by signals that the company would change its approach to business, including in Zuck’s appearance.

The hoodie symbolizes cultural equality in Silicon Valley, where income disparity within corporate cultures is vast.  Zuck wants to be known more for his brains and building rather than for his big bucks.  Those famous hoodies he wears are not luxe brands.  I’m judging that they may be Costco purchases: low cost items with visible logos, as if intentionally chosen so you know he’s just like the guy in the next cubicle who picked one up there, too.  Depending on who’s wearing them and what brand they are, hoodies also represent business status levels.  Venture capitalist Marc Andreessen garnered press about Sand Hill Road’s style of wearing cashmere hoodies.

When it comes to Silicon Valley and Wall Street, there is a style culture clash.  Get over it everyone.  The best thing about this clash is a sense of freedom and individuality.  The worst thing about it is a complete lack of respect and understanding of each other’s cultures.  Wall Street is upset because Zuck didn’t respect its protocol. He went there asking for the support of the investors.  He’ll get it anyway. He should have shown more respect.  It’s humble.  Instead, he showed hubris, even though people will invest in his company.

Zuck may have the hubris to have worn the hoodie on Wall Street, but should you wear it on Main Street?  The thing that comes up with my clients all the time is how Apple’s Steve Jobs famously wore Issey Miyake black mock neck knit tops, faded jeans, and sneakers, and now Zuck’s hoodies. These guys are Silicon Valley icons in their own right.  They’re also not Wall Street icons.  Not everyone can pull it off, nor should they.  Can you?  Should you?

I always tell my clients to develop a look that is respectful of the audience and of the occasion while remaining true to their true spirit.  There’s no question that impressions matter.  Had Zuck shown up in a suit and tie to Wall Street, little attention would have been paid by anyone on Wall Street. And that’s precisely the point to image management.  How you behave, what you wear, and how you communicate are all in context with the business at hand.  Zuck showed up on Wall Street like he was about to enjoy a crepe at Le Grainne Café in Chelsea on Sunday morning. It was out of context.

A judgment, opinion, or “formed impression” of another person, after all, is a feeling.  For all the intentioned purpose that Zuck put into the wearing of his hoodie, it was out of place for the audience and occasion.  His audience formed an impression, questioning his maturity and ability to lead.  His employees probably wouldn’t have freaked out if he looked the part for a Wall Street meeting.  After all, is Sheryl Sandberg the only senior company official capable of dressing with obvious style?  Investors likely wouldn’t have walked away from a semi-tailored Zuckerberg.  Rather, they may have felt a sense of maturity of the man and of the business of which he is the face.

It is important to be well received, no matter who you are.  It feels good, and it’s good business to have a positive reputation and brand.

This recurring hoodie situation both on and off Wall Street is problematic for Zuckerberg and for Facebook.  Facebook users, investors, employees, and cultural critics including the general public are, in varying degrees, weighing in about Zuckerberg’s appearance, focusing too much on how young, rich, and invincible he [may think he] is.  It’s an ironic disservice to his company to have this hoodie issue hanging over his head when, no doubt he’d rather be changing the world.

The world knows Zuckerberg has the brains to have built Facebook, but has yet to develop visual charisma.  Man should not be visually defined by hoodie alone.  Every amazing leader I’ve ever worked with has taken an interest in their personal development in the area of impression management.  It enhances their personal success in life.  Mark you’ve done so well all ready:  I’m expecting your call.

Curious to learn how to exude your personal brand with style?  Set up a free strategy session to map out a successful plan with me.  Visit my contact page and send me a message today.

I have been enjoying a wonderful trip to Paris and one of the great exhibits so far was of Henri Matisse at the Centre Georges Pompidou. It’s amazing how an art exhibit can inspire a thought, and I share that thought in my video blog this week.

You may well wonder what could be the connection between Matisse, confidence and you. As well-regarded as Matisse was, he was human, too.

There’s little doubt that when it comes to our technology toys, and even other high-end toys such as cars, design is all-important in making a purchasing decision.  But what about your own personal visual design appeal?  Is it as appealing to yourself, and to others, as it could be?

Your visual appeal, especially when updated and modernized, becomes the new “shiny object” that other people notice and want to look at.  Think back to the days when there were so-called dumb phones and the excitement created by the first generation of smart phones.  Their visual appeal is so much stronger than earlier models that it’s hard to separate the functionality from visual appeal.

Sure, you’re just one person.  But consider the number of impressions others have of you.  When your visual appeal is strong, it positively affects the impressions others have of you, and of the way they treat and work with you.  In turn, that makes you feel good about those relationships and about the work you’re doing.

The other crucial impact of your visual appeal is how the way you appear to others does impact the way they interact with you.  Think of a remote control with so many buttons that you can’t figure out how to work it, and you are pretty sure that a bunch of those buttons don’t even serve any functional purpose.  Well, your visual appeal is similar to that remote control.  If how you look seems to be inconsistent, unclear, cluttered, and even chaotic, you’re not going to get people to respond to you in very favorable ways.

When your visual appeal is more positive, you end up having better experiences with other people.  But it’s not all about form.  Just like a streamlined remote control, your visual appeal functions as a way of encouraging others to do what you want them to do and to treat you as you want to be treated.  Managing your visual appeal is hardly manipulative, but it is totally intentional.  It’s also not about changing others, but it is about improving yourself for the purpose of having better outcomes.  People do tend to respond more positively to people with a strong visual appeal.

It may be controversial to make these statements, but it is the truth.  You may prefer to think that visual appearance doesn’t matter, that it doesn’t influence your buying preferences of products, or that it doesn’t impact the way you feel about others.  But it totally does.

Joseph Rosenfeld helps high-profile individuals revitalize, manage, and be secure in their personal visual brand. Visit JosephRosenfeld.com for details.

A recently published study by two students of Northwestern University’s Kellogg Business School provides insights into how to get the right mindset by choosing the right clothes.  They created the term “enclothed cognition” to describe a process that affects your mindset based on the symbolic meaning and the physical experience of wearing your clothes.

They did a series of experiments to test their theory, by using a lab coat garment.  In one trial, participants wearing a lab coat were observed to have a sense of heightened attentiveness.  A second trial had participants wearing the same lab coat, which was described as it being a doctor’s coat.  In the third trial, participants were told that the coat was a painter’s coat.  Those wearing the doctor’s coat showed a higher level of sustained attention as compared to those thought to be wearing a painter’s coat, or those who were shown the lab coat as a doctor’s coat without wearing it.

So, one takeaway from this experiment is that if your doctors are wearing doctor’s coats, they are more likely to be more attentive, and even more careful.

Most of us don’t wear lab coats, or any coat for that matter.  How can this experiment help you to get the right mindset by choosing the right clothes?

One common denominator for nearly everyone I know is denim.  Let’s look at an example that you will easily relate to.

One of my clients, a successful entrepreneur, told me just last week how he is in denim seven days a week now.  He wears jeans to business meetings, to church, and everywhere in between.  But he needs a certain kind of denim jean to wear when he works on his car or while enjoying yard work.  He wouldn’t wear those jeans to lounge around in the house.  So those jeans need to have a different look and feel so he can wear them in a relaxed way.  Then, for business meetings and for church, a different level of jeans would be more appropriate.

If you needed clothes to wear for similar situations in your own life, and if wearing denim was to be central to your day-to-day wardrobe, each different kind of denim would help you to be in the right mindset.  When my client is wearing the kind of jeans to work on the car or in the yard, he can feel like he can get into his work and can get those jeans as dirty as necessary.  He wouldn’t wear them to lounge around in the house or to business meetings because they could be soiled from that work.  Even if the car and yard jeans were clean, he’d know that those are strictly for doing more laborious work.  That’s why it’s important to his mindset to have a different selection of jeans for those meetings and for church.  More than being disrespectful to others to look like he just crawled out from under his car, wearing those grungy jeans would very likely affect his thinking and conduct at a business meeting or at church.

Here’s my tip: When looking at the clothes in your closet, stop and consider how choosing the right clothes will help you get the right mindset first, then decide what you’re going to wear, and why you’re going to wear it.  Your clothes don’t just telegraph messages to others.  You choose one item over another because of your mission for that day. Making positive wardrobe choices prove that choosing the right clothes influences your energy level and your thinking.

Joseph Rosenfeld helps high-profile individuals revitalize, manage, and be secure in their personal visual brand. Visit JosephRosenfeld.com for details.

The concept of image is largely associated with impression and appearance.

When someone forms an impression of you, it is based on a belief or an understanding about you.  This is mostly conveyed by your attitude and behavior.  In other words, the concept of image has a lot to do with what you say and how you say it.  The way you look to other people is your appearance.

Impression and appearance come together in someone’s eyes, mind, and senses to form a perception of you.  Interestingly enough, even if someone does not consider himself or herself to be intuitive, the information gathered about you is how a perception of you is formed.  This explains how people make decisions about you, that they are relying on their own instincts, but that the original information is coming from you.

“Information” that causes people to make these intuitive decisions about you comes from the attitude you outwardly project, from your behavior, and from your verbal and non-verbal communication styles.

As you can tell, the concept of image encompasses much more than you might think.

And that brings me back to the solutions people want to find when they are working with me as their personal image consultant.  You can guess that people say that what they want is to get new clothes to update their wardrobe and to improve their personal style.  But beneath the surface and stated solutions they seek, there’s much more at play.

When you want to improve your personal style and image, deep down, you may want to envision a renewed you.  I consider this as your self-perception.  By creating a shift in the way you look, it gives you refreshed energy and renewed purpose.  You’re able to then see and experience yourself in a new way, and the effect has a way of radiating outward to others.

Maybe you want to change the way others see and experience you.  When you develop your image with this purpose in mind, your desired outcome could be to affect external perceptions.  When people who all ready know you see that there’s something different about your attitude, behavior, and communication, your actions are cause for others to perhaps reset their perception of you.  This can enhance your leadership role, and earn you more respect and even money.

One common bond tends to exist among my clients when it comes to revamping their images, and maybe it’s true for you, too.  Something deep inside could be telling you that you need to make updates and improvements, and to change certain patterns that aren’t serving you.

People make surface changes so that they feel those changes from deep inside.  People also make changes so that other people pay attention and notice those changes.  So no matter how you define the concept of image, confidence is something you can see from the outside, but feel on the inside.

What’s your top image improvement goal?

Joseph Rosenfeld helps high-profile individuals revitalize, manage, and be secure in their personal visual brand. Visit JosephRosenfeld.com for details.

Facts of the tragic killing of 17 year-old Trayvon Martin, at the hands and gun of 28 year-old neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman, still need to come out.  Zimmerman, who has not been charged with any crime [at the time of this writing], is presumed innocent under the law.

As this situation has escalated to a national debate about racism, gun control, and whether it’s fair to judge a person based upon his wearing a hoodie, the notion of hoodieism took root. Hoodieism is not a crime, but is a prejudiced judgment that Zimmerman put upon a tall, unarmed, black male teenager wearing a hoodie who he shot in cold blood.

Fox News’ Geraldo Rivera took a controversial stance, saying that Martin would be alive if it weren’t for his having worn a hoodie.  Rivera’s stance is unabashed hoodieism.  He is saying that people wearing hoodies “provoke madness,” equating it to “wearing a costume that is really a sign that says ‘shoot me.”  He even urged blacks and Hispanics to avoid wearing them.

According to the 911-call transcript, the dispatcher first asks Zimmerman what race Martin is, and then asks Zimmerman what he’s wearing.  Zimmerman’s answers are that “he looks black” and that he’s wearing, “a dark hoodie, like a grey hoodie, and either jeans or sweatpants and white tennis shoes.”  Although Zimmerman was answering the dispatcher’s questions, this event occurred because Zimmerman was “suspicious” of Martin simply because he was “walking around, looking about” while “it’s raining,” and also claimed that “this guy looks like he’s up to no good, or he’s on drugs or something.”

George Zimmerman was armed with a gun, and with fear over a guy wearing a hoodie.  The hoodie has come to represent the image of a thug.  But is it fair to become suspicious of someone just for wearing a hoodie?  I certainly don’t think so, as the hoodie has become mainstream in pop culture, from hip-hop, to skateboarders, to grunge bands.  You could buy a cheap hoodie at Wal-Mart, or a luxurious hoodie costing hundreds of dollars at Dior Homme.  The style represents Silicon Valley’s tech intelligentsia, for that matter.

It’s no wonder that people have congregated in outrage, wearing their hoodies.  People with limited thinking could target any of us for wearing a hoodie.  That is what has galvanized a movement, essentially fighting hoodieism.

I treat this subject with great sensitivity as a personal image consultant.  People of many ethnicities, and with backgrounds from around the world, work with me.  Some even wear hoodies, but they all want so much to be looked upon for their individuality and to fit in.  No matter what image-related work we do, one’s gender identity, race, and ethnicity are not changeable.  You can’t take any of that off, or put it all on like you can do with a hoodie, or other clothing items.

Moreover, I contend Zimmerman crossed the line when it comes to racial profiling.  His perception of Martin would have been the same, whether or not the teenager wore a hoodie.

This kind of profiling is similar to being uncomfortable by someone’s race or ethnicity and crossing the street to avoid the person.  Can you imagine being faced with this oppression every single day of your life in civil society?  It’s time for our country to come together and stop fearing people for what they’re wearing, or for their race or ethnicity. It’s got to stop.

Joseph Rosenfeld helps high-profile individuals revitalize, manage, and be secure in their personal visual brand. Visit JosephRosenfeld.com for details.

Recently I came across a post by Chris Matyszcyk, a well known tech industry insider, who gave his take on company sweatshirts ["Dear tech companies, enough of the corporate sweatshirts"].  Turns out, both he and I are on the same side of the argument.  I challenge anyone to argue with me about why casual wear with your company’s branded logo should not get the heave-ho from your wardrobe.

Matyszczyk is making the case that wearing company sweatshirts is a form of exceedingly aggressive behavior reminiscent of old corporate ways.  From his point of view, people who work for modern high tech companies tend to not have great love for old style companies.  I agree that  marketing messages on company sweatshirts feel both incessant and omnipresent to onlookers.  It must be that sense of “we’re bigger and better than you” that makes him equate this behavior to old corporate ways.

If you work for Company X, and you promote Company X by wearing one of those company sweatshirts, do you think you’re better than someone else because you’re affiliated with that company?  You may not feel that way at all, but it easily creates this perception because of the logo’s proliferation all over town.

As I don’t work in high tech, I’m hardly qualified to be a tech insider.  However, most of my clients are bona fide tech insiders.  When I clean out their closets, I help them eliminate nearly all of their branded logo corporate regalia, and with good reason.

First of all, there is a tendency to wear these items in social contexts. Matyszczyk illustrates this point by sharing a first person encounter with someone who was wearing one of those company sweatshirts.  This creates a barrier between the wearer and others because people come to know too much too soon about you.  People automatically assume [don’t lecture me about what assume means!] that you work for that company and they may not find you so interesting.  And why would people assess that you’re not so interesting?  Because you’re away from work, and you’re still literally wearing it!

Another reason why I encourage ridding your wardrobe of these hideous company sweatshirts is that they just aren’t good looking, and aren’t of good quality.  I just have to say it: they’re cheap and they look it.  When you wear one – and I don’t care how much money you make or have in your bank account – you look cheap.  You know you can do better with your appearance, and you settle on wearing free stuff from your company.  Your company looks cheap, too.

It can also make you appear very disrespectful when around the company of others.  If you show up wearing one of these items when you should appear more presentable, it comes across that you don’t care about the other people.  Strangers don’t just feel that way, but so do your friends.  They just don’t say so, and strangers don’t connect with you because of that barrier.

Moreover, this kind of dressing style is very collegiate.  But you’re not in college anymore.  Even in a business context, wearing a company logo button down shirt when you represent your company at conferences, trade shows, and in the press, comes across as being tribal and separatist.  Yes, wearing this clothing suggests that your corporate culture is “over here,” and others’ corporate cultures are “over there.”

But consider this crucial reason to not wear these indecent clothing items any more.  You’re more than your company; you’re more than your work.  Wearing a logo T-shirt in a social setting doesn’t mean that you’re any more loyal than when you’re wearing other clothing, even if you are the founder and CEO of your company.  You should exude more of the full “you,” but you cannot expect to convey that by wearing a corporate billboard across your chest.

It’s one thing to take pride in the company you work for.  But it’s another to wear that pride on your “sleeve” or across your chest.  Develop a style that shows others that you’re interesting, and your life will improve over time in ways you could never have otherwise predicted.

Note: I don’t recommend donating corporate wear to charity organizations, such as homeless shelters, etc., either.  Not even those who need clothing should look bad!

Joseph Rosenfeld helps high-profile individuals revitalize, manage, and be secure in their personal visual brand. Visit JosephRosenfeld.com for details.

Confidence is built by having healthy self-esteem.  Many of my clients work to enhance theirs by focusing on these 10 ways to exude confidence, whether for work or social reasons.  The level of confidence you project communicates volumes about your personal brand, especially when as it pertains to your career.

Since I was certified as a personal brand strategist by Reach, founded by William Arruda, it was great to see that he was quoted several times in the article.  I hope you’ll read it.

Here are my 10 ways to exude confidence at work:

1. Stay focused on you

Typically, you want to “dress to impress,” right?  That’s at least the conventional wisdom.  But that means that you’re focused on what everyone else’s reactions will be to you.  When you stay focused on you – what you want to achieve by making a change in your appearance – you will be thinking about the desired outcomes you seek, and not whether this person or that person likes or approves of what you’re wearing, or that you’re entirely fitting into a culture.

2. Identify your strengths and capitalize on them

When it comes to your image, make the most of the internal strengths of your personality and of your strong physical external attributes.  Together, these inner-outer strengths can be highlighted to tell a great, authentic story about who you are.

3. Identify weaknesses, and work on them

Similar to strengths, give attention to overcoming weaknesses.  If you need to develop certain personality traits, or if you have neglected your personal style for some time, you can work having a breakout experience.  It’s amazing what a new hairstyle can communicate about you.  Yet, it’s important that the right hairstyle not only works for your facial shape, but conveys the right messages, besides saying, “See everyone, I changed my hairstyle.” Let it mean something.

4. Believe in yourself

Even if your self-esteem is waning, find a flicker of light in all that darkness and hold onto it for all it’s worth.  If you don’t believe in yourself no one else will.  You can dress in the best that money has to offer, and you still won’t be believable.  Believing in yourself affects your image because it helps you walk taller, make stronger eye contact, give a proper handshake, and simply own your personal space.  Believing in yourself is the root of having presence.

5. Monitor your successes

Clients constantly report to me their successes based on the improvements to their appearance and image.  “I got 5 compliments on the first day of the conference, including one from a key person who I was eager to meet who talked about how great I looked before I could introduce myself.”  “I know that I was the best dressed at that party.  I loved it, and so did my husband!”  “My wardrobe has me looking great and sending the kind of consistent message I want to send.”

6. Know that your confidence may be threatened at times

Some people are threatened by success and change, even when they like it.  Men at the office tend to dress for one another.  It’s a form of tribal behavior.  Know that you may be teased for making improvements.  “Are you having a mid life crisis?” The answer may be an emphatic, “NO!” but you need to stay the course and not be shaken to your core because of others’ lack of self-confidence when they direct it toward you.  Taking a leading role has its challenges.

7. Seek encouragement from others

The key people in your life, your spouse or partner, family members, close friends, long time colleagues all want to see you be successful.  Let them give you encouragement.  Talk with your executive coach or image consultant for professional encouragement, too.  Success comes from having a team around you that supports your dreams.  You don’t have to do it alone.

8. Challenge yourself

Leaders and innovators don’t accept the status quo.  Why would you take the lowest common denominator approach to your image?  It actually looks like you have less self-esteem, and therefore confidence.  In converse extreme cases, as we see with Silicon Valley leaders, paying no attention to your image suggests a level of arrogance, that may not really exist within.  But externally, this ignorance creates a perception problem.  Challenge yourself to look better.

9. Be a role model of positive attitude

A good appearance and image can be transformational to you, but can also help you be a role model.  When you look good, you exude a positive attitude and show leader-like qualities.  Within your role at your company or within your workgroup, and based on your career goals, wearing certain kinds of clothing styles and colors will instantly help you project these inner qualities so others can get a whole new impression of you and be inspired by you.

10. Carefully consider how you react to your boss’ and colleagues’ reactions

As you roll out an updated, modern, and more sophisticated appearance, personal style, and image, you should plan on getting the attention of your boss [or your board, if you’re the CEO] and your colleagues.  Heads will turn.  You didn’t go into updating your image to not be taken note of!  The key is to think through how you want to handle it when it happens.  Remember the earlier point about being potentially teased.  Quite honestly, teasing can be a compliment, especially among men, because they’re still coming around to being comfortable with making genuine compliments.  Men are so competitive.  And so are women, for that matter.  So have a plan, and let that plan not be to panic.  Sweating or clamming up is not one of the 10 ways to exude confidence.

Joseph Rosenfeld helps high-profile individuals revitalize, manage, and be secure in their personal visual brand. Visit JosephRosenfeld.com for details.

So how can you avoid this problem where you spend big money on clothes only to look sub par?  If you follow these pieces of advice, you will look fantastic and make the right investments in your clothes.

Buy Only What You Love

When you look through your closet, scan the pieces that you wear and the pieces you don’t.  No doubt, there’s a great deal of clothing you’re not wearing.  Some of those pieces may have never even been worn.  A few may even have the price tags still on them!  There’s no way you’d let something hang around unworn, with or without a price tag on if you weren’t excited to wear it.  So buying only what you love helps you to not spend big money on clothes, and to actually wear what you have in your closet.

Don’t Buy “Lonely Onlys”

You think that’s my ploy to get you to spend more money.  But remember, I don’t work for any retailer, and I’m not a lobbyist for the National Retail Association.  No one lines my pockets, so the truth is spoken.  But here it is:  When you buy a “lonely only” that goes with nothing, it ends up hanging in the closet, probably with the price tag still on it because it never could go with anything else.  Buy a complete outfit from scratch when you’re shopping.  Or plan ahead, by building upon items from your existing wardrobe, and bringing them along when you shop so you find coordinating items.  When you can avoid finding “lonely only” items, you don’t spend big money on clothes that you won’t wear.

Don’t Cheap Out On Regularly Worn Essential Pieces

People constantly get this wrong and fill their closets with all the wrong items.  How so?  It is common thought to spend less on wardrobe essentials that you wear day in and day out, be they tailored suits, slacks, denim, even shoes.  In fact, just the opposite is what you should do.  These items will be more reliable, comfortable, durable, long lasting, and will remember your body better.  Just consider the value of a pair of great fitting shoes.  If you’re constantly on your feet, walking a lot, the wrong shoes can lead to feet problems, posture problems, and back problems.  The need to constantly replace these items bought more for their perceived price, rather than for their value, turns out not to be such a good value after all.  When you cheap out on regularly worn essential pieces, over the long run you actually spend big money on clothes that make you look sub par.

Make It Fit

No matter what you invest into your wardrobe, or what designers or brands you buy and wear, if the clothes don’t fit your body properly, over time you will spend big money on clothes only to look sub par.  If your weight fluctuates up or down, your clothes will need alterations.  But if you lose or gain significant weight, be prepared to spend significantly more on special tailoring, or to buy a whole new wardrobe outright.  When you buy clothes based on the special needs of your body type, but it doesn’t fit you perfectly off the rack, you will definitely look sub par without alterations.  Just because something “fits” doesn’t mean it’s fabulous without tailoring.  Not only that, but when you’ve plunked down your hard earned money on good clothes that aren’t properly fitting, you’re far less likely to pull them out of the closet to wear them because they aren’t the clothes that will give you confidence or compliments.  But clothes that fit perfectly sure will give you both.

If you follow the spirit of these crucial tips, you will never spend big money on clothes that you shouldn’t have, and you will look par excellence.

Joseph Rosenfeld helps high-profile individuals revitalize, manage, and be secure in their personal visual brand. Visit JosephRosenfeld.com for details.

Gwyneth Paltrow | Tom Ford

This week, I present you with head to toe tips from the best of the Oscar red carpet.  I’m not going to sugarcoat this: much of what was worn on the red carpet bored me to tears.  Outside of the Fashion Week runway shows in New York, Paris, and Milan, the Oscars are like the Super Bowl of fashion. This is the moment when the stars show up in their [borrowed!] finest, and turn it out.  This year, it seemed like the stars and their stylists, who not so discreetly help direct the stars’ looks, weren’t too into the spirit of the season.  Has it all become too blasé for them?

Well, I did happen to notice, at least, a few good-natured stars showed up ready for the occasion.  I think you’ll find my five best dressed actresses of the night not only did not disappoint, but that you can get some head to toe tips from the best of the Oscar red carpet.

Let’s begin with Gwyneth Paltrow.  White was a color often seen on the 2012 Oscar red carpet, though not fully embraced by the critics.  But the way Paltrow wore it was bold, minimal, sleek, and dramatic.  Wearing Tom Ford, she looked statuesque in the gown.  Its coordinating floor length cape, with structured shoulders, punctuated the whole look.  The use of bold, but tonal, jewelry complimented Paltrow’s entire appearance.  She looked great on stage even without the cape.  Her makeup was great, too.  Everything was tonal, the focal point being on her lightly golden hair.  That ponytail hairstyle was in no way a casually arranged style, by the way.  The right hairstyle is what made that ponytail as sleek as her ensemble. It’s so easy for women of this coloring to play it easy and go to the high contrast black.  But the great take away from this look is to note how wonderful white can be.  The structure and drama of the look made all the difference.

Michelle Williams looked amazing in this red Louis Vuitton gown.  Her hair, which I’m ready to see grow out even more [it has been even shorter], has quite a structured look to it.  The gown’s bodice, even for all its soft details, is certainly very structured.  But look out below, where the gown really flows.  I love that this augments her shape, raising her waistline, and giving her long legs some much needed flare.  It’s often said that wearing red on a red carpet is playing with fire [okay, that's my line!]. But this choice is excellent on Michelle.  Knowing the right red to wear – and everyone has a “right red” – makes all the difference, whether it’s for a dress, lipstick, or both.

Penelope Cruz is stunning in this Armani Privé gown and Chopard jewelry.  For anyone who was searching for a sense of that Hollywood glamour, this is it.  From head to toe, Penelope delivered.  Her hair color and skin tone worked beautifully with the gown’s color. The sheer feeling of the gown gave it a goddess-like effect. The overall balanced style considerations of her hair, gown, and jewels made for that wonderfully glamorous Hollywood style. Even if you’re not trying to go full on Hollywood, considering your look from head to toe – including footwear that isn’t always visible in a very long flowy gown while standing – helps you to create a cohesive statement. That’s why Penelope’s look is so gorgeous.

Milla Jovovich is usually associated with sci-fi thrillers.  But on Oscar night, she was thrilling in this Elie Saab gown.  Like I said, white seemed to be a hot color of the night.  But it’s not necessarily a safe color. Do it the wrong way, and people will wonder if you’re thinking that you’re on the bridezilla end of scary.  The one shoulder look, the beaded texture, and the curls in her hair worked all together to create a complete look.  Of note was the choice of contrasting hard-edged pocketbook.  It’s a subtle message in her red carpet look that reminds the onlooker that she’s never too far from her individuality, but still knows how to glam it up for the dressiest night of the year.  When you look at Milla, you can take all of her in, but you’ll be hard pressed to take your eyes off of her face.  Even in white, she managed to be captivating.  If you do it right, you can achieve that effect, too.

I’m not sure how many people saw or understood the movie “Albert Nobbs.”  A few posts back, I blogged about the story’s very important messages.  But this deep green Zac Posen tuxedo styled gown worn by Glenn Close was a stellar choice for this great actress.  The gown is an on-message statement about what the movie is all about, in essence.  It’s creatively more masculine on top, and more feminine down below.  It’s so great to see Glenn strike that powerful and confident pose, not just smiling with her mouth, but with that twinkle in her eyes.  Dressing in the right clothes should give you that level of confidence, and even power.

For the men who enjoy reading my posts on a regular basis, these head to toe tips from the best of the Oscar red carpet mainly apply to you, too.  Plan from head to toe.  Maybe you’re not wearing makeup, but you should consider the color you may wear, and use it sparingly for the right effect.  Think confidently, and make certain your formal clothes fit your body perfectly.

Joseph Rosenfeld helps high-profile individuals revitalize, manage, and be secure in their personal visual brand. Visit JosephRosenfeld.com for details.