As opposed to the new breed of edgy, eclectic celebrities who mix, mix and jump from one extreme of fashion to the other often without going anywhere in between, there is a small but select group of people from different disciplines who have created their own uniform without having to wear it. There is no collective agreement or dress code in their respective professions that oblige them to always dress the same, but they do; It is part of your personal brand. And almost all of them have one very important detail in common: they dress well. Some even unintentionally.
The writer Fran Lebowitz is the standard bearer of this aesthetic trend. Her favorite combination is unmistakable: jeans with turned-up hems, a white shirt, a jacket, and brown shoes. But this, although small, is a group made up of a select group of names. From the present and also from the past. Steve Jobs and his jeans and turtleneck sweaters, Carolina Herrera and his white shirts and black skirts, Mark Zuckerberg and his taste for jeans and gray T-shirts, Karl Lagerfeld and his iconic and longed for since his death black suit with frock coat, shirt , tight pants and a thin black tie accompanied by gloves and glasses.
Giorgio Armani and his total looks in black also belong to him, the same concept that chef Ferran Adrià, among others, interprets in his own way. If they had formed a club, it should have as its honorary president Albert Einstein, who patented many things in his life, including (not literally) the tobacco-colored leather coat.
And that's not to mention those celebrities who don't always dress the same, almost always repeat the same formula: the singer Leiva and her skinny-fit+hat combo or Sofía Vergara and her idyll with the sweetheart neckline and mermaid silhouettes are two antagonistic examples of this, both equally illustrative.
A step forward towards a sustainable wardrobe
The truth is that all of us who have ever worn a uniform are aware of its advantages. If you went to school with him, you got bored of hearing the same argument from your parents for fifteen years: "It's the most comfortable thing because that way I don't have to think about what to wear." If you practiced a team sport, it accentuated your feeling of belonging to the group and facilitated communication when it came to talking or identifying rival teams. If, on the other hand, your specialty, the uniform, was an individual sport, you would like to go to training more or less, feed your nostalgia. And if you wore it or wear it at work, you probably don't have a special affection for it, but you are aware that it saves you time, and we already know that time is money.
As journalist Andrea Whittle puts it well in an article for 'WMagazine', “uniform advocates like to tout their effectiveness in preventing decision fatigue, clearing space in your mind for more important considerations. They also remove any doubt as to whether what you are wearing is appropriate for the setting or, in the case of some sports and professions, appropriate for the activity at hand." But can you really dress well by always going the same way, in a uniform?
Rosa Iglesias, a graduate in Advertising and PR, a specialist in image and personal branding, is clear that “it depends on how the concept of uniform in question is interpreted”. For Iglesias, known in networks as El Estilario, "if it is uniform, denominating its own style in terms of resorting to a certain type of clothing or colors that define us, it is positive because it is the path to the capsule wardrobe, for example" . This is a very effective way, he adds, of moving towards a sustainable wardrobe because "it limits the number of purchases and, therefore, lightens the wardrobe"
However, the expert warns that there is a wrong way to interpret the uniform concept. "If we refer to uniform by the use of 'rescue' garments -we don't know what to wear, what favors us, what our style is or what we like (which is why we don't dare to try anything new) and therefore we always resort to to the same set with slight variations that gives us that fictitious security-, then it is not positive because it obstructs access to our own style and does not allow us to enjoy our clothes or our personal image”, he points out.
The power of personal branding
There is no doubt that wearing a personal uniform is an effective formula to enhance a personal brand. It does not seem by chance that this scheme is repeated so much, for example, on television. Who does not recognize, broadly speaking, the standard look of Pablo Motos in 'El hormiguero', of Andreu Buenafuente in 'Leit Motiv' or of Ellen DeGeneres in her show on North American television? “Clothes communicate and the way of dressing is a powerful element of non-verbal communication. Therefore, it is interesting to aspire to have a certain personal stamp through what we wear. That represents us, that brings the mental image we have of ourselves closer to the rest of the people. He is telling us that he knows himself, that he knows who he is and knows how to communicate it", points out Rosa Iglesias, who is in favor of "solidly defining one's own style: who I am, how I see myself, how I want others to see me. And dress to make it arrive, without disguises. If this path is followed, creativity does not end or stay aside. No matter how cohesive or very minimalist our wardrobe is, we can always continue experimenting”, he assures.
Timelessness is one of the keys to why you can dress well through a personal uniform, since this is almost always made up of basics. "It allows us infinite variations," points out Iglesias. However, the expert in personal image qualifies that “it is not the same to always dress following the same line than to always dress the same. And it's not the same to always dress the same by choice than to do it because you don't know what other path to take, what other clothes to choose. The attitude of the person wearing that 'uniform' will tell us if they want to communicate that image of themselves or if they need help to find themselves”. In short, the specialist concludes that "it is more about having an aesthetic line than a single look."
How to create the personal uniform?
In Rosa Iglesias' opinion, the greatest virtue of the personal uniform is when it is used as a “relief outfit”, as she defines it. It is about that infallible combination thought up long ago that remains valid over time and is perfect for moments in a hurry or days when you don't feel like thinking about what to wear. “It is a look in keeping with who we are, with our essence and allows us not to break it even if the situation pressures us in a hurry. [...] We should all have one in the chamber to avoid blunders”, he argues.
Beyond personal tastes and what clothes feel better or worse depending on the person who wears them, there are certain garments that are wild cards. Rosa Iglesias is left with the following look for winter: "In a generic way, it could be pants that are not jeans, with a fine knit sweater, a nice puffer jacket and flat ankle boots." In his opinion, “both you take it for a walk or to work: it always saves you”.
And isn't it too easy to err on the side of boring and nondescript with this hackneyed mix? It depends on how the garments in question are. The key for a uniform to become an outfit with its own style "is that the garments that make it up are special," says Iglesias. "A wardrobe with different cuts, with little, but special and timeless, is the key," he concludes.
