Tips and Examples to Help You Dress for Success

Fashion feng shui will help you identify your personal style, streamline your wardrobe and dress to feel confident and authentic, so you can make the best impression with prospective clients and contacts.

For thousands of years, people have used feng shui, the ancient Chinese art of placement, to bring beauty, balance and the positive flow of energy to their home and work spaces. More recently, people have been incorporating feng shui principles and techniques into their personal fashion. When we consider the fact that every time we enter a room, we alter the environment with our presence and change the very energy of the space, it is worth thinking about how feng shui can help us enhance our presence and control the impact we make. Here are 6 tips and 5 examples guided by feng shui that will help you identify your personal style, streamline your wardrobe and dress to feel confident and authentic, so you can make the best impression with prospective clients and contacts.

Tip#1: Identify the elements and energies in fashion.

The feng shui concept of the Five Elements (water, wood, fire, earth and metal) teaches that everything in the universe, every color, shape and substance, is made up of one of five elements or combinations of them. These five elements represent distinct energy forces that can influence a person’s life. A feng shui approach to fashion involves identifying the specific elements and energies contained in the colors, shapes, fabrics and patterns of dress. The next time you go to choose something to wear from your wardrobe, notice how items of clothing that look different also seem to impart different energies.

Tip #2: Learn to dress the “whole you.”

Like everything in the universe, you, too, have a dominant element and energy. Therefore you should choose fashions that honor your essence or authentic self. Of course, when you dress for a business meeting, a networking event or a social occasion, you are dressing with specific goals or intentions in mind, like getting a desired job or fitting into a particular workplace culture. Finally, you also want to select clothes that compliment your individual physical traits. Dressing for these three aspects can help you best express what in feng shui terms may be called the “whole you”, that is, your spirit (essence), mind (intentions) and body (appearance).

Tip #3: Evaluate your essence.

Cultural forces—jobs, family, friends, conditioned beliefs—are constantly working on us, influencing how we think and act. Sometimes it’s difficult to uncover our authentic self, but the results can be rewarding. Feng shui techniques allow you to find the right elements that speak to your individual essence and make your beauty shine from the inside out. For example, do you have an outfit that you love to wear, not only because you look good in it, but because it makes you feel, well, more like yourself? When you dress with your essence in mind, people are drawn to the expression of your authentic self.

Tip #4: Identify your intentions.

This seems like it would be easy task for a business person. You’ve thought long and hard about your business goals, and you may be well on your way to achieving them. But perhaps your goals could use support from a new direction. Case in point: One business woman I recently worked with approached me with the intention of having a fashion makeover that would help her increase her productivity at work. But after our consultation, she realized that she was already a workaholic; what she really needed in her life was more fun. Identifying her true intention, we incorporated a “fire” element into her personalized style that gave her the “fun” energy she needed to sustain her through the work-week.

Tip #5: Enhance your appearance.

Feng shui teaches that the careful arrangement of elements within a surrounding environment can produce positive energy, or chi. In landscape design, this means orienting buildings in an auspicious manner. In fashion it means analyzing one’s physical appearance and enhancing it with complimentary clothing design elements. When creating a balanced outfit, the color of your hair and eyes as well as your complexion should be taken into account, and special attention should be paid to the shape of your body. For example, rounded cheeks and full lips are earth energy, a rectangular body shape is wood energy and an hourglass shape is metal energy. Don't feel bad if a particular silhouette doesn’t suit your shape; just find the right one that will flatter you. Doing so will help you bring forth positive energy.

Tip #6: Highlight certain elements over others.

While you should incorporate all five elements into your dress for the sake of balance, you should more prominently display some elements over others, based on your essence, intentions and appearance. Don’t think that this will limit your style choices. One client of mine asked me, "So, do I have to wear something that I dislike but feng shui says is good for me?" The answer is no, since there are many different ways to bring each of the five elements into your fashion. For instance, here are five examples of how you might plan an outfit for a social networking event using feng shui principles:

Example #1: Get noticed with fire.

If you are attending an event in order to make connections, you want people to notice you in a positive way. This is an occasion to highlight the fire element. The aesthetic and energetic qualities of fire can be found in red and purple colors, animal prints, leather, triangular patterns, v-necklines, pointy-toe shoes and high contrast clothing. See example here

Example #2: Increase your profit with metal.

If your purpose in networking is to expand your business and increase profit, you need attract metal energy. This energy can be expressed in white or pale colors, polished and shimmering textures, luxurious fabrics, rounded patterns and metal jewelry. See example here

Example #3: Project strength and vigor with wood.

If you're in a physically demanding business, you need potential clients to see you as strong and energetic, even after a long day of work. The wood element projects this kind of energy. Its qualities can be expressed in blue and green colors, floral and striped patterns, fabrics from plant fiber, stretchy textures, sporty clothing and columnar silhouettes. See example here

Example #4: Show your creative side with water.

If you are in a creative business, you want people to recognize the artist in you. Incorporating a water element can help you communicate this energy. The aesthetic and energetic qualities of water can be found in black and dark colors, abstract and wavy patterns, fluid fabrics, soft triangle silhouettes and glass accessories. See example here

Example #5: Find your confidence with earth.

If you tend to feel little bit shy at social networking events, then an earth element can help you feel more grounded. Try wearing brown, yellow or other earth-tone colors, woven or nubby textures, coarse fabrics, boxy silhouettes, plaid or check patterns or square accessories. See example here

These are just a few sets of different elements you can use to dress for success at networking events. If you are inspired to undertake a complete feng shui fashion overhaul, it’s best to consult an expert. But you can certainly begin to audit your wardrobe by keeping only the outfits that pass the Essence-Intentions-Appearance test. What you will be left with is a highly functional as well as fashionable closet to outfit you for life.