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Brand Ambition, Ambition, Ambition, Hey maner, how.
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Lady in red, I haven't seen you in this color before.
It's a it's a instead of a short set, it's a skirt set. I got it from the Amazon.
From Amazon people, Yeah, shopping on Amazon. I haven't really done a lot of people to get cute stuff. Yeah, that's how I feel. It's either going to be good quality or like Forever twenty one Clearance been you know, quality is how I feel. But I love that you're in this new bright color. I am in this one of my favorite shades, which I am now over analyzing and I'm like, is this my color palette? Am I
a winter summer whatever? I'm really excited about today's show, and the reason we're talking a little bit about style is one I think if you follow broad Ambition from the very beginning, it's been almost eight years now, can you believe?
Can you believe?
We're in the third grade almost, and we have changed quite a bit. I feel like our style has evolved. I think all of our styles are constantly evolving, especially like we talked a lot about hair during a recent episode, and like how that can evolve with your career and your business. And I think style is such. I mean, obviously hair is this. Hair and style, it's the same thing basically when you're a woman of color. I feel like, but today we have a really fantastic guest, Tiffany, and
I can't wait for y'all to meet here. I met this woman at a recent conference that I spoke at, and I didn't even realize I hadn't really thought about my style very much. But after listening to this our guest speaking about it, I instantly was like, you know, I do put thought into it. But I feel like there's so much hunger and a lot of us to have more, like to have more of a style and
to own it a little bit more. What has your style like evolution been, Tiffany, As you've gone from Budgetista, I was always like Netflix, she were in Netflix Red. Today I have been.
Super tom Boys kind of like my whole life. I never really thought about clothes too much. But then as I started to start my business, not dressing well harmed my business because they were literally like I would get feedback what I would meet with someone hoping to like, you know, launch maybe a workshop series whatever, I would get feedback and say, like, I like Tifny, but she didn't really dress very professionally, and I was like, because before then.
I was in preschool team.
Really yeah, I got a couple of people who said that because pre school teacher, you know, you're like, can this be thrown up on?
I'll wear it.
So I got to delay developing my style because I you know, professionally, it was like comfort, comfort, comfort. It should be able to get dirty, and that's what I was for ten years. So I didn't know what to wear. So thankfully my sister Tracy, who's also a publicist, she is always super well dressed. So I started to lean into her and said, can you help me create like a Budgetissa look, which is like very very professional looking.
And now I'm easing up on the budget Lisa being more super tailored and like, you know, interjecting more of my funness into it. And so I'm in this new space now where I'm like bringing forth the feminine. That's what I told myself, you know, because I know I got little body on me.
A little bit too. Wait body, yes, a little.
Body, you know, and I've never shown I met this woman in I was at brunch in Brooklyn with my sister Lisa, and a budgetista fan came up to.
Me was like, girl, I know you had that body.
I'm like, I know, I'm leaning into my feminine a little bit like one in a way that makes me feel comfortable because I don't like having all all the girls out, but in a way that I'm like, girl, you got a body, like you know, embrace it.
Yeah. For me, I think because my body size changed has always changes every two years. I'm up and down.
I have this like opra condition, and I think that has always made it really difficult for me to just like settle in a style because it was like, you know, when I'm growing up getting dressed, getting styled by the Sears plus size section, which is like for little girls, you know, in the way far back corner by like the granny you know stuff and the petite section, and to be like, here's my mom would just drag me back there and be like, which Hello Kitty or Winnie
the Pooh ensemble would you like? Because like these are the options. So I have been like plus size, and you know, every you know from from way too skinny you had some issues to like, you know, plus size, and it has made it almost to the point where I didn't want to think about like I I didn't think I deserved or could have a look because it would mean like investing more in new clothes because my
size has changed again. And that finally broke for me a couple of years ago when I had the opportunity to do like a real brand photo shoot and I worked with a family friend of mine who was like, she's a stylist in her free time, and I had her picking things for me, and she introduced me to you like, for so long I had been trying to develop a style by shopping at like old Navy in H and M, and I get so annoyed because then he got on the subway and every other girl has
the exact same, you know, look. And she introduced me to like curating different pieces and like putting them together, and she really helped me get out of the trap of like not buying something because I didn't like the size I had to buy in it, which I don't know if you ever been like as a as a plus size woman, and I know our guest is as well. Like you, you get so caught up in like what size something is, and are people no one's gonna know
what size it is, you know. But she helped me finally get out of that trap of stop holding yourself back from looking amazing because you're more there's shame around what size of that you have to have. And now ever since I like broke that spell, I feel like it's been so much more fun to like discover new
brands I'm a huge fan of like Eloquy. I wear their stuff all the time and they do fourteen plus fashion, And also like stop wasting time over analyzing myself and being like embarrassed because no one does know what your size is. They just know how you're moving confidently, like in your fashion, you know. So I don't know if y'all my fashion has been like muted, muted, muted, and then like this explosion of my personality color, you know, I want joy to come through with the style that
I have, and it's been. Yeah, it's been liberating, and I'm glad I got there now because I feel like so many of us we wait till, like, I don't know when do we stop giving giving a crop about people think about us on average?
I don't know. I'm still trying to have eight I'm forty, and I would say I'm about eighty percent. Girl, what nobody cares? They're still about a little thirty percent. I'm like, but I do.
But yeah, I'm trying to do well. I still got collagen, you know, while there's some loaf in the skin, Like just even on vacation. I told you, I've never felt sexier than I was on our vacation a couple of weeks ago. I've never been heavyer. I got this huge seven month baby bump.
But I was rocking bikinis.
I wasn't. I wasn't hiding behind a cover up. I wasn't. I was just like, this is my body, like this is There's nothing to be ashamed about anyway. So that's been It's a good I think. I feel like I hope that more of us are feeling that way. I credit, do you have a style icon? Because I credit Lizzo for making me feel better about my lumps and bumps.
You know what, I don't.
Actually, maybe that's my problem. I don't have a style.
Icon, like someone that you look to and you're like, oh, you know, they are so put together. That's who I kind of want to That's the vibe I want to give off.
Not a particular woman, but more so like the Brooklyn the Brooklyn black girl I love because I'm like an afrocentric at my core, and so I love like the Brooklyn batty blacker that's just walking big hair, like it's just so that there's no one particular, but like I
love that look and it just looks so effortlessly. She can bohemian but like sexy but not super because I'm not really like I said, like my girls are not all out, you know, So I would say that that the Brooklyn the summer Brooklyn black girl is my icon.
I don't know, I'll never be that cool. I really want to get to our guests because she is. This is what she does. She works with people like you and I and I mean not just that but just regular regular folks. And when I'm going to her style talk at this conference that I went to, Like, the women were lining up afterward, and she wouldn't these small tweaks to their outfits and you can see their eyes light up, you know, like oh I didn't think I didn't look at it this way, or like this actually
does look good on me? And it was so powerful, So I had to have her on. I want to introduce her finally to y'all, BA fam. Her name is Kendra Porter. She is a teed X speaker, an award winning image consultant, and a wardrobe stylist. She is the founder of Honor Your Style image consulting agency, where she's worked with thousands of clients, helping them reimagine their style. Kendra uses fashion as a tool to develop personal and professional brands, and her motto is honor your Style, Honor you.
These days, you can find Kendra producing events on the mic for well known retailers like Neiman Marcus. She facilitates trainings like I went to on personal branding and style. She also teaches at a little school you might have heard of called FIT or the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City, and she's also in studio dressing on air talent at NBC Sports and has even dressed talent for the Olympics. Come on now. Over a decade of experience, she has dressed for designers at New York
Fashion Week, from Oscar Della Rented to Problem. Yeah, how do you say that, Kendra? Probably Garung, I'd be you know when you see something, but you know, anyway, whatever, She's very, very impressive and we are so freaking excited to have Kendra on the show.
Welcome Kendra, Thank you, ladies, thank you so much for having me. And I did say proble Garung, my apologies. I was not unmiked, unmiked, unmuted, but uh yeah, listen, even for me saying some of the designer's names, I'm like, wait, hold on, let me google.
They deserve Well. I'm so happy to have you on. I mean we headed off. We're like new besties because we also live in the same zip code we do over here representing Westchester. But is it true did you meet Tiffany before, like a million lifetimes ago?
Yeah, so I met Tiffany, And I don't know if you even remember this, Tiffany, like I met you when I was first starting out. So this probably eleven twelve years ago, right, you had just started out as well, and we were at a women of Chamber commerce meeting in the city, like off of fourteenth Street. Don't ask me why I remember all of these details, but I do.
And ever since then, right, I've been part of the dream Catchers and right following you for all these years, so I appreciate it, and we've touched base every now and then. But it's been an amazing journey to watch you and I am so proud of all that you've done throughout the years, for sure, So kudos to you.
Thank you, and welcome to you.
We'll talk about like being an image consultant first of all, Kendra, because you do on the personal and the professional level. Why is it important, Like why should people from us who are public facing to just everyday working women be
thinking about our image. So the first thing I like to explain to people is the difference between an image consultant and a stylist, right, Because everyone's like, well, I'm not a celebrity, and so I happen to be both, right, I tell people, as an image consultant, it is about the person, right, you as a as a total package,
your personality, your lifestyle, your budget, all of it. And so it is making sure that you are aligned with what you are trying to represent as a person, right and communicating that through your fashion as well.
As a stylist. Right, it is about the clothes. So if you walk into a room and someone says, oh my god, that person looks amazing, that's an image consultant. Right, you see the person as a whole. If you walk into a room and someone says, oh my god, where'd you get those shoes? That is a stylist. Right. It's about the It's about the fashion, the dress, the shoes, the pieces right that are speaking above who you are
as an individual. And so you know, the importance is is that as a person as a whole, regardless of whether you're you know, in the limelight or if you're living your daily life, you want to represent the best person you are. Right. We always say that we should always put our best foot forward, no matter what, even running to the grocery store. But running to the grocery store may mean putting out moisturizer and putting your hair in a bun, right, like running a brush through your hair,
the simple things. Because we are, unfortunately, right, we are in a culture that does judge and that does see people, and it's that visual representation is the first thing that you see.
Yeah, I don't know. I feel like there's with social media too. There it's this like dichotomy because I think on social media some hows you want to be raw, unfiltered, no makeup, whatever, But there's a very different version of yourself when you show up to present something or to represent your brand, you know, among potential advertisers or potential clients.
How do you sort of towe that line between like honoring both sides, where like, I mean, you kind of want to like resist the need to be like Tiff and I. I don't know, Tiff, like you're going through this glow up phase where you know, she puts the F and then we hear not that you have before.
It's just different. But it's so yeah, yeah, it's so. Here's the thing, right, nobody's saying you have to wear makeup every day, Right, That's not what we're saying. What we're saying is is that you want to represent the best you, even as a natural, even as a natural right fresh faced, running out of running to the grocery store or what have you. Right, I don't wear makeup every day. I only wear makeup when I'm doing events
or I'm on camera. Right, If you see me out on the street, I don't have makeup on, right, but I'm dressed in a way that people may say, oh, right, where'd you get those sneakers? Right? Where did you? You know?
What's what's kind of sort of sticking out? And that's the stylus side of me, right, Or I may help people with that, right if I'm of course in a store shopping and it's like, oh, here, look at this, and then they take a look at me, because if I'm dressed right, if I'm dressed in an oversized sweat or in a pair of leggings trying to style somebody, they're like, I'm not really sure you're the right person for me, right, But of course I'm going to be
in fashionable leggings and fashionable sweatshirt. So that's a different story. But it is you want to be who you are authentically, and it is the simple things, right, So like when you talked about making those little tweaks when we were at the seminar, it is grooming right, looking at brushing your hair, looking at adding moisturizer. Looking at doing lip bomb. Nobody says you have to put on lipstick, but do a lip bomb right so that you don't have chap lips.
I don't care. It's the little things that make you look a little bit more polished that it's like, oh, you got everything put together and you're not wearing anything different, right, but it is. Can we can we iron our shirts before we go outside? Right, those little things that help to tweak and polish you on a general basis. And then when you're talking about showing up as a professional and in your career, yeah, you do need to look a particular way, right. You do need to represent who
you are as a brand. Now. Granted there are the likes of like Steve Jobs and all of that, but we know them for not their style and that they are trying to make the minimum decisions that they need to in their fashion. As a brand. You need to figure out what that looks like for you individually, and then making sure that you assign what you're wearing to that brand, to whatever it is that is for you.
As black women, right, Like we are policed in so many different ways our hair, you know, like the way we wear our makeup, like even just like one of the reasons why I don't wear tight things is because I know I got a lot of booty, and so I know that unfortunately, my natural body is perceived in some arenas, especially financial education, as unprofessional. There's nothing I've done, like this is how I was born.
So it's the sexualization of black women's bodies. That's a whole other conversation. Yes, so what can like, as you know, what.
Advice can you give for as we show up as black women with our bodies and how we just naturally look, you know, how can we create this like lead this foundation of professionalism without being like I.
Got to hide my body in order to do so.
Right, So there's a couple of things, I think. So one of the things that I go through with my clients is I do ask them to pick out words, right, So I tell them, choose three words that represent what you want to be known for. And I mean three words in terms of personality traits, right, whether that's intelligent, whether that's creative, whether that's a boss. What are those three words? And then pick two style words, right, so whether it's romantic or edgy or funky, and then use
that to build your looks each morning. Right. So if I say that I am going to be edgy, creative and welcoming, right, I'm not. And then I want to be edge of creative, welcoming, I said five, right, professional, and fun. I'm not wearing all black every day, right, just because I'm trying to either hide my body, hide who I am, right, hide my personality. I am going
to wear bright colors. I'm going to wear patterns. I'm going to wear things that are a little bit more slick, right, So for me and that and those words can change too, right, So don't say these are the words that you're holding to and you can't ever change that. It's also based on context, right, So where are you going? How do you want to be seen within that community? Right within those people that you're going to and then using those words to change. And it's also based on how you feel.
So you get up in the morning, there are days where you're like, you know what, I just want to get up and keep it moving. And so you're going to throw on a like jeans and T shirts. Okay, well what does that look like for that day? Right? Are you? Are you the bohemian that day? And so you're going to do gens and write like a white oversized blouse and a pair of and doodenim and right
like lots of brown leather. Or is it that you're gonna do a sweatshirt right like a hoodie and a leather jacket and a paradium right, two different looks, both casual, but both can still be fun and exciting for you. Right. You should enjoy getting dressed in the morning. That's the other thing, is that whatever you put on should bring you joy because how you dress also affect your mood. It's not just about how other people see you, but
it's also how you see yourself. So those people who think about this way, even if you're wearing sweats, right, and if you put on sexy underwear, undersweats is a very different You stand differently, right, You move through your day differently, And so you want.
To be not pack panties, Tiffany, I'm graduated.
I've graduated from pack pansies.
You feel better? Yeah, I mean, Kendra, when I was listening to you talk. And also it's not just about this is a thing like so many of us are wearing what we think we feel comfortable in, but not maybe what is the best look from the outside looking in?
And I feel like during your talk, what was powerful was when women were like, well, I put this on it, I think this looks good, and then you start to look at it from the outside, you know, an outsider's perspective, and you realize sometimes we're not making the best choices for what fits our body or fits our coloring, you know. So, like, what advice do you have for women who are just
wearing the thing that they've always felt comfortab. They like black, they like gray, they like pink, hot pink or whatever, to start exploring colors that bring out their best selves, styles that bring out their best selves in a different way. So the first thing I would say is definitely think about what color do people say you look amazing in?
Right, Because that's an objective view. It's not you trying to pick through about what you think may work for you it doesn't work for you. But think about, no matter how old it may be, when you wear that particular color or that particular top or dress or whatever, people are like, oh my god, you look great, right, and you're like, oh, this whole thing, it's probably because that's your coloring. So there are two things. People are warm and cool, and.
I still can't figure it out. I'm war more cool. You have to help me.
You're cool, but you're also cool and bright, right, like you want to do set like for you, I'm like, saturated colors work really well for you.
Thank you good because that means really bright and like bold.
Right? Well, no, like if you do like so the mid color that you're wearing now, I want a little bit deeper in green, right, like a little bit more saturated, less white in the coloring. Right. So when I met you, you had on lilac, which was gorgeous on you. It was a deeper tone. It was still pastel, but it was a deeper, more saturated color. Right.
That's the color people tell me I look really good. Yeah, that's how people were lining up afterwards, like show the little you guys, tell U where to get one of those color wheel things too.
So this is what I tell people, So tiftany right, and now I'm like, I can't see you on camera, but here's what I would say, right to Most people think about whether you are better, whether you look better in white like a crisp white shirt like this, or if you look better in cream. Right, that's the easiest way to tell. And what you want to look at is does your skin glow? Are you healthier? Does it
look brighter? So when people tell me, oh, I can't wear whatever color, right, like I can't wear green because I look sallow or I look sickly, it's because it's not the right shade of green. So think about right when you were a kid in painting and in primary colors, right, so it was red, yellow and blue makeing primary colors. The question is does it have more yellow or red in it which makes it warmer, or more blue which
makes it cooler? Right, So if you think about red, right, so we all know that red lipstick, trying to find the right shade red lipstick is always a challenge, right. This is why if I show you, these are all shades of red. Right?
Wow?
Okay, if you're watching on you too, you should be.
Yeah, the top are all and I go.
Go in the middle road for sure? Right the top, Oh is that right? The top are warmer colors, right, there's more yellow in them across the board and the bottom are cooler colors. Right. And so if you have a tendency to do hot pinks, blue looks amazing on you, right, Purples look really great on you. That is someone who's cooler in coloring. If you do better in reds and browns and oranges, then you're warmer. So Teppany, I feel like I want to say, you're actually warmer in coloring.
Can you see her right now? I want you to see her because she's got this bright red. I can't tell if that's the right shade of red for her, Kendra, let's right, you can you see me?
I was gonna say, like, I'm like, pull me up online.
But you don't have the exact color on. No, I'm gonna I'm literally gonna do this right now. I'm gonna texas to you.
Kept yes, because I'm just like I want to I want to know something is on my internet. It was walk less.
But you've seen Tiffany like on her book cover and things like that, Yeah, like what would you?
Yeah?
And I thought about you, tiff too. When Kendra was talking about the color green, what are the color greens that like? MINTI green? Like the color I'm wearing symbolizes what now? Because this is a color tiff has on.
Her book So no, no, so for green?
Yeah, it's Kelly Green on the book.
Yeah, I was like, it's a deeper green, but for and I actually have that book on my bedside. No, but the color green is more about right, nurturing, growing wealth, right, is what green stands for. And so that's the other thing when people talk about colors, where you can wear every color, it's the right shade or tone of that color for you. It's also what do those colors represent? Right.
So red can be sexy, right, red can be playful, ray can be powerful or it can be danger right, depending on the context and where you're going and who you're talking to. It's how do you want to be seen. So the example that I give best is I have two clients who are psychologists. One deals with adults, the
other one deals with children. For the gentleman who deals with adults, right, I had to put him in greens and browns and blues because blue is trustworthy, Brown is nurturing and stability, right, and green is part of that nurture sense. And so that's what we and then we shot him in like we shot him outdoors, right, So for him that was about stability and nurturing for adults.
For my client who deals with kids. Right, we had to put her in bold colors or bold patterns, right, and bright colors because that's what kids are going to gravitate to, right, that sense of fun and playfulness. And so how you show up in the context of where you are is important. Right, if she went in wearing all black right to the kids, they'd be like, I
don't know if I feel comfortable talking to her. Right, she needs to be approachable to them, and so it's important as to how people read that as well.
And also like if people are not Like, even if you work in a field where you're interracting people a lot, and then you realize, I'm not really connecting with people in the right way. Maybe it's not your personality that's it's just like the image that you have, and it is something about it appealing or unappealing. I'm wondering because ever since I made this, you know, I've always been drawn to like brighter colors, But since I've been like really focusing on my wardrobe in that way, the kids
at Rio's daycare they love me. They stop, They're like, there's Rio's mom. I think it's also the hair. I just come in looking like a good time, like most of the time. So Kendras here getting your whole entire life together. But let's take a pause for the cause and go to break and be right back. All right, can you check your texto, because I talk to you a picture of the gorgeous to me, like I need to know. And that's the thing where you like you saw Tracy have the same color red.
No, she had like a pink. She had like this like other pink. So this is like more of a burnt orange in person, was it really?
Yeah?
Like it's it's yeah, it's like a really deep pumpkin in person.
So to me, it looks like Tiffany is definitely warmer in coloring, okay, right, which means right, reds are great for you, right because you can do and you can do reds as a cool like, but I have to do a true red right like I can't do for me. None of these colors work, right.
Okay, I look bad in those colors.
So I don't know if you guys can see this, I'm like, we'll do this. That's why. Right if I do this on like somewhearing red lipstick, this versus this, m do you see a difference?
So I feel like one of them makes your color.
Yeah, like he's holding up her color cards, you know, just so like so you can what live would be.
Yeah. So if we just do this versus this, which one's a true red?
I don't even know these reds.
It's just about these are cooler reds, right, So these are cooler reds. These are warmer reds for me? A cooler red? Is this right? What I'm wearing is more of a true red? And this pops on me versus me putting on something like.
This which might not make you look as bright?
Correct?
Is that what we're kind of going for here, looking for colors that make you like, how do you know when it's the right shade? So you just pick your cool or you're warm and you're bright, and you carry on those little cards around.
I do color swatches, you'll do it. But part of it also is is that if you're in the wrong color, you'll see more. And it's the lighting in here isn't great for you guys to see this, but what you end up seeing is you actually see more of the shading, so you see the shading under your eyes. If you've got if you are already worried about having bags on your eyes or a little darkness. If you have like I do, right, some you know, some some hair on
the above your lip, right, it comes out darker. Right, it will show your creaselines as well. Right, so your laugh lies at a natural All of those pieces will come out. Your pores on your face will actually look bigger when you're in colors that are the right color for you. Now, when I tell that to people, I tell people, don't stress, like you don't have to get rid of all your wardrobe of pieces that don't fit you. But it is thent how do you layer those colors with other colors
that do right? So it's if you're not in the right color. So if I'm wearing your cream top, I probably have on a bright color jacket over it or scarf. Right, that changes up the way that that looks.
I make it parse.
I feel like you told me that to your point, I have to ask Liella because sometimes I'll ask her, like, wait, what are my tones? Because she'll say, she said, if everybody thinks that black people have like red undertone, red undertone, and she's like, that's not you know, by nature being brown, that's not always the case, she's like, Tiffany, you have more yellow than people probably might not realize. We do a lot of berry. Very rarely does she put me in a full red. Berries look great as far as
like on my lips. So I don't know what that means. But so we do a lot of that that looks really great. She will create a red, so she'll mix to get to a red that like suits if I'm.
Wanting to wear red, yea.
But yeah, I find that like coral is one of my like really great go to colors that look that looks like great on.
Me, that has a little bit more yellow to it, right.
Yeah, and like deep tones I think, like, I guess my skin is pretty deep. And but deep tones I find because sometimes I wear something light, like a light loud like or a light yellow, and I'm like.
Yeah, So the way, yeah, the way color works is that people, you look at the colors that work better for you, whether they're cool or they're warmer, and then you look at are they bright and vibrant, right, or bright vibrant and statue or are they soft and muted? Right? So what I mean by soft is are they pastels? Are they muted? Is are they gray out, right, So you're going to go either warm or cool, and then you're either doing right and saturated colors or you're doing
muted and soft colors. Right. And what I tend to find is that, truthfully, it also has a lot to do. It's also reflecting people's personalities. Right, So those people who for you, definitely Tiffany, right, more saturated colors work better. Right, for Mandy, it's the pastels work better, but it's also bright pastels, right, More saturated pastels work well for you. I do really well in saturated colors again, kind of like kind of like Mandy, but a little bit different.
I think Mandy reads a little bit softer, so she does a little bit more pastels that are saturated. I do right, like a heavy deep fuchia right in cold Walt blue.
I want to be a deep fusia girl. I'm like the girl who keeps trying to buy the deep fusia lip lipsticks and they just stay in the drawer because I put it on and I'm like.
It's screw.
Yeah. It goes like from lips to style. I feel like we all deserve someone like you to just walk through from the hair, like the hair color. I know my hair color is not the right color right now. It's range. As my neighbor Sydney, who's eight years old, told me, it's Mandy.
I like your hair.
It's orange.
I like you.
You're like, okay.
But to that point, to that point, beauty and coloring does matter because it's it's the reason why you go to the nail salon and write you put on. You find someone that has a particular color, you're like, oh, I want to try it, and then you're like, no, that doesn't work for me. It's the same thing. It goes for your lipstick, it goes for your makeup, it goes for your hair color when you're dying it, all of it matters.
Yeah. I think it's liberating when you stop trying to pick what looks good on other people and start experimenting to see what your best version is. And I think that's the clique that I had working with like An, I think she was more of an image consultant now that I think about it, because we talked about what tone did I want to bring out? Like this is for all the pictures I have on my website and all that stuff my social media, and like what did I want to emote? What did I want to evoke,
you know, to my audience. And it was Yeah, it was like letting go of what Like I wasn't going to look at Tiffany. Tiffany's our website are completely different, you know, different vibes, different, And it's like if I looked at hers or anyone else in my space and try to mimic it, it just wouldn't be I don't know, I wouldn't feel as authentic. I wouldn't be as excited to rep it, you know what I mean. So for people who are listening, who are maybe thinking like, okay,
this is overwhelming's talking about hair nails style? Where in your closet? Where'd you start if you were like telling someone to you know, help, trying to help someone cull, like take out things that are maybe not working for them and you know, bring in more of the right stuff.
So first and foremost right. And I think everybody's heard this, But if you haven't wonn it in six months, if you haven't wanted in.
A year, let it go, right, that would deplete about ninety percent of my.
Pick somebody else I didnerent one different one?
Can we say six years. Can I get a little extension, listen, I have it might fit me again, Kendra, it might fit me again.
Okay, Okay, so he's perfect, right, perfect segue. If it might fit you again, the question is do you want to represent that version of you or are you willing to then invest in something that represents who you are now? Whatever that now is.
That's sweet, right, Yeah, I try. I think living in the city has forced me to get rid of things a lot faster because you move and like you don't have that much clouset based in New York and whatever, and I live in a smaller house now, So I think I have been better about getting rid of stuff. But there are like there's versions of myself that I
know don't exist anymore. There's stuff that I wore, you know, when I was at Yahoo and early in my career as a journalist that I'm just not That's just not the vibe anymore.
Okay.
So the six month rule is painful.
It's painful. Truth. So truth, right, if you don't do it in the six month, like, definitely do, I say, try and call every season right because you are stepping into a new season and you're looking to wear close so if it doesn't fit you and you're like, oh, maybe the question is did you wear it last year? If you didn't wear it last year, right at the same season, let it go right to the faces have.
To be I'm talking to Mandy. I'm like, girl, you heard what she said? What's your closet? I'm nice the lamb with foolishness.
I also don't leave the house anymore, but I might leave the house in the future.
Yeah.
Actually, the output that I wore to the output that I wore to that conference, I probably had in my closet for about six months. Sometimes I buy things and I'm just like, I'll find, oh, I got the most amazing like green sequin jumpsuit, don't ask with shorts. It's from Eloquy, and I'll buy it, and I'm like, I'm going to have a party to go to in that outfit in the future, which maybe isn't the best for my budget. But anyway, I had those like aspirational clothes
that I'm not going to wear every day. But my style has been I feel like run down by me just being seen from the waist up in my zen den, like I don't my feet. I got the pants I'm wearing right now? Are you know what I slept in? If I'm on right?
So listen, that's fine. It's different. I kept putting listen, I kept turning the camera off because I didn't have pants on them, and I was like, let me actually go putps on. So we're fine, right, stylist, don't get it twisted. I like, I do everything like everybody else does, right, but when I get on camera, it's let me make sure that I look good from the waist up. So even if you're talking about this is all that you do when you're on meetings on zoom, doesn't mean that
you still can't be style right. You still want to be able to wear what you have and make it look good, right. So that's my first thing about culling. I think the second thing is about fit right. So to me, fit is the biggest pet peeve because having something that fits you properly will make you look amazing, and people don't realize it. Right, Some people wear things.
Feel amazing because you're not tugging stuff. Mandy Woodruff, Stop buying things that you think you should be the right size in, but you're not, Like, it's why do I torture myself.
Here's what I tell people. Clothes are being mass produced, we are not, right, But they're not being mass produced for mass bodies. They're being produced for the one fit model, which is a model who they use to put the clothes on for the same fit for the same brand. Right.
That's ideally what a fit model is. If you are not that model shape, their clothes may not fit you really well, right, or part of their clothes will, and some of them won't because they will also send it out to manufacturers for private label, which means they're not even making it. They're buying it from someone else who's making it. So it's never about the size. It's never
about the quote unquote number. It is about what is there, What do their numbers say in terms of measurements for their sizes, so that you should know what your measurements are right, your bust, your waist, your hips, so that when you're buying pants, if I say I'm a size eighteen, but my hips are a fifty three, and in this particular brand, a fifty three is a twenty two, then I've got to go with the twenty two to make sure that that fits me right, And so yeah, I don't.
I tell people it was humbling having an image consultant pick my sizes because I was like, why are you being so mean?
No, but that that actually really makes a little sense.
I don't know that I've gotten measured, like you know, past I don't even remember the last time I've gotten measured, because you're right, the certain sizes, you know, like I can range from you know how it is with black girls. I can go from the lowest and eight, you know, up to a twelve, depending on like the fit or the brand or whatever. Sometimes even though fourteen, it just you know, if it's the top, I might be a medium. If it's the bottom, I might be a large or
extra large. So it just so to know, like this is what my actual measurements are, even though that fluctuates. It is I never thought about that because sometimes I'll get something and I'm like, one thing I have done recently is I heard this on another podcast she was saying how she loved this. There was a black woman and she would say, oh my gosh, I love my dry cleaner because they know my body and they do alterations.
And I don't know why I didn't think about that.
Yeah, for a few bucks that I was like, when I tell you, I have since taken everything to Miss Susie down in Belleville.
Susie nov like, hey girl, I'm like, first.
Of all, I know you know your name is not Susie.
That's just the American because you don't want people to say your Asian name wrong, so we just laugh. I'm like, my name is also not tough. But I mean literally some of my most beautiful alphas that I'm like, it just needed that extra little tuck, that extra little hem, that extra little They look amazing now for a few bucks. And I can't believe I waited along to get things tailored to my body.
It's I don't know what it is about the way women are brought up. I want to say, right, and how we're taught to shop because as boys as men, right, everything is fitted. Everything is based on a size, like and on a measurement. Right, Their shirt sizes is their's neck size and the link of their arms. Their pants are their waist and the end scene. Right, women's sizes aren't that there. It's like the standard two four, six eight, But we're not standards, right, All of that's different. Men's
sizes are different. Men's are actually based on their actual measurements. And so when I tell women, no, this needs to get altered, they're like, no, it should fit. I'm like, but why why should it fit right? There's no reason why if I make something as a brand and somebody else makes something as a brand, because there's no standard in the industry that all of that should fit you. So definitely fit for the widest part of your body first,
and then tailor everything down right. So whether that's your bust, whether that's your hips, whatever, the widest part of you is fit that first, and then tailor in right. And then that is at the tailor of the waist because the hips are hippen, the hips are in a whole different section of the grocer of the stick.
Gets right, yes, but my hips in the back is like, hey girl, so we can get a whole wearing belts.
Wearing belts. But like, my husband gets custom shirts from proper cloth made because he has really long arms and he just has always done that. He doesn't shop off the rack. If he does, he's usually unhappy with it. And I'd be like, and he gets his stuff let out when he gained weight or let in. You know, when he's got back down and he just does it without like the emotional hang ups that I have at
the same time, like I've lost some battle. But but he can do that because his pieces are like higher quality. So they can be you know, they're meant to be taken in or not meant to be, but they can be taken in taken out.
And I mean, where would you.
Say to get fitted at?
Oh, go ahead, well no, And I was going to say, I'm like, there's higher quality and quality of taking things in? Is yes? Am I going to take something in from Forever twenty one or write some fash fashion brand? Maybe not right? But if I get it at you know, if I get something that's called quality piece, that quality doesn't necessarily mean that you have to spend right two th hundred dollars for it. It can be a good quality
piece that's one hundred dollars or less. If I get it taken in to fit perfectly and it looks like a two hundred dollars piece because now it fits me, is it worth it right now? Whether you want to buy something that's one hundred dollars and have something that needs to get taken in for one hundred dollars, that's a very different story. But to have something taken in or pants taken up, waste taken in, right, it's going to cost you somewhere between depending on where you live, right,
twelve dollars to fifteen to twenty dollars. It's not a lot of money invest into an additional piece that you bought, right, that you've probably got on sale. Well, let's be real, right, that's going to fit you well and that you're going to wear well. Right, That's the other thing. And I tell people also think about investment pieces as as buys. Right. So if we're going to go to the budget at easter route, there is what's called a cost per wear, which is how many times are you wearing that piece
that you are investing in? Right, So, if you're going to spend five hundred dollars on a dress, is that dress something that you're going to have for years because it's quality, Right, You've paid for the quality, You've paid for the fit that you're wearing at least once a week if it's a basic piece, or every other week because you can put it in and out of your wardrobe and use it with alternate pieces, right, so that you're creating a wardrobe that is going to last you
and that you're wearing consistently. Buying it and wearing it one hundred times is very different than buying a piece and wearing it twenty five times, right, So it's looking at the investment in the pieces that you're wearing and making sure that that makes sense. Right.
You could sell me a mattress right now with that how they sell you mattresses and appliances. You're going to sleep on this one thousand hours, so really it's eight cents per se. Forget about it being five thousand dollars. Oh okay, kender. So for I do want to ask though, like where can you get fitted today? Like for Bras, because I know BRA's eye for me has changed, yes with children, and like it's frustrating to think I have to go do this again, but it's we deserve right
to acknowledge our changes. So like where would you say, like to start with getting fitted and getting measured so that you can start thinking like shopping more thoughtfully.
Here's where I tell people, think about this is the best way I can say it. Think about wherever your grammar the may have gone to shop for bras, right, And I say that only because if you are going to Victoria's Secrets, Listen, I love Vicky's for your Lord. The aesthetic of it five twenty five. I'm sorry, the five twenty five way.
That's my jam.
You're trying to play me out in high school, listen, Right, you can do that with underwear. With bras, you need to be fitted properly and so right, there's an aesthetic piece, great, but you also need to understand, as women, breasts come in different shapes, different sizes, where you are holding the mass of your of your breast, right, whether it's lower, whether it's a full or bust, all of those things matter, and the type of bra that you wear matters in
terms of the actual cut. Right. So just like jeans, right, different genes fit different parts of the body of all of that same thing with bras, Right, there's I am a I am a forty h I can't wear a Demi cup bra, right, I am just going to spill out of it. That's not going to hold me properly. But I can do a balconet, which is going to give me the same look as a Demi cup bra, Right, and I'll sit higher understanding all of those pieces. Getting fitted, you really need to go to a specialty place to
get fitted right and get fitted properly. Some places like Nordstrom Rack, not norom Rack, Nordstrum's right your Dark Apartment Stores, Macy's and so forth, Bloomingdale's, they do have people that fit. Some of them are great, some of them are not. What I will tell you is that you get your
most support around your band right. So your band should You should start at the last loop, so where you're where the bra strap ends right should be where you start, and then you work your way in right so that as you wear your bra over time, it is right. The rubber in it, the elastic in it starts to wear down, you make it tighter right. So you should never start on the inside one. You should always start
on the outside loops and work your way in. That being said, you should never be able to pull your bra too far away from your body, like you should be able to slip your hand under your bra right for your band for the support, and then right then
your shoulder straps come second. Right, so it's where people are like, oh, it's digging into my shoulders it's because you're not getting the support that you need around around your around your chest, right around the actual bust, and you're trying to use the shoulder support and that's that's supposed to be secondary. Right. The other thing is is that what's called the gore at the very front if you are wearing an underwire bra, the gore of the bra is the very front of the bra where the
two wires meet right on left and right. That should sit flat against your chest. Right, the uniboob, the double boob, all of that should not happen. I don't care what size you are, right because where women tell me, well, I'm you know, I'm an ie or I'm a jay, I'm an h I know what that means. I still can fit my fist in the middle of my chest when I wear a bra. Right, I had that separation, I have that lift. Your breast should sit really halfway through where your arm is right, should be the peak
of your breast, and that's where they should sit. Now, there are some women who, like I said, different women, different bodies, different breasts, sit a little bit lower, and that happens, right. There's some people who sit a little bit wider, some people who are a little bit closer together. All of those come into play in terms of the types of brands that work for different body shapes or different breast shapes, as you say, right, So it's also being mindful of that as well. Right, we all love
Vicki's because it's cute and sexy. Is it going to give you the proper support? Not really unless you're a smaller cup, right, but if you're anything out there in so long.
And here's the other thing about brod there's so many better brands now, which is exciting, Like, there's so many better brands, And I feel like also the best thing about being a zoom worker now is I really don't have to wear bad right now camera is situated just below.
Working because it feels weird for me to be hanging loose. So I like to wear like like a sports brad like this around the house.
And here's the other thing I'll say too, Lose ten pounds, gain ten pounds, get refitted like no matter what, right, because how you carry your weight will also change.
Well, Kendra, this has been enlightening. I feel like you could write a book just on broads alone. But where can people find you? If they want to work with you, or they want to follow your work or just get to know you and start, you know, exploring their style.
Yeah. Absolutely. You can find me on social media on your Style and then my website is also on your style dot com. And I am actually doing a course over the next April and May on talking about style and what that looks like for individuals, understanding how they understand their colors, their body shape, how to dress for their body shape right, and for their lifestyle.
I love it, all right, Kendra, thank you so so so so much. If you need any models for any future you know, consulting or whatever, let us know. I probably will text you to remind me what my what my shades are bright and warm or whatever it was. But it's been so fun having you on.
All right, thank you, ladies. I appreciate being here. Remember always honor your style, Honor you.
Thank you with the tag wine and Danna love that