Notes on Power Dressing
Aria's Musing on POWER DRESSING as a strategy + Styling for New York Fashion Week
Hello Darlings,
It’s Monday- and true to form for me, has been the belief that Power Dressing- the ultimate boss move, can take you where you need to go. It’s been my secret weapon after all these years- and it’s neglected by most.
I recently requested a contract re-negotiation of my freelance rates. I was booked at a time when work was scarce, so I lowered my rates- as any freelancer does. “Some money is better than no money at all”.
And that’s the thing about discounted labor- the more you discount- the more you’re expected to perform at the high levels you established- for much, much less.
Anywho- I learned a valuable lesson: Because I spent the last few months working from home, I apparently was letting things “slip”.
I went from curling my hair and doing my makeup for the day to sit in back to back meetings in my home office- to slinging my hair in a ponytail and wearing my silk robe for meetings- or my infamous turbans, as I had began to show up to our meetings straight from the shower after my extended strength training and bootcamp gym classes.
“It just feels like you’re not fully present”, the Executive Director lamented in our zoom call. “You’ve been showing up in your pajamas”.
And in my defense, I don’t own any sweatpants or hoodies or jeans or t-shirts- I am far from a “casual” dresser- the reality was they weren’t wrong. I had began to let my guard slip, but my clients- who do in fact pay me, weren’t getting what they paid for.
50% of any job, truly, is showing up.
You can be the brightest and most brilliant in the room- but if you’re not showing up appropriately, all is lost, and that talent is quickly forgotten.
And if you’re a freelancer, like me- you know all too well that you’re not just selling and bartering your services, your expertise, your ideas and strategies.
You, yes YOU, are also the product.
In an oversaturated marketplace, filled with seasoned consultants with entire firms and corporate contracts older than me- and solopreneurs fresh from receiving their pink slips but a rolodex a mile long- I pride myself on having been successful this long, because I dress the part.
Would you take YOU seriously?
Real Estate Agents, (a perfect example) I’ve learned and observed, have this notion baked into their work a great deal- because they are not just selling the home itself.
The truth with any industry, and any product- be it bartered talent or selling dresses on instagram- or the sale of someone’s first home: If it were just about the house, they would drive up to meet you in a 1996 Oldsmobile or Crown Victoria with a donut tire. *shudders in bougie*
But would you trust that agent to curate properties for you with that visual?
No. And you’re a bold face lie if you say otherwise. ;)
You may think being the scrappy activist is serving you- and it just might in that setting and at the Creating Change conference circuit- but is a funder entrusting millions from their family’s trust in hopes that you solve complex social issues impacting hundreds of thousands of people?
You might be an Executive Director of a mission drive cause that is affecting real change and in real time- but you can’t forget that your donors and funding partners are in fact, your share holders. Your community members and constituents are your Board of Directors. You aren’t just addressing disparity darling, you are selling that you and your teams and your projects can help solve a problem. Don’t forget that.
and in many circles, that aesthetic is more commercially appealing.
If you don’t know, I came up in San Francisco’s political scene and dressing up has the opposite effect.
The more I dressed up, the more critiqued publicly and in the press I became.
My peers, in their collegiate hoodies and vintage Levi’s or acid washed cargo pants were seen as more “about the people” than I, and more trusted to save the world. LOL- who knows if that’s true- but that’s the unique nuance about the concept of power dressing- you have to adapt it for the environment you are in.
Consider your environment as you assess how to power dress.
My own saving grace was that I was gifted in my ability to raise money, a surprisingly rare talent in nonprofit spaces. While I could never assuage my biggest critics, I was able to assure dozens of major donors and stakeholders in government and philanthropy that I had the team, the vision, the strategy and the resources to address complex social issues- and that my friends, is how I raised over $25 million for charities. A big component of that?
POWER DRESSING.
All I’m saying is, experts have to look like experts. If you want people to hear your thoughts and be a thought leader- do you actually look like one?
There’s a time and a place for everything. When I used to run drop-in centers or Thanksgiving Dinners at Glide Memorial for folks in deep crisis and homelessness-
I wouldn’t dare wearing my custom evening gowns (though when I did, my case mangement clients appreciated the glamour. That’s the beauty of being trans I daresay, is we appreciate those touches of glamour even when we don’t have two nickels to rub together. I love us).
But it would be inconsiderate of me- when someone is down on their luck, to show up in my Dries Van Noten runway pieces. I wore jeans a tshirt, and that made sense for that environment.
But I will say, when leading a cultural district- that my community members who knew how to access my office came directly to me to help them fight the housing authority on their Section 8 revokation or SSI denial letters and appeal processes- because I looked like I had my wits about them. (Even if my mental health hung by a thin thread).
There’s something to be said about nonverbally communicating that you have your shit together enough to help someone when they’re in need vs. looking like life has ran through you hedges on the back of a go cart.
No one is trusting the latter to help them fight an eviction when the Sheriff’s Department has placed the Unlawful Detainer on the door, I assure you.
And if you’re on the grind, constantly showing up- but not moving things along- consider that while you may be showing up in all the right ways- perhaps “how” you’re showing up (even for zoom meetings!) is impacting your ability to grow.
Whether you’re looking to be promoted or transfer departments- or you’re freelance- or beginning to pursue more front facing opportunities in your sector- consider the reality that how we show up, beyond vanity, informs people of who we are, what we’re trying to achieve, and how far we’d like to go.
In a gig economy universe (as of 2024, over 45% of taxpayers are now 1099 “gig economy” laborers as opposed to 22% in 2020!!!!!!! as the world shifts from salaried with benefits and union protections and moves to freelance, gig economy workforce labor and contract labor- don’t forget YOU are the product!!!!).
And regarding that renegotiation: I decided to take that “L” (loss) and continue showing up- and it was an expensive lesson for me to remember. No matter the job, don’t get too comfortable ya’ll. I knew better, and have historically always shown up as my best self- I don’t know why I let my own rules fall by the wayside. In fact, I argue- showing up in a virtual workplace is 10x harder than in a standard office environment.
I rest my case, your honors.
-Aria
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NEW YORK FASHION WEEK
Fashion Writer + Style Maven Katie Bradshaw ( @thekatiebradshaw ) in archival BAACAL ( @baacalofficial ) for New York Fashion Week 2025.
Curated by Aria Sa’id for BAACAL, for Katie’s appearances at New York Fashion Week for V Magazine
📸 : @lilyjane.photo
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