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How to Change Your Personal Style

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Change is hard.

I know.

I try to change things in my life constantly – and more than half the time I fail.

However I keep trying.

Day by day – week by week – month by month – I make progress.

Two steps forward, one step back…… little by little I’ve made big improvements in my life and have refined the way I present myself to the world.

how to change your style

This video is about the psychology of change - specifically applied to improving your style.  I first taped this for the men in my style boot camp – but then I realized this was too important not to share with everyone.  So that’s why it’s here.

You see Style Bloggers show you what to do all the time – but we never talk about the mindset and systems that are necessary to make this change in our life.  So based of my readings of the great books Change Anything: The New Science of Personal Success and Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is HardI created this video about systems I use to make change easier.

FYI – my batting percentage on change has gone up but I still fall here and there.  But you just have to keep getting back up!

Filed Under: A Basic Style Foundation - Read First, All Articles-Podcasts-Videos
 

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About Antonio

Antonio Centeno is President of ATailoredSuit.com and the founder of RealMenRealStyle.com. He has created over 700 articles & videos on men's style, blogs over at the Art of Manliness, and is the author of the internet's best style eBook - A Man's Guide To Timeless Style. Antonio has studied clothing design in London, Hong Kong, and Bangkok. He is a former US Marine with an MBA from UT Austin and a BA from Cornell College. He loves to hear from old friends and make new ones.

  • Johnnydepth

    Thanks Antonio!

    A great foundation article.

    There are some points in this article I can apply to my game for more focussed results right away.

    I had to step up my game several years back after a new job led to a very corporate working environment . .
     
    While away on week long trips it felt great to walk into top hotels for the first time and know that it looked like I belonged. I also was sure to remind myself how awful it would feel to not “look the part” and cause embarrassment to my peers.

    To be able to move seamlessly from a business suit to a smart casual outfit for dinner, after the working day is done, is very empowering and quite simply, feels good

    I decided way back I’d rather glide along like a young Sean Connery than look like a flustered, garishly dressed clown that everyone noticed for all the wrong reasons.

    I already had my skills in place but it was only the change in my working environment that gave me the chance to really apply my stuff. It’s a useful skill to be able to mix it all the way from from the boardroom to the ghetto.

    Thanks again!

  • http://twitter.com/ATailoredSuit Antonio Centeno

    Johnnydepth – you are welcome and thank you for the great comment.  I think you nailed it when you said you would rather overdress and be mistaken for Sean Connery than be an under dressed and appear like a clown.

  • Johnnydepth

    Cheers Antonio!

    Just to put a name to the ”email suggested nickname”, this is Philip from England…

    This video is “a miss it, miss out” type of affair – essential to “getting it” if you will. It’s up to your future members to make sure they digest this message.

    I had a look around and I think your future membership site is going to be really something. It’s an adventure I want to be involved in and I’ll be sure to supply my input and feedback, once it gets up and running.

    All the best for your new venture – it’s going to be fun!

  • Adamgbeck

    This is a great website.  I love the approach. 
    I am having trouble hearing the audio on the video clips though.  It’s very low even when set to max volume.
    I look forward to reading more of the website in the future,
    Thanks

  • http://www.writerviews.com Michael Alexis

    Easy to see the interest in Ramit’s interview when you are writing about the psychology of change. Style is an area where I need help improving – so have bookmarked and will be back.

    re: A Tailored Suit: a friend of mine runs getmadeclothing.com – I’d be happy to put you in touch – never know where there may be synergies.

    –
    Michael

  • http://twitter.com/ATailoredSuit Antonio Centeno

    Thanks Michael – I’ll check out the website and will definitely continue to read your posts at http://www.writerviews.com/

    R/S

    Antonio

  • Patrick

    I recently started to change my wardrobe, for me it was
    an unusual process.

     

    I always enjoyed dressing in formal clothes for a nice
    dinner, for me that was part of the whole experience. At work being
    well-dressed was something that didn’t happen, jeans and t-shirt or sweater was
    the norm, clean ones if you were being posh (I work in IT).

     

    I’m active in Second Life, a virtual world. There I found
    myself wearing suits more and more often. 
    Then I saw the “Shameless” ad campaign from suit supply. And I thought: “To
    hell with them all, I’m going to wear what I like, it’s not like they will
    think me weirder then they already do”.

     

    I used to wear pants that were somewhere between jeans
    and dress pants. And standard dress shirts. I bought 5 dress pants, 10 new dress
    shirts, and a grey suit jacket to match 2 pants, dusted of the black suit
    jacket that matched 2 other pants. Then went through my closet, got rid of half
    the content.

     

    After 3 weeks my coworkers were kind of used to me in
    dress pants and dress shirt, and the jokes about funerals and job interviews
    stopped. Next month or so, when it gets colder I get to shock them with the
    suit jackets. That will be the hard part. But so far it feels great

  • Keith

    Let me start off by saying that I am fashionably inept. So I am from Texas and boots do not have zippers, I want to get something other than cowboy boots but most of the boots I find have zippers. I am not adverse to a boot with a zipper just curious as to the 411, are there certain no no’s I should be aware of when buying boots with zippers? 

  • http://www.dountil.com Jeff

    Nice video.  The audio is a little soft.  If you can upload it again with different settings, I’d try that.  If not, the audio isn’t bad enough merit recording it over again.

    Getting in shape will make a world of difference in helping you care about the way you look.  This last  year, I’ve lost 90 lbs, gained back 30 and working my way down again.  This experience has taught me many things, but I’ll just list a few here.

    1- Loosing weight feels great.  It’s not easy, but it is totally worth it.  When I was almost to my goal weight I remember shopping for normal sized clothes and really enjoying it.
    2- Once you’ve got forward momentum do everything you can to keep it.  Like said I lost 90 and gained 30.  Over all, I’m still far ahead from where I was a year ago, but it’s really frustrating to thing that I screwed up. I gained weight because life got really crazy for 3 or 4 months.  If I would have monitored my weight gain like I had planned, I would have gained 10 lbs and then got back on track.  Instead I gained 30…  Weigh yourself everyday so you know what your body is telling you!
    3- Get active.  Exercise will make a huge difference in how you look and feel.  To make if fun try some kind of race.  Races have great atmospher and are a lot of fun.  They also give you something to focus on.  Kind of a dead line that you have to meet.  This really helps on days where you’re not really in the mood.  Also don’t worry about coming in last.  If you finish you beat all of the people that didn’t even try

  • geoffrey.cubbage

    Not really, Kieth. Everyone’s personal style is going to work a little differently, and you obviously don’t want anything huge and chunky and distracting, but there’s no rules against boots with zippers. They are more casual than a slip-on or lace-up style would be, however.

  • geoffrey.cubbage

    People get used to change fast — and then you’re impressing them with your sharp dress every day!

  • geoffrey.cubbage

    We’ve gotten a couple of those comments now — we’ll be careful to get subsequent videos louder. Thanks for letting us know!

  • geoffrey.cubbage

    A couple people pointed out the sound problem to us — too late on this one, unfortunately, but we’re being careful in our newer videos! Thanks for the comment and the advice.

  • TallSean

    Hmm…
    Please check videos thoroughly before uploading. This one has been flipped; it’s not a big issue, but please, it’s all in the attention to details.

  • AntonioCenteno

    @TallSean The video hasn’t been flipped Sean – watch a few other of my vids and you’ll see. But I know the details you’re referring to and yes I do like to change things up in my designs.