10 steps ahead of everyone else

Did you ever think about the fact that you are being judged by everyone you meet? This is what happens in the first 5 seconds.

Oh a dark shirt today instead of a white one? Ripped jeans? That fresh manicure you love so much? In that particular shade? We’re all judgy. We are. But this…

This is business. 

How does that translate, you’ll ask? Well instead of swimming against the water flow, you are now surfing on the wave. Or I hope you will, by the end of this article. 

People will judge you for dressing a certain way, and honestly, I took my time to do this little experiment with our brand which now carries both timeless elegance and streetwear swag. Because it’s in the brand DNA. Some people love our oversized Baloon sweats and Universal tshirts, others will swear by our white cotton shirt and (now) pencil skirt as an everyday uniform, or hourglass skirts to mention a few items. All the ones wearing the new silk pijamas are on a yacht, in Miami. Wishing you all the best breeze! 

But you going out, dressed, ready to conquer things, should be in the later category. The first one? Reserved for leisure, offline and out of the office moments. Runnin’ errands or chasing toddlers kind of days. Because dressing up nicely, will get you 10 steps ahead of everyone else. It will open doors, ignite smiles and yesss, yesss, also some sushes at time, but it will somehow get you FLOATING through your day rather than working through it. Running, the the tranches, you know. 

Sweats? You will sweat. 
All dapper? Doors will open.

And I’m still wondering why people don’t use this - as shallow and superficial as it wants to be seen by the masses, on a daily basis. Find your style, get deep into who you are, where you are going and dress for it. Just do it. It’s empowering. I promise. 

A few days before fashion week Domnica invited me to her new format (click here) where I talked a little bit about how I felt when I moved in Bucharest, two years ago, style wise. 

 

And beyond wardrobe essentials, this was by far the most interesting experiment. Because in bigger cities, yes I said it, people have less give-a-fucks. They are who they are, and want and feel the natural need to express this through style. And style is now only a shirt, fancy shoes, heels or a bag, a dress, a dapper hairstyle. Style is who you are, what you do day by day. Where you go, who you meet. It’s how you float. Or surf.

A few weeks passed, when I caught myself having this really interesting conversation at a wedding, with my friend, asking me about how do I find this: “dressing in Cluj to be so different from Bucharest” and I said without a doubt, well it’s more laid-back. 

It’s just laid-back for some reason… No events. Or too little. Events and meetings and chances of kinda get dressed up, which was something that I felt… it lacked. Personally, maybe because I got to spend so much time with my kids so much time inside the house, maybe on zoom calls. But same time I was in a this time of my life… building operational for RF, staying at home with Rock, and just enjoy enjoying Cluj life. 

Once I moved to Bucharest something happened: something amazing happened because I had to kind of cut down one quarter of my wardrobe and only bring the essentials. I was literally out of my comfort zone. Coming in with Perla as a newborn and Rock, not moving into my actual home etc, you know the story if you’ve been online with us… Do you wanna know which the essentials were? 

• A white shirt
• An oversized bomber
• A couple of tshirts
• My vintage moto leather jacket offf course
• The Leather trousers I love
• Palm Angels and Mankind Denim. The Attico.
• Combat boots. Magda Butrym mesh pumps.
• My JW Anderson flats.
• Rib cotton basics.
• Sheer dark hosiery and all my sunglasses.
• A RETRO FUTURE blazer.
• I could not give them up. 

And so I found myself again. I felt so free to experiment, especially with the fact that living in the middle of the buzz, everyone dresses up. Hear me out! Not for events, of course, I’m talking about 70-something-women in the street that could teach us a thing or two regarding style, pearls and the joy of living life. A skateboarder who just happens to surf the concrete with the speed of light while you are having your coffee at Meron on Elisabeta street. Swoooosh. And then a dapper man in a suit just minding his own business, checking his wristband watch, while holding the phone carelessly in between his strong shoulders and his cheek. Everybody’s busy living their best life. And also: not minding you.

“It’s called power dressing for a reason”

And then there’s just something amazing about putting a well-tailored blazer on. It’s called ‘power dressing’ for a reason. It kinda gets you ready for the day, the same way gettin out of the gym can make you feel like you can conquer the whole world just because of that fresh energy rush and dopamine you have rushing to your body. That’s good! That thing, you can use. 

Don’t get me wrong, I love a good sporty sweat day, when I’m chasing my dreams. But sometimes your dreams are all sitting pretty, waiting for you to step in the character. Ain’t it right? 

So then I’m asking again: Did you ever think about the fact that you are being judged, in the very first 5 seconds by everyone you meet? Good. Because you can surf baby. You just need to get in the water. 

Love, A.