Lessons from Shakespeare and a Holocaust survivor.

 

“Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy,

But not expressed in fancy—rich, not gaudy,

For the apparel oft proclaim the man... ”
(W. Shakespeare – Hamlet)

 

It is true indeed; the clothes do make the man. At least when it comes to positioning yourself and finding a public persona you can wear every day with confidence and ease.

Everything nowadays is communication because everything is shopping. Competition is everywhere and for almost any kind of good there is a valid alternative. But consumers are not the only ones shopping: companies shop for talents, opportunities, identities, ideas, and of course creative agencies. Inside and outside your industry, then, to compete, you must communicate.

So when you try to state your own style, you either try to fit into what already exists, or you go for something that fits you, and you only. While you make up your mind, here are a couple of learnings from the Bard and a legendary American tailor who survived the Holocaust. It’s a lot more than just fashion.

1- Don’t overshoot.
(In Shakespeare’s words: “Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy “)
Your “dress” shouldn’t reflect something you can’t afford to live up to. It is quite easy to look the part for one day, but you’re in for the long run, and sooner or later fakers will be busted.

2- Don’t be just any club kid.
(In Shakespeare’s words: “But not expressed in fancy—rich, not gaudy “)
Your dress shouldn't merely follow the trends either. It should follow you. Fashions come and go, and if there’s one today there is for sure someone who set it before. Why follow others when you can lead yourself?
 

3- You already have all that you need to stand out. You just need to make it shine.
So stop worrying about the competition, or expectations, and focus on your own strengths. Be bold, be brutal, be self-confident. All in all, you’ll always be perfectly yourself. As Presidential tailor Lee Greenfield says “Everybody is a perfect person. There are no two people alike you can ever find that are perfectly matched.”

4- Bespoke is the new black.

And it’s a very abused term. Just to make it clear, bespoke is when the suit is made exclusively for you. From scratch. After selecting a fabric from a huge array, or even getting a fabric made on purpose. It takes many measurements. And it’s meant to make every part of your body look at its best. Everything else is called made to measure, and it’s nothing more than some personal adjustments on a pre-existing model with a limited selection of fabrics. You wanna go for the first option, trust us. Don’t be afraid of your own identity.

When going for a suit, or a “public persona”, your aim should be to find your sustainable best: taking the brand or the product to the max of itself, not the average of someone else’s standards. This is tough when you are not the market leader and you’re overwhelmed with competition from a cluttered industry.

But what comes with a bespoke suit is confidence, and confidence comes from the very humbleness it takes to accept and internalize outside perspectives for real, e.g. the look of a tailor. It’s what all those measurements are there for- without a brutally honest look, there can be no improvement. As you can see, it’s little about the clothes and a lot about who you want to be. In clothing as in Communication.

Let’s go shopping.

 

THEMONK