How To Dress Well And For Success

Do you ever feel like you don’t have enough time or any clue on how to dress for an interview? A lot of people do, this post will tell you how to dress well and for success. Knowing what to go to in your closet or shop for puts you at ease. When you are preparing to speak in front of thousands or for your first interview ever, knowing what to wear can impact the whole event or process.

Dress For The Job You Want

People say never judge a book by it’s cover, but people do especially when they don’t know you. It’s a survival tactic, and especially if they are screening hundreds of candidates it’s good to have your A game ready. There is this insane article on Forbes called “You Are Judged by Your Appearance”. So start by evaluating the situation you are going to need an outfit for. Lets use an interview at a Law Firm as an example. For this you would want to go with professional and classic. Find some grey or black well fitting dress pants or a mid length pencil skirt and pair it with a neutral colored blouse, no crazy patterns.  A classic Jackie O type dress with or without a blazer is always a sophisticated and feminine choice. Either of these outfits would pair well with light jewelry such as simple studs and dainty necklace with a pair of neutral colored comfortable 2-3” heels or flats.

You Do Not Want To Overdress

Overdressing qualifies as wearing too many layers, looking like you’re going to a ball, or just looking out of place. The only time you should wear busy clothing or leather pants and a fur coat is if you are applying for a job in the Fashion industry and even then you want your clothes to be sophisticated and stylish (because HR usually does the recruitment). Don’t be afraid to show your fashion sense and show that your style will mesh well and embody the company. So do your research if you are applying for a fashion or design company. Skinny jeans and a silk blouse with some killer heels or boots would be my go to. Look for clothing guides Style Caster has some awesome ones. 

Dressing Well And For Success Is Easy

You need to define your style. Something that makes you feel strong, confident, comfy and sophisticated. You want to be that women you see on the street and you say “I love her style, she looks like she knows what she is doing”. Having confidence is the first key. Find colors that suit you and bring out a characteristic whether it be blue for your hair or olive for your eyes. Hillary Rushford has an awesome style blog if you need inspo.

Dress for Success

We are currently partnered with Dress for Success. A non profit organization devoted to getting women jobs, coaching them and dressing them for the jobs. We love what they do and so we decided to help.  Sandy photographs the women that go through their program for professional portraits, so they can use the photos on linked in and just feel empowered with. If you need any help with coaching for jobs or wardrobes for interviews we highly recommend seeing your dress for success location, they also have awesome brand name clothes for deals at their stores.

If you are ready to produce a image that shows your best self and conveys your authentic brand.

Book a Call with Los Angeles Professional Brand Photographer Sandy Grigsby.

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Ageless Beauty: Sandy Grigsby

Ageless Beauty: Regardless of any Women’s Age

Unfortunately, we have not yet found the fountain of youth, but here are some easy tips for ageless beauty. Being part of an empowerment photography company that specializes in real women of all ages and not models, lets us learn some awesome tips along the way. Sandy Grigsby the owner of Brio Five is ageless as well and she keeps us all up to date with all her beauty tips.

First and most important tip, is staying out of the sun. Sun damage is the quickest way to age and not gracefully. “A study published by the American Society for Photobiology found that Americans acquire only 23 percent of their sun damage by age 18 and get about 10 percent more every decade after that.”

I used to be a frequent tanner using tanning oil whenever it was near. Working at Brio Five changed that, I now wear a hat every time I am in direct sunlight now. I also use a broad spectrum sunscreen with SPF 40 that contains zinc. Sunscreens with zinc reflect light as opposed to chemical sunscreens that can just absorb light. If you can’t survive without a tan like me, find some great substitutes for sun-kissed skin. All year I use a firming gradual tan moisturizer for my body, tanning moisturizer for my face, and a bronzer in the summer. With this, you can look sun-kissed all year long and resist sun damage for the long run.

Ageless Beauty: Jan Moorad

Life and The Style you Live

You have probably heard this one before but water, eight hours of sleep, a healthy lifestyle, and diet really do help.  Before a photography shoot, we tell our clients to drink more than half their body weight in ounces of water every day for the week of the shoot, so their skin looks plump and hydrated. We also tell them to avoid salt and alcohol because it can make them puffy and their skin dull. This does not mean having a strict crazy diet but just watching what you eat more and including healthy veggies and fruits more often

Exercising regularly and sweating out the toxins from the day can really benefit your skin. Audrey Kunin, a Dermatologist says “Working up a good sweat is the equivalent of getting a mini-facial, she says. When the pores dilate, sweat expels trapped dirt and oil. Just be sure to wash your face afterward so the gunk doesn’t get sucked back into the pores.” Hot yoga once a week can really not only help your pores but destress and stretch your whole body out. Writing this is making me want to go to a class ASAP.

Treatments and Care for Life

Everyone’s skin is different but thankfully this year there are so many different treatments to prevent and reverse some aging. Retinol, lipids, antioxidants, AHAs (Alpha Hydroxy Acids), glycolic acids, peptides, there is just so much on the market now. For this part, I would recommend talking to your dermatologist to find which one works best for you. When you are getting a facial ask your skin care expert what are the best products to benefit your skin and skin goals. A tailored skin care regime is definitely an addition to keeping your beauty ageless. Treat your skin like it’s the only skin you will ever have and pamper it. Indulge in face masks, creams, serums, and a spa day every here and there. If you can;t afford the day spa do one at home there are now so many DIYS for face masks and mini at-home spa days. This will not only improve your skin but will keep you de-stressed. We are not opposed to syringes of fillers, but make sure you choose the right doctor that will maintain your skin for life. Just remember you are gorgeous at any age you are, wrinkles and all. Here we practice inner beauty being the most important part of being beautiful because it really shows on the outside.

If you want to see some of our photography of beautiful women of all ages visit our Empowerment Photography page.

Do you want to produce an image that shows your best self and conveys your inner beauty?

Book a Call with Empowerment Photographer Sandy Grigsby.

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How to Prepare for a Portrait Photo Session: From the Experts

Preparing for your first photo shoot with a portrait photographer or even for the 100th branding photo shoot can be stressful, knowing these tips can put you at ease, so you can be prepared to look your best. A simple relaxing regime that includes a healthy breakfast, bath, or facial can help you de-stress and prepare. Read this blog post on How to Prepare for a Portrait Photo Session and use the tips included in here to add your own regime, and just watch how beautiful your portraits come out!

Sleep Well and Pamper Yourself

Before the big day make sure you are well rested 2 days before, so 8 hours or more each day with no interruptions. The most important night’s rest is actually two nights before the shoot, not the night before. Prepare your skin and relax with a facial scrub and mask, add a hair mask for silky smooth hair. Do whatever makes you look and feel your best 1-2 days before the shoot. A good professional photographer will make you feel at ease and beautiful during the shoot so stop stressing and enjoy the fun experience of being in front of the camera!

Wardrobe Selection for Women

Clothing is the next step to preparing for a portrait shoot. Usually portraits are from the waist up so pick out blouses and buttons up that are flattering and are your perfect size. Women should wear fitted blouses or dresses that flatter their figure. No tube tops or big butterfly dolman sleeve blouses, those are very un-flattering in portraits. Prints should be avoided we want to focus on your face not the zig zags on your shirt. Pick colors that best suit your skin tone and eyes such as blue, navy, burgundy, and greys seem to look good on everyone. Do not wear bright colors that could potentially wash you out or may appear too bright on a camera. We suggest elegant simple earrings or necklaces, no heavy layering of jewelry. If you are confused on what clothes to wear send us an email, we do a wardrobe consultation with every shoot. To view some waredrobe selections view our women’s portraits.

Wardrobe Selection for Men

Men should bring button up shirts they would wear on a date. For a more rugged and stylish look bring a leather jacket. More simple casual looks could include some nice tee shirts and blazers. Outfits for professional portraits should include what you would wear to a meeting such as a button up and nice suit coat. For wardrobe inspiration men should look at GQ. Accessories for men are pocket squares, ties, watches, and cuff links.

Makeup

Our makeup artists are magazine published professionals who will make you look your best. Generally, men do not need a makeup artist, as our team hides blemishes and lightly powders to make you look like a movie star. For women makeup artists are highly recommended as makeup for camera is different from your everyday makeup.

Lighting can wash makeup out and make you appear like you have little to no makeup on. So an artist who knows how to make makeup look natural and still show up on camera is important. We have expert makeup artists that will make you look natural and stunning at the same time. If you do not want a makeup artist and you feel comfortable at doing your own makeup. Please watch some tutorials on YouTube for camera ready makeup such as this one Natural Makeup for Photoshoot. Make sure your makeup looks natural and is not too heavy on the eyes or lips.

Hair

Most makeup artists can style your hair for you at the shoot. We suggest getting your hair freshly colored and cut a few days before the shoot to hide grays and trim split ends. Dry brittle, split hair can show up in photos and are not fun for photographers to retouch out. Make sure your hair is healthy and colored well, although roots can be corrected in post it never looks as good as having them done by a professional stylist. Men should style their hair in a way that flatters them best and makes them feel comfortable, if they need help our team can assist them.

Retouching Naturally

We specialize in natural and fresh retouching. This means we remove blemishes, shadows, stray hairs, wrinkles or strange folds in clothing, hair smoothing, background distractions and things the camera may pick up that the human eye can’t see. Each of our photography packages include retouching of your portraits. If you want special custom retouching such as slimming and trimming please let us know as we can do anything.

Forget something? No worries we have a steamer, mirrors, makeup, hair styling tools, clothing pins, refreshments, puppies to make you smile while providing a great atmosphere. At Brio Five we will not only make you feel your best, but you will look fantastic. Book a portrait shoot with us by scheduling a call with branding portrait photographer Sandy.

Are you interested in producing an image that shows your best self and conveys your authentic brand?

Book a Session today with Professional Brand Photographer Sandy Grigsby.

The post How to Prepare for a Portrait Photo Session appeared first on Briofive - Self-Image & Personal Branding Photography.