Feng Shui…you’ve probably heard of Feng Shui before but have you ever heard of it referring to your self-image or fashion? I hadn’t until I met certified image consultant Annette Bond, one of the only Feng Shui image experts in the U.S. and you’ll love our conversation about honoring who you are from the inside out and being intentional about how you dress and show up! Try on the best version of you…welcome Annette Bond.
So before we dive into our topic, which is really an exciting one of releasing your inner radiance with fashion feng shui, will you briefly tell our audience a little bit about yourself?
● Absolutely. I'm Annette Bond, and I'm from Seattle, Washington. And I have truly been working with women my entire career, and I love women. I started off in the fashion industry and knew that I had that love for style. My background is in marketing and communications and how that kind of transpired is what I found is that women, yes, they're interested in style and fashion that more than anything was, how do they communicate? And how do they show up confidently? And so that really led into my career in style as an image consultant. And it's now been about 25 years that I've been helping women with their definitive style, helping them with color, helping them with their personal brand and showing up as their best self.
I love that. What exactly is a professional image consultant and why do people hire you?
● Okay, you know, I'm gonna start off with why do people hire me? And usually it begins with it's, it's a woman who is questioning her style, her fashion sense. She's wondering, do I look the part, she's not confident in putting together an outfit. And she's really just filling off, if you will. And she knows deep down that she really wants to show up more authentically. And she's not sure how to do that with her clothing. And so I like to say, that's kind of the reason they hire me. But what it is, what I do is, I work with those smart, professional, successful, amazing women, and make sure that they are seen in the way of how they are feeling about themselves. And I like to say I help them align their personal style from the inside out, helping them to align with their brand, helping them to continue to stand in their excellence, and really creating that personal style, helping them to reveal their radiance. And so they just feel like there's a completeness about them, if you will.
Beautiful. And I know one of your sayings that I saw on your website was “clothing doesn't make you, it reveals you.” I just love that.
● Yeah, you know, so many times I think women think clothing is important, or it's not important, but there really is that “nonverbalness”, if you will, that lets us know who they are. So whether it's with their style, or I know Dar you always you love the beautiful blues. I mean, it really shows me a little bit of who you are, by what you wear. So I love that I'm always like, underlying, like, Who is that woman? And you know, what is that outer appearance revealing about her?
Well, you were right on with the blues. Yeah, I know. Can you give us an example then of some of the personal style principles that you might work with?
● Yeah, so one of them that I stand really is truly a foundation and that is I believe that style begins with the woman and not the clothes. And you know, what I will see many times and even in my industry is women begin focusing on their closets, on their shopping and yes, that's important. Or they focus on you know, my stylish girlfriend says I should wear this, or the trends that are going on. And yes, those are fun. And yes, they can, you know, we definitely want to use them. But when you focus on you, as a woman, you will always be honoring who you are. And you will always feel comfortable in your clothing. And many people don't understand, like, how do I start doing that? You know, it is beginning to understand who you are. And then one of my other principles, as you kind of mentioned earlier, was “clothes don't make you, they reveal you.” And being is understanding that is giving yourself permission, to honor who you are, and to shine and to shine your light.
Beautiful to honor who you are and to shine your light. And then the authenticity and the confidence comes with that.
● Isn't that so true? And you and I talked about that in our first conversation about that whole honoring and aligning. And when you do that, you just are naturally shining your light?
Definitely. I know that you're a certified feng shui facilitator. And many of us know about some of those principles. But what exactly is that when it comes to fashion?
● Yeah, fashion feng shui… I always love to give this little backstory, because I've been in my industry, like I said, for 25 years. And it came across my desk with some additional training through the “International Association of Image Consultants.” And I thought, what is this? And so as I kind of started investigating it myself, there is a book called “Fashion Feng Shui”. And as I read it, I went, Oh, my gosh, this has been something I've known intuitively, that this is part of dressing, but there is somebody out there who has really if you will create a roadmap for it, and what it is, it's about. And I know you're hearing me repeat this a lot, but it's about honoring you. So, it first starts with consciously honoring the essence of who you are as a person. And when you honor that essence of who you are as a person, you will always feel at home in your clothing. And then the second piece is about defining your attention. Intention is being very intentional about your choices when you're shopping, and being intentional about how you show up so that you are attracting your desires, your goals. And then the third part is honoring your natural appearance. And many women make the mistake of only doing this one piece. And what I mean by that is honoring your natural appearance. It's honoring your body type. It's honoring your inherent coloring. And when you begin to do this, there's this beautiful harmony that goes on, because people are looking at you as really a whole person. They're looking at you and going wow, you look amazing. And they almost don't know what it is. As I said, many women make a mistake and I hate why I say this, I hear it a lot. They go shopping, and they go “oh, I bought it because it fits.” And that was their only reason versus the other pieces of that of who you are. And is it intentional? And is it really honoring you as a person? So, it's just building a wardrobe that aligns with you as a woman.
I love how you made it so clear that it really has all those parts and you really need to have all those parts come together. So to continue on that topic, what does it mean then to have a wardrobe that supports you that honors who you are and is intentional. Can you lead our listeners to maybe a quick way to check that?
● Yeah, so for the first kind of those pieces that I talked about earlier, the three of honoring your essence, your intention, your natural, your body type, you know what I'm going to touch on this really quickly because I hear this so much. And if I can help somebody who's listening here, I hear this and it almost kind of breaks my heart. Women will tell me, “I can't find things to fit, because something's wrong with my body”. And it's like, nothing is wrong with your body. And because we tend to think because Suzy can wear that piece of clothing that they should be able to wear that piece of clothing. And the truth is that your body types are different. And so when I say honoring, I really mean honoring, not every designer, every manufacturer is meant for all five body types. So I just wanted to kind of put that in there. Because I think that can also be a way of supporting you with your confidence is to stop looking at other body types! Stop looking at what doesn't fit and say, Okay, this is my body type, and how can I find something that fits, but kind of in a bigger way when I talk about a wardrobe that supports you. This is something I hear a lot also, some of the listeners may be thinking this is you going into your closet, and you think, Okay, I have this speaking engagement that I'm going to be doing. And you're thinking, what am I going to wear? What am I going to wear, you're going, maybe you're going on a trip, and you're just like you pack all this stuff, because you don't know how to put together a traveling wardrobe. And so when I need a wardrobe that supports you, it goes back to those pieces of being very intentional. Do you have those clothing pieces in your closet? That are there and ready? When you do have that speaking engagement? Do you have those pieces when you're gonna travel, that you can just put in your suitcase in a moment's notice? Or at least, you know, put them together within you know, several minutes and put them in your suitcase? Or maybe you want people to see how creative you are? Do you have those pieces that you know, highlight that piece of you. And so, so many times when we go shopping, we try on clothes, and again, I'm gonna go back to that, oh, it fits, I think I'll get it. And then you end up with all these pieces hanging in your closet. And you're thinking, I don't even wear that. Like, why did I buy that? And so going back to that intention of when you purchase the item is how is it going to support you? Why are you buying this? And so I actually end up saving my clients a lot of money. I'm like, you know why you already have so many pieces that are kind of in that category, if you will, like, Okay, we don't need any more jackets for your speaking engagement or whatever that might be how you ended up showing up is really realizing kind of the missing links that you don't have to support you in your wardrobe. So it's realizing what you need, but it's also realizing what you don't have so that it can support you.
Let's call it wonderful food for thought because the missing links in a wardrobe. What a great key.
● You Yeah, um, you know, it's even taking the time to sit back and read and be conscious of what is missing. You know, when you go to put on that great pair of jeans and you go, I never have the right shoes, put it on a shopping list. Or you're going to work going into the summer months. You know you're going to a backyard barbecue and saying do I have that great dress or do I have that great pair of sandals to go with that outfit and if you don't put it on a shopping list so that you're always you know, it is it's about that confidence to go to your wardrobe. Oh, and have those pieces support you, but more than anything reveal you, and to make you feel confident as you're talking about the wardrobe that reveals you or even communicates you had mentioned, maybe you want to show people how creative you are?
Well, what if you want to attract perhaps clients in the professional or entrepreneurs space? Can a wardrobe do that?
● Absolutely. Do you know when I talked earlier about attracting what you want in your business? I love this, I'm going to give this example: this was a client of mine. And when I begin working with my clients, you know, we're doing a lot. I call it the first stage one is the power of you and really understanding who that woman is. And I'll never forget this client at the end of our work, or at the end of our, I think our conversation to begin that work together. I said, “What is it you really want to accomplish at the end of our work together?”, and she said, “I want to go to my closet, and feel like I'm an artist, and be able to create these amazing outfits”. And it was, so I am listening to all of that. And I and so as we started working together, and this whole creativity piece started coming out of who she was, number one, that's what she had shared with me at the very beginning. And then she started sharing with me where she was working…she says “my team always tells me, I'm the creative one”. And she never truly, really identified with that until we started working with her wardrobe. And so as we started as I started illuminating these words, and these things that she was saying about herself, it was giving her permission to show up as that creative artist and what that might look like and it was really exciting. I mean, it was almost like this, “oh my gosh, I can start being the real me”. But she didn't even know that she wasn't doing it or that it was part of her. And who knew that discovering your definitive style had anything to do with showing up as that creative individual. The team at work was pretty powerful. It was a cool experience.
That does sound powerful and it's so in line with what you talked about it, it was her authenticity, it improved her confidence and stepped into being that creative person who gave herself permission. That is so fun. Do you have… here I'm gonna put you on the spot. Do you have another client example of perhaps a different feeling that the client wanted?
● Yeah, absolutely. And you know, this process is that everybody's process is unique. There is not a personal style that is cookie cutter whatsoever. Um, well, I have a woman who is an amazing woman, and she came to me and she said, “I really want to start attracting a higher end client” and she knew kind of again, I say this consciously that she wasn't showing up as her best self you know, I always do a little exercise where I have them send me pictures of themselves in two of their favorite outfits. And so Barbara sent me pictures and she was one who wore a black jacket, a black pair of pants, an ivory shell and pearls. And if you were to see a picture of her, you would say you know what? “She looks good”. She did look good, but in some If she knew that something was missing, and one of her words was the word effervescent. And so what came out of that, and I have pictures of her, you know, in some of my testimonials, and I believe I have something on my website is we ended up, one of her signature colors that came out of this was a honey gold, and a lot of yellows that came out and she did pair them with some of the black, but she just lit up, she says, “I want that, that energy, I want to feel fabulous, I want that feeling. And I want to start attracting that person.” I mean, I even get that energy inside me when I start talking about it. I mean, we truly went from her black suit to the honey gold of the effervescent. And she was revealing her radiance, like none other it was, it was so beautiful. So that's what makes me light up. When I start seeing ladies just truly step into that light of who they really are.
I'm sure our listeners could hear you light up as you were using that example, because I sure could. So that kind of undermines my next question a little bit because my next question was, so is image really that important?
● Is it really, you know, this is I think it's kind of twofold is people and I'm gonna give, I'm gonna go back from a couple years ago, when people were thinking my image doesn't matter. We're in COVID, I can wear my PJs. And I kind of laugh about it. And I say, you know, it was like a snow day, like they gave themselves permission. Again, my image doesn't matter. I mean, the world says it doesn't matter. And this is what started happening. After about six months of hearing women, it started affecting their self-image, it started affecting how they were thinking about themselves, whether it was frumpy, whether I'm just feeling just, I just not, I'm not feeling good about myself, and theirs. And it started reflecting on how they were showing up. And they went to that place where I want to feel like a million bucks. And so that when they start getting that I want to feel we all kind of know, it starts with that desire feeling. And then you know, it transforms our thoughts. And then it transforms to our actions. So I kind of even go back to that self-image and how we talk about how we feel, whether that is frumpy or whether that is I want to feel like a million bucks, and we start acting like that. So you can decide if you feel like, you know, image matters. It really, you know, when you start looking at it in that perspective, it really does.
I resonate with that perspective. I was one of those that dressed every day, and started every morning with a routine of shining my light and balancing my chakras and all those things that I teach as a transformational life coach. I wore that... I did that... I stepped into that every day. So image was very important to me. And my image started with me, as you've been talking about.
● Yes, absolutely.
So I talked a little bit about my superpower, I guess when I just revealed that, but what would you consider your superpower?
● I like to say that my superpower is helping women to illuminate their inner beauty through their personal style. And as we do that, she is revealing her radiance. And as I gave through those examples, it's because so many women don't honor, maybe aren't paying attention about that true beauty within And then they say that it can be the creativeness. Like you just said, it could be somebody who is that amazing, supportive kind of woman, it could be that woman who is powerful. And she knows she's powerful, but she's not giving herself permission to dress powerfully. So it doesn't matter what that inner beauty is. But it's allowing yourself to illuminate that. And I, and I really believe I give permission, women permission to illuminate that inner beauty. And I call that my superpower. I believe it.
No doubt that over the years, you've helped many people, illuminate their inner beauty and their inner radiance and find out how to shine their light. And you've mentioned several times give permission.
● You know, I have to even say Dar. Yes, I do. And I use that word myself. Because how many times just in life, whether it's personal, whether it's business that we get so caught up in, you know, what others are gonna think? Or in my, in my being, you know, too big? Or am I too loud? Am I too powerful? Am I too much, and we're not giving ourselves permission to risk that a little bit. And that has been a word of mine over this last year in a really big way. So I'm sure if I'm feeling it, many women who are listening are also feeling it.
Absolutely. And I'm sure many of our listeners would like to learn more about this, how to release their inner radiance with fashion. And so how can they connect with you or what could be some of their next steps?
● Yes, I would love to give them a next step. And I want to invite them to my website to download “Get Style Confident Now”. And it is a guide that really helps you to take those first steps on honoring who you are from the inside out. And they can visit annettebond.com/style confidence. And that is a free download. And I know that they will love it. And I take them through a couple of different exercises to really start that process.
That's a beautiful gift and a way to start. Thank you so much for that. And we'll have that information on the show notes page for all our listeners. So if you didn't get it written down or you don't want to write it down on a replay, you can look on the show notes page and it'll be there. So before we conclude, is there anything else that you'd like to accentuate something that is just coming to you that needs to be said?
● I want to just invite the listeners to try on the best version of them because as they do that, I really believe that their confidence will begin shining brighter, and as they shine brighter, they will definitely be revealing their radiance. Beautiful.
Thank you so much Annette for our time here together.
● I loved it. Thank you, Dar. You are welcome. I just loved it.
Transcribed by https://otter.a