Dare to be different | Oscar Wilde | Being yourself

Last week we talked about becoming your superhero of choice, your alter ego. How did it go? Hope you did not try to jump from a roof hoping to fly! (joke). This week, we will talk about the superhero clothes that we hide or simply those that make us special, different.

Ok, but you might ask: “Don’t you think you need to have balls of steel (sorry, ladies) to wear red pants on blue Lycra?”

Let’s face it, many of us don’t like to be different and want to conform most of the time.

Last Sunday as the sun shined, I decided to go for a run along the canal heading to Regent’s Park. A fantastic run without any car. As I hit the canal, I noticed someone taking a picture of the canal bank. I was wearing a red running jersey and said to myself, “Wow I’ll be visible in his picture”. And it hit me! 

I looked at how the people on the canal dressed and it was a collection of the dullest colours grey, black, dark blue, etc. no sign of colour, of light, of life! Borderline depressing. 

As I kept on running and looked at people, this pattern stayed true. As I went about my day, the pattern continued to be confirmed. We definitely love to dress in black, grey and dark blue….pffff! Really?! We love not to be noticed.

This sent me back to the City of London pre-Covid-19 where I used to work. Every man there dresses in the same navy blue suit. How exciting! I was lucky though as a friend who works in a suit shop helped me have a couple of suits made to order. We picked the fabric and went for something, let’s call it a bit more eccentric….well anything but navy blue! 

Every time I wear those suits (not so much for the last 18 months), it changes the way I feel, the way I walk. I own the suit. It feels different. I own myself. I love it. It feels sharp. My sharp!

Not red pants on a blue Lycra sharp though!

Let’s go to the other side for a second and let’s talk about the legend, Steve Jobs. Steve famously wore the same clothes in each one of his presentations and almost every day. Interestingly Marc Zuckerberg does the same. But their reason is simple: “one decision less to make in the morning.” When you decide to change the world maybe you want to keep all your decisions outside of your cupboard. Fair.

Fair but I am not suggesting here that you become a fashionista, or shop every other day in search of the most eccentric outfit.

Or maybe yes I am.

If it was you? If it was what you like? If it was who you were?

Why dress, think, do as everyone else does? 

How about just being yourself?

QUESTION…

How are you going to show up to the world? With your own clothes on, or someone else’s?