We become what we wear, and that makes a difference to our business performance. Professional sty...

Welcome to the Speak PR Podcast. My name is Jim James and I'm your host, and today I'm delighted to have Nick Hemmes, who is a stylist on the Speak PR Podcast. Welcome, Nick.

Thank you, Jim.

Now, Nick, we're talking because you help people to look good, so can you just talk to us a little bit about how an individual, a business owner, can start to ensure that they're instilling confidence in the people they're going to be talking to about their business?

I think first of all, we start with they've got to have confidence in themselves. So I think it's about finding their own inner confidence and authenticity through the way that they appear, their clothing, their body language, and that's where It starts because I think, you know, it's your duty to kind of— you've got to look like a leader first of all in order to kind of get the buy-in from people, but then there needs to be a certain amount of authenticity there with that. So you need to feel like a leader and believe that you are, and that you need to find the right reflection in the way that you dress so that it's still you.

So Nick, that's a great point about needing to feel confident, but actually what impact can clothing and grooming have on making someone actually feel confident? Because, you know, people may not feel confident, right? So clothing and what you do and where you— what you invest in yourself, I don't see just in money, right, which is tight at the minute, but timing, that can impact how people feel, right? Can you just talk to us about What you can do to feel good by how you dress yourself?

I think the thing that I've been talking to a lot of my clients about when they come to me is style personality, which no one really kind of gets or understands what it is. But it's not just about this, I've got to look good, because what does that mean really? Like, I could never dress 2 people in exactly the same way because it just doesn't work. To look good, you've got to feel good, and that is individual to everyone. Everyone has a personality and a way that they are, and I think it's finding that through the clothing that you wear is really, really important, so that then people see through what you're wearing that reflection in your personality, and it's the strongest way you can bring yourself about authentically by dressing in a certain way. So we can say, yes, we'll dress you in a suit, but what suit? What colors are we going to use? What's the cut of the suit? And that's got to reflect who you are.

And then presumably we're talking to business owners here. How does someone determine, you know, what they would look good in? Most people have been told probably by their wife or a girlfriend or by their husband or boyfriend what they look good in, but can you give people some some ideas of what to look for? Like, if they've got £100 to go and refresh their wardrobe before they start work coming out of lockdown, what would be some key items to go out and purchase that are pretty much winners for every occasion?

I think obviously if you've got a suit already, let's assume you've got a suit, I think then it's about how you accessorize that suit because you can have a non-expensive suit. Let's just say the first thing, actually, before we say anything else, is let's make sure whatever you've got fits. That's the most important thing.

I think that's a great point, right?

Because that's the first point where the majority of people fall down. They have clothes that may look all right, but they don't fit properly. And so what—

sorry, so what they could even do then is to take something and have it refitted at the tailor's.

Absolutely.

£15, £20 maybe, and and get their sleeves shortened or things taken in or out, whichever way the lockdown has impacted people's physiques, right?

Yeah, because it's about— listen, it's about— it's not just about how we dress, what the clothes we wear, it's about people's perception of us. And I think when you're wearing something that it might be really expensive or might have a label brand, but if it doesn't fit correctly, it looks terrible. And people's perceptions are You know, you look a bit sloppy, you're probably sloppy in the way that you work. So first thing I'd do is make sure that whatever items of clothing I actually like, they fit me correctly, and then I'd start to look at, right, I've got a bit of money to spend, let's look at how I accessorize my look, how I can add to my look without spending too much money that gives me a bit of variety from day to day.

And when you say accessorize, you're thinking about things like, what, pocket handkerchiefs maybe, or for ladies Brooches, necklaces?

Absolutely, absolutely. Like, how can I— it's almost like you're saying, right, if I've got a suit to wear, how can I change the look of this suit throughout the week so it doesn't look like I'm wearing the same thing and it looks like I really care about what I wear? Because accessories, when you've got kind of accessories and a bit of detail, it makes you look as if you care, and people pick up on that even if they don't necessarily know it straight away.

Okay, and I've got a question. In Asia where I lived, you know, having an expensive watch was kind of a rite of passage. What would be your view? Is it that it needs to be an expensive watch, or if it's a cheap watch not to wear it? I personally have several different watches, one with, you know, a black and one with a brown leather, different straps. What's your view on watches, which for many people, especially for men, often is the only jewelry they wear?

Yeah, I think watches are A really, really powerful, strong accessory. Not everyone has the budget to go out and buy an expensive watch.

Do you need to?

Yeah, I don't think you need to whatsoever. I just think that a watch is a nice— is a really nice— a timepiece is a really, really nice accessory for a man. I think it's about finding that timepiece that's going to fit with what you're wearing. And for me, that's an important thing. You can play around with, you know, whether it's a leather strap, whether it's a metal strap or a mesh strap or whatever it might be, but it needs to go with what you're wearing.

So it may be almost better to buy 2 lower-cost watches.

Absolutely.

One casual and one formal. I was looking at Swatch, they're about £40 and you can buy a really nice-looking watch, very functional. So maybe—

Yeah, and watches don't need to— you can buy some really, really exceptional looking watches from £100. You really can, but you just need to do your research.

And let's just talk about shoes, and because obviously, you know, women and men, you know, go shopping for shoes. What about the alignment? I'm personally quite big on the sort of leather of the belt and the shoes being the same color. Any views on shoes? There you go, it's a strap line. The views on the shoes.

Using shoes, yeah, for me, that your shoes set off the entire look. You can have a really expensive suit, really well-fitted suit, as we've just spoken about, and you're wearing the wrong shoes, they completely take away from the entire look. So getting shoes right is really, really important to a look, and making sure that you care for them as well in the right way. And that's imperative to a strong look.

So maybe shoes, it's sort of, if it's a formal look, you just need formal shoes, don't have to be expensive, but it's not the suit and trainers, for example.

Yeah, no, no, yeah, I mean, you don't have to have expensive shoes. I mean, I'd always look to spend what I can afford on shoes. So, um, because I think with shoes, you come at it from a cost-per-wear basis. Sometimes you can go out and buy a cheap pair of shoes and buy 3 times Yeah, well, and especially now for those of us with children.

My daughter bought a pair of Doc Martens shoes last week with her mother, and I finally treated myself to a pair of shoes that are as expensive as my children's shoes. So I think as we look at those as being an essential item, right? And also they last 3, 4, 5 years. So So it'd be a false economy.

Absolutely.

Now, what about having clothing to match the occasion? Because one thing is to, you know, sort of be wearing a uniform every day, but, you know, I used to have a client that said, you know, if he's had good results— he was a listed company— good results, he wore sort of an open neck looking relaxed, but if it was bad results, he'd have a tie and a jacket on to show he was serious. Any thoughts, Nick, about, you know, dressing for the occasion and for the audience? Staff, for example, maybe versus a supplier or a customer?

I think you've always got to dress— I say always— I think you should dress for the occasion and also dress for the environment that you're in. So it depends whether you're going back and, you know, now we're at the moment coming out of lockdown, hopefully soon, and whether that's you, you're going to be looking for a new job in the future and you're going for an interview, doing your research on where you're going Having a look at what they wear, where you're going, and dressing for that right environment. Or as you say, it's the occasion where you're making a formal statement to a group of people, or you've got to come back and you— let's just say, like, people have made people redundant recently.

Yeah, yeah.

And it's a really, really sad thing. But if that's you that's delivering that, then I think You know, out of respect, you should think about what you're wearing because you don't want to come in in your really expensive suit and Rolex watch and say, I'm really sorry, we can't afford to keep you on, we're going to have to let some of you go, because it just paints a really, really bad picture and you leave people with a bad taste in their mouth. So absolutely, dressing for your environment and dressing for the situation.

Yeah. And then you mentioned here about, you know, staff and teams What's your view on sort of the importance of clothing, not as a uniform, but as sort of a dress code? What advice do you give to business owners that maybe run a shop or a therapy center, for example? Any views on, you know, how that can impact morale, but also on standards?

Yeah, I think every company has a brand, whether they know it or not. It's a way that they want to be perceived. And I'll give this example. There was a bathrooms shop not far away from me, you know, really, really nice inside, staff dressed reasonably well. They had a car that was parked up outside, branded car, but it was filthy dirty. Just absolutely disgusting. I don't want to wash it for months. But then you walk past and you look at that, and then that is reflective of the brand, and that's the car. So when you have your staff, and if your staff are out on the road and seeing clients, they should be given guidance as to what to wear. I don't think, unless you're wearing a uniform, you should be told you have to wear this, but I think there should be Guidance on what people wear so that they actually reflect your brand.

Now, from a commercial point of view, I heard that if you have the name of the company on the item of clothing, you can offset that against tax. So if you were to give people shirts, for example, or jackets with the name of the company on it or the logo, that's a tax-deductible item. So that's just also worth thinking about.

Ah, okay, well, there you go. I learned something here. Yeah, yeah, thank you.

Yeah, I'm wearing a white shirt. I'm I must get a buyer.

Where's your branding?

I know, I need to write my name on the Speak PR podcast on the name of my shirt. The chap I interviewed yesterday has a branded shirt in Arizona. And then what about in terms of people sort of transitioning now to homework? What's your view on the sort of Zoom outfit? It's had some reviews. People should be dressing down, dressing up, dressing to go to work on Zoom? What's, what's your view, Nick, on creating a good impression online?

Again, I think it's dressing for the environment, you know, who are you, not necessarily your home environment, but the environment you're transporting into. So really and truly, I wouldn't be wanting to dress too dissimilarly from how I would be if I was going into that meeting in an actual real-life office. Yeah, fair enough, you know, you might be wearing smart on top, shorts, pajama bottoms, whatever underneath. No one's ever going to see that, you don't have to worry about it. But yeah, you still have to set the tone by what you wear. But then there are other factors to consider as well when you're on Zoom, and I think the way you dress is one very important factor, but then your lighting and sound become just as important because People can't see all of your body language, they can't see all of you, they can't see, you know, everything that you've got to offer as if you're in an office. So you need to project yourself in the right way, and lighting and sound help you do that.

And then are there some colors that you think really work and some that don't? Can you give us some clues? Because if people are thinking, well, that's all great, Nick, but if I go shopping What should I, you know, should I buy black things? Should I buy blue things? If you were to sort of have a starter kit for men and women, could you give us some idea of, you know, a basic, if you like, starter kit from a clothing perspective?

I think in terms of colors, if we're talking about colors and we're talking about men, then the world's favorite color is blue. And blue is quite a calming color in a way. So if you're just looking at, right, what can I do? It's reasonably neutral, it's available everywhere, it's the world's most loved color.

Right.

I think if you're looking at ties, pocket squares, whatever it is that— and you're looking at that as a— to buy something to go with your suit, then blue. If you're looking at The actual suit, me personally, I'd stay away from black. I prefer like a navy blue suit or a gray suit because it's more of a generic suit. You can wear that to many different places. Whereas for me, a black suit is just a bit too dull. It's funeral-like. You can wear it to a funeral.

Yeah, right.

It's not something that necessarily you want to be wearing to a business meeting.

And then in terms of where you get your inspiration from, Nick, if people are looking at, you know, looking for sources of style and information, where do you go? Do you think Pinterest is— Pinterest is good, but you've got to know how to find stuff on Pinterest. We used to go to GQ, for example, when I was younger. Can you give maybe 2 or 3 places, either on YouTube or on newsstands, that you recommend?

Depending on where you are in the process of style, where you want to be, I'd say that there are a number of good people on YouTube that you can follow that give advice on style and dressing, and they're not hard to come across. Literally at all, they'll give you advice. If it's more inspiration about what to wear, I'd look on somewhere like Instagram and do some digging around and find people that are around your age range that are, you know, they're representing kind of a look that you like and follow them and look back on their historic photos. Without pitching myself here too much, if you are lost at where to go completely, consult with someone. Have a conversation with an image coach.

Well, Nick, that's, that's why we've got you on the show. So do you want to tell people, uh, where they can find you, Nick? Because you're obviously a guru, you're here in the UK. Um, so can you just tell people where they can find you and also put this in the show notes?

Yeah, sure. So my website is nickhemsstyle.co.uk, and you can find me on Facebook and Instagram at I Am Nick Hems. And then all the contact details are there.

Wonderful. Well, Nick, thanks so much for joining us, and I'll include those again in the show notes. But Nick Hems, who's a stylist based here in the UK, I've worked with him personally and really enjoyed that experience, which is why I've invited him onto the show to share today. So thanks very much for listening to this episode of Speak PR. Nick, thank you for joining us today.

Thank you very much, Jim. Cheers.

And if you'd like this and any more information, please do subscribe to the podcast, which you can find on iTunes and on Stitcher. And of course, you can find us at eastwestpr.com with these podcasts, plus also Cognition, our newsletter. And if you would like to write me an email, please do, jim@eastwestpr.com. So with that, I'd like to wish you great health and a profitable business, and that you keep on dressing well.