The Socialize Strategy - On Camera Style with Elysha Lenkin
Welcome to the Socialize Strategy, the Friday edition of the Socialize Podcast, where we take a deep dive into the topic of the week. And this week, our topic is owning your on camera style. And I'm here with Elysha Lenkin, who is someone I've known for a very long time. Hi, Alicia.
Elysha:Hey, Helen.
Helen:She is a personal stylist, but I know her as a TV commercial stylist for many, many years. We've worked together on many shoots, and I have learned so much from Alicia. So I was very excited when she said yes to joining me today, because I think this is gonna be primo content, primo, and I'm very excited about it. Alright. So welcome, Elysha.
Elysha:I was so excited when you invited me to be a guest.
Helen:Alright. I'm gonna kick it off with some thoughts about just an overview in general about style, which is you might think that there's no difference between your style in real life and your on camera style. However, in some ways, they are the same. But one thing I've learned over the past few years of being in front of the camera instead of behind the camera is that there are small things you can think about to change and consider when you're putting yourself in front of the camera. And a lot of these things I learned from Elysha.
Helen:So here she is to share her expertise with us. Alright, Alicia. Let's kick it off and tell me your overview of thinking. I mean, I just gave it to you in my words, but what do you think about when you're dressing someone for on camera? Let's talk overview first, then we'll get into specifics.
Elysha:Okay. So as an overview, I just wanna state that dressing someone for a commercial or TV is quite different than what we're doing with our social media because for the TV commercials we do, that's for our product, it's for the brand. And for our social media, we are the product, and we are the brand.
Helen:I love this. But before you even go further into us being the brand, let's talk about what you do for commercial styling first. I love I love kind of giving people a window into what we do professionally, and I think that's gonna speak a lot to what we're talking about.
Elysha:Yeah. So here is the real behind the scenes of a commercial shoot from the wardrobe stylist because that's what we're called on set. That's right. So the way that it works with styling is I'm given a bunch of direction. I'm given a bunch of direction from from you, basically.
Elysha:You serve as the filter for all of the other people. So when it finally gets to me, I'm given colors, I'm given styles, I'm given ideas that the client wants us to represent for their brand. And then my job is to take those ideas and turn them into a practical reality based on clothing that is accessible in the stores.
Helen:Great. Alright. So that's a really good that's a good overview in general because I do think some of the things I have learned from commercial styling about color palettes, a lot of times they're not colors I necessarily wanna wear. And the thoughts, you know, that we'll speak to those specific things. Right?
Helen:Let's start with color since that's one of the things I think that is first and foremost in my mind and how I started to think about things for on camera. Knowing what people love for commercials that I've worked on. How do you address commercials versus social media when it comes to color?
Elysha:What is so interesting in commercial styling with color is that clients, directors, they don't care at all about what the colors actually look like on the talent. This has zero impact on what they want their colors to be. It is all about their branding. And in personal branding and for your social media, I believe that I believe that color is twofold. Number 1, you want your colors to make you look vibrant.
Elysha:And number 2, you want your colors to make you feel energized. And that is the purpose of color. So there are colors that work for different people in different ways, physically and also energetically.
Helen:Oh my gosh. You should be up. If anybody's watching this, you'll see that we accidentally dressed almost a little branded today. We we we got together. I had to go to an event this morning, so I'm a little glitzed out in some gold.
Helen:And then in walks walks Alicia in a golden tone sweater. So it could not have been planned better, and I swear to you it was not planned.
Elysha:But I have to comment on we have 2 very different versions of a similar color because clearly our coloring, I'm dark hair, you're light hair, you have light eyes, I have darker eyes. Our coloring is very different. Yes. Oh my gosh.
Helen:I've noticed too when I wear certain colors on camera that my audience will comment, oh, that color color looks great on you. Or, and then I'll put something on and I'll look on camera, and the minute I start filming, I'm I'm like, nope. This doesn't look good on me and I I change. So I've had situations where I've learned what looks good on me just from watching my videos. I I think that really, really helps.
Elysha:And that's a great way to learn. That is a great way to learn to watch your videos, to take selfies, and to try and compare. So try a couple different colors and compare and determine which one looks better. Alright. Talk to me about patterns.
Elysha:Okay. So on commercial shoots, there's usually patterns are usually discouraged And the reason is is because they are distracting. Patterns can be distracting. With your personal brand on your social media, I believe that patterns can be distracting and also patterns can also be a part of your personal style and a part of your brand. So the key here is to wear patterns that are going to attract and not distract.
Elysha:So basically, you want them to highlight your style, your personality, your brand. You want them to work with your background. So be very mindful and intentional with your patterns. Personally, I love patterns. And if we were if I was in my office right now, I have a gorgeous patterned background that I will mix patterns with my clothing and my background.
Elysha:Right? So you wanna be very intentional, but choose according to your brand and what you love.
Helen:I'm gonna add a little technology issue here because being behind pattern on your videos. Now, I'm not sure the phones pick this up as much as the higher level cameras do. I'll say that honestly. Because the whole it's movement on the frame. You can see the movement.
Helen:Because the whole it's movement on the frame. You can see the movement, and that is a big no no. So I have just from the standpoint of knowing that, I do avoid stripes. And I tend to sometimes avoid even big thick stripes because you never know when that's gonna happen. I don't know.
Helen:I don't think stripes are terrible when they're big and fat, though.
Elysha:However, yeah, like a cute, you know, French betot shirt. Right? It's like white with a navy stripe.
Helen:Okay.
Elysha:If that's your style, I'd say you can see. Okay.
Helen:Okay. We've got Alicia's seal of approval. So you go you go with your stripes if you like. By the way, I do wanna mention this term that I'm gonna use again and again, which is the stylist seal of approval. When I am socially with Alicia or we're out shopping together for or we're working on something together, I love when I can get that seal of approval from you when I walk in and something and you go, oh, I like this.
Helen:And it's so good. She gave gave me a seal of approval today for my outfit, and I'm gonna stand up for those of you who are watching this on a video. So hold up.
Elysha:Way I walked in and I said, oh, I I like what we have happening here today. We've got sparkle on
Helen:the boots, jeans, but then I oops. Hold on. Back here. We've got sparkle in the boots, and they are silver sparkle, which is a little mixy metals type thing. But I have gold, and I have a gold lame long sweater.
Helen:But I put it with jeans because I didn't want to be so over the top in a fancy skirt for this event. It was more casual, but I wanted to make a statement.
Elysha:And you certainly did that.
Helen:And this is something I've learned a couple of ways. Julie always talks about this. She says says when I pick out my clothes, I always have something that's like mothership sparkle or mothership statement or loud. And she has said this to me before, which I think is funny. But I do feel that that speaks to my personality.
Helen:So I feel comfortable. I didn't feel out of sorts at all walking into this event where most of the people were super casual in jeans. It's a pouring rainy day, so people were really kinda dressed for the rainy day. And I walked in dressed for a dance party, and I did not mind.
Elysha:And I wanna point something out, and this has to do with color or style or just vibes. It's really amazing when you can zero in on a signature. So my recommendation is to find 2 or 3 colors that really energize you and make you look vibrant as well as some specific styles or pieces that really make you feel like yourself and alive. Use those as your signature.
Helen:Oh, I love it.
Elysha:That is a way to make your your style memorable. People will look at at the at the glitzy vibe. Look. Oh, that reminds me of Helen.
Helen:Oh, I love that. Oh my goodness. Alright. We're running with that one. Now something else I wanna talk are.
Helen:You have speaking videos. There's people doing dance trends. There's ASMR videos where people are doing things in their kitchen, maybe cracking eggs, and they want a microphone really close to their to their hands because they're doing that. So wardrobe considerations can also be
Elysha:1000, 1000000,000,000,000,000 percent.
Helen:I got the style seal of approval right there on that one. But, what kinds of things do you think about when you're addressing a commercial situation and when you're, for example, making your own videos in your house? Do you wear a microphone? What do you do for your videos, Alicia?
Elysha:I don't wear a microphone. Is that something that a lot of people are doing?
Helen:Oh, yes. Wearing microphones? Kidding. Feel
Elysha:like it's cumbersome to have Yes.
Helen:Microphone? It ups the game on your content, and you can wear a wireless right now, this one I have attached to the computer via a wire. But I also have a wireless one, a little tiny one, and I can clip it right on something that I'm wearing and back way the hell up. And you would really benefit from this because when you back up from your computer my favorite brand is Saramonic, so we'll give them a little plug here. But you can back way up away from your phone and show off an outfit and your voice will be as if you're close to your listener.
Helen:So a use of a microphone to me is just a win win for everybody. And it doesn't have to look like you're holding a microphone talking, you know, those influencers that hold, do not do that. I mean, do it you want to. But that's a little kind of old school influencer style, and I don't recommend doing that anymore. I think you really should be just clip it somewhere so it's nearby, so you're getting good audio.
Helen:And honestly, it will change the game. When people are doing ASMR videos, I always recommend maybe put headbands around your wrist or something around your wrist and clip it so that if you're cracking eggs, your microphone is close to your egg cracking, and you can really get some good sound. So those are just little bonus tips. But but thinking about a microphone, I do think about it. When I put on my whatever it is I'm gonna wear, I put up sometimes I I purposely go with a black sweater because I know I clip my black microphone and you're not even gonna see it.
Helen:If I wear a white sweater, sometimes I'll clip the microphone onto something out of frame. So it really depends on my content.
Elysha:And when we're working on commercial, obviously, this is incredibly important. Some of those really light, thin, silky blouses, very problematic with those microphones. Don't know. Yeah. So it is important.
Elysha:I always know about it for commercials, but it's not something I've ever considered in my own videos. Thank you.
Helen:Oh, there you go. Okay. So something was learned. TikTok teacher coming in hot. But let's just talk about now, dressing for the type of content and what things you should consider.
Helen:Because I noticed that you did a video recently where you critiqued. You said, oh, you saw, you mentioned someone's style and they were on stage. Who was it? You they were on stage?
Elysha:Brene Brown. Alicia did
Helen:a little review on her choice of outfit, which I loved because there no demeaning tone at all. You were just like, this is a great outfit. She clearly wants to make a statement, but and I loved your but. Can you share what that was? Yes.
Helen:And maybe we'll put a little link to that video in the show notes.
Elysha:So this goes back to the signature that I was talking about before. It is a way to make yourself more memorable. And what Brene did in this video was she had 2 really strong pieces. I call these conversation starters because they are statement making accessories. And she had on a pair of big pendant necklace.
Elysha:My And a big baggy shirt or something. Right? Wasn't it a big It was a big pendant
Helen:necklace. My And a big baggy shirt or something. Right? Wasn't it a big It
Elysha:wasn't my comment wasn't as much about the baggy shirt. It was about her accessorizing.
Helen:Okay.
Elysha:Choose 1. Choose 1 of your conversation starting accessories. That is going to make a much stronger statement. So the recommendation that I made because I didn't wanna just say don't do this and not give ideas of what to do because I always wanna give ideas
Helen:so people
Elysha:understand what they're doing, what they could be doing better. So I recommended to wear a very clean dress that highlighted the waist, which she was not doing Mhmm. On her own. And then she didn't have to wear the necklace, and she could just wear the pretty feather earrings on their own. So you make a much stronger statement when you don't have 2 statement pieces trying to compete with each other.
Elysha:Competing.
Helen:Okay. This is something I learned from you that I'm gonna there's a lot of things I learned from Alicia. Just as I'm listening to her talk, I'm like, ah, yes. I did learn this from her. But I grew up with this mentality, and I don't know if it's how I was raised or whatever, that earrings and a necklace and a necklace and a thing.
Helen:Like, you pick all the things. And only really until we started working together did I realize I don't have to wear earrings and a necklace. I can so even in my daily wear, I make a decision. Am I gonna wear earrings, or is my necklace gonna be the statement? In which case, I always wear earrings, but it would be the choice of earrings will be tinier if I'm wearing a necklace.
Helen:And then today, for example, I have a high neck shirt here, and I have these, like, more kind of stylish earrings on because I felt like I wanted a little something, but I didn't wear my big dangly evening earrings. You know, those ones that I sometimes wear with this gold shirt is like big dangle. I did I opted for a smaller dangle, but I didn't put anything around the neck because I don't think I need to now. And I always thought I needed to choose all the things. So that's really helpful.
Helen:Yeah. No. It's way more powerful. Less is more in my approach. Helpful.
Elysha:Yeah. No. It's way more powerful. Less is more in my approach to personal style across the board. So whether that's accessorizing, outfit options when you have the right clothes.
Helen:Okay. I love it. I love this. Another thing now, I'm gonna go into this will be like what I've learned from Alicia. That's what this episode should have been called.
Helen:But let's talk about tucking versus not tucking. And the reason why I wanna talk about that specifically is because I don't think it only applies to me. I think that is a an overall on camera thing. So I'm gonna just say, a lot of times, I might wanna wear something untucked because I'm going somewhere and I feel a more flowy vibe. But if I was wearing that same outfit for on camera, I have now changed my thinking.
Helen:Is that something that is true to change your thinking with the same outfit?
Elysha:A 1000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 percent. I'm a good student. The best. On camera, it is way more complimentary to highlight your body, not hide your body. So my favorite way to do this is to show your waist.
Elysha:And I know a lot of women are gonna think, oh my god. Yes. You were one of them.
Helen:I was one of them. I was one of them.
Elysha:But you have transformed.
Helen:I have.
Elysha:Your videos are looking amazing No. It's crazy. By showing your shape.
Helen:It's crazy that my mindset has changed so much on this point. I can't emphasize it enough how much this my mindset has changed. And it was so specific because I'm gonna go back to the day. We did it. We were at a photoshoot, and we were taking we were doing, pictures, me and Julie, for our other our podcast together.
Helen:And we had some outfit choices. And Alicia was there helping us decide which pieces to put together. And she suggested I tuck something that I was never I'd never had worn it tucked. It was like a flowy sweater, and it was gonna hide my hips and the whole 9. You know?
Helen:It was like that's how I was wearing it. And when I tucked that sweater in, the photos the difference in the photos was mind boggling. And as a matter of fact, when I wear it out now, I don't even like to wear it where as I used to because I'm thinking, oh, if it looks good in photos, it's probably the same situation in real life.
Elysha:It's so true. And this applies to women who are size 2, size 22. I'm not kidding. It looks better to show your shape on camera. If you look at any of the newscasters or journalists who are on TV, what are they wearing?
Elysha:A form fitting solid colored dress.
Helen:Let's learn from them.
Elysha:I mean, there's a reason why they're doing that.
Helen:Right. It's tried and true in a sense. Now, I'm just gonna say that yesterday I made a video and I showed it to you with my hair when I did my curly hair to straight hair. And I'm wearing I'll play I'll probably include that also in the link here. But I purposely I wear jeans and I purposely wore a, 2 I have this one top in 2 colors.
Helen:I I have it in black and white, and I wanted this to be a very significant transition from my curly hair to my straight hair and the black and white shirt. So I wanted to wear just that. I didn't wanna put anything over it because I wanted it to be that it's like this version, that version. I would never, in my right mind, have ever worn a form fitting shirt tucked into jeans. Not happening.
Helen:Not in not on my watch until you broke me out of my jail. You broke me out of my fashion jail. You really did.
Elysha:And, Helen, I think it would be really helpful for everyone listening, what was it that made you finally break free? Because I told you what to do, but you didn't do it right away.
Helen:I didn't do it right away. A long time
Elysha:to listen to my advice.
Helen:I was fighting it, and I think a lot of us, I know it's being accepting of your body image. And I haven't I will say it's not like I've lost £20. That's not what happened. I mean, I did lose a few pounds. I made a major effort to lose some weight, but it wasn't about losing weight, honestly.
Helen:Because right now, I still think I could stand to lose 10 pounds. However, I'm not letting that stop me from what I'm wearing anymore at all, ever. I literally was like, I am owning this. I am tucking, and I am dancing. And I spun around, which is also not something I like to do, show the backside.
Helen:I did it in this video.
Elysha:And doesn't it feel better? I have to say, sometimes if I'm at doing a home workout and I have on a t shirt in one of my workout bras, sometimes I just take off that t shirt and I'm in my sports bra and I'm like, I feel
Helen:I feel good. Yeah. It's so good. And it just made me feel and then I the the other thing is the judgment. Like, you I know a lot of people think someone on the Internet is gonna judge me.
Helen:They're gonna make fun of me or whatever. I got so much support on that video. Like, people came into it and said, you're so hot, which I thought, that's crazy. But this is what I was getting as feedback. And it was it helped me to see it for what it was because I looked at myself as if I was looking at someone else's video.
Helen:And, I judged myself as though I would and I don't judge someone else's video. I think, own it, girl. Like, you go. And so I treated myself, as in the 3rd person, and I let myself do it. And it felt so good.
Helen:It felt so good even when I spun around, and I was like, oh, the back fat. I said, I don't care. I'm live I'm, like, rolling with it.
Elysha:So that's another way that you could use your social media is to look at yourself as the 3rd person to try to get a fresh perspective on how you see yourself because I believe I know with my clients that they see themselves very differently. When they first came to me, they saw themselves very differently after working very closely with me. And then my the way I see them, they started to absorb this, and now they see themselves differently. And you have experienced this I have experiences. See yourself differently, and you can use your social media That's unbelievable.
Elysha:With some practical, strong styling because your clothes can help highlight your shape and they can help you look better. There is something else I wanna mention though about accessories because we talked about the statement pieces. One thing that you do need to be very careful with when you're wearing dangly earrings or bracelets is the jangle. You don't want those things flying all over the place, and I am very I have an evil eye for when necklaces, they go off center and they wore like a long pendant goes over one boob. These types of That
Helen:is the commercial style coming in hot because she has to watch like that watch that monitor like a hawk. If something goes awry, she's responsible.
Elysha:I mean, when the pendant necklace goes over one boob No. No. Not a look
Helen:that we
Elysha:all really want to embrace.
Helen:It's not good. I have a video where I had petals coming down from an umbrella, and one of the petals got literally stuck on my I let because I couldn't redo it. It was, like, the longest transition. I took so much time, and I said, I'm running with it. Nothing when I danced towards camera, it finally flicked off.
Helen:It was, like one petal was just hanging on there on the tip. Like, really? Oh my god. Maybe
Elysha:that that video should go in the show notes.
Helen:It should also go in the show. So nuts. My hair was so pixie short for that one. But, honestly so that that's a big thing is considering those types of things and also looking at yourself and learning. And when I I even said this on a video where I was talking about filler words.
Helen:Do you remember when I made this video saying, a lot of people say right at the end of their sentences, you know a lot, so a lot. And listening to my own videos and editing my own videos, I was able to clean up my speech. And you can do the same with your wardrobe. You can look objectively and say, if I was critiquing and someone else was wearing this, what would I be thinking about it? And then let me think about how I can revamp myself.
Helen:I'm telling you, I want to somehow find this shot. I have a photo of this particular sweater with this big heart. I have it out. And on the website, Julie picked the shot where it's like out, and I hate it. I need to change that shot on our website because I need the one that's tucked because it's such a difference to me, the the untuck versus the tuck.
Helen:So the the lessons learned here are huge, and I can't thank you enough for them for starters. So thanks.
Elysha:Yeah. You're welcome. My pleasure. I I love it.
Helen:So let's also address comfort when it comes to, I don't know, shoe choices. We don't see a lot of shoes on camera, so not so worried about shoes. However, it adds to the outfit. So how should we be thinking about our outfits on camera? Should we be thinking of the whole outfit?
Helen:Should we not worry about the shoes if we know that's not really gonna be seen? Just thoughts on that.
Elysha:Yeah. Well, let's be real. When we put on a full outfit with our shoes and we're feeling ourselves and we're loving how our look, that is a different energy. That is a different vibe than when you're just throwing on the top to get the video done.
Helen:Or get on a Zoom call and just put in the top half. But it's a business meeting. It's different.
Elysha:Listen. I've done that. There's times when when that's what we need to do, but just remember that just think about the last time you loved how you look. Right? The energy that we carry when we feel amazing in our clothes, this is powerful.
Elysha:This is what we project. This is what people respond to. They wanna be around you. Mhmm. They may even wanna be you.
Elysha:So putting on the full outfit will enhance your energy, but you don't have to do it all the time. But if you wanna have a high energy video, put on an outfit, a full outfit.
Helen:You need to own your style. And so the things that you do when you work with people I know that you mentioned before that you have a quiz, which I think is helpful. Let's mention that now just because I want you to explain how you work how do you get into someone's mindset to help them change their style? Yeah.
Elysha:So the quiz that I have, this is a free quiz, and it is available for everyone. It's called what's your on camera style.
Helen:Okay.
Elysha:And it is about finding your it factor. Right? This is about finding the inner spark.
Helen:I need to do the quiz. I haven't done it. Maybe we just did it together.
Elysha:Well, the quiz is really fun because basically what you do is you look at a bunch of pictures and you decide what you like. What's your style? What's your vibe? What do you wanna project? How do you wanna be?
Elysha:How do you wanna feel? How do you wanna make other people feel? Right? So you take this quiz, and at the end, you have an idea of what your on camera style is. And then I give you some ways to express this because once you understand your style and you understand how to express it, this is this is the beginning of really So amazing.
Elysha:Your personal style.
Helen:So this is the way that I explain how to make content, how to do videos, how to do transitions, and that kind of thing. Alicia does this in the style world. So she teaches you how to think about your style, how to own your own style, how to embrace the the parts of you that maybe you wanted to hide before, which I'm, like, I am so guilty of this. It's almost unbelievable to me because I know this probably sounds like, oh, yeah. You're just saying this for the video, but seriously, I have spoken to Alicia about this privately.
Helen:And it is I am in such a good place I put on as part of how it represents me. And I never really isn't that nuts?
Elysha:That's everything.
Helen:It's so crazy. Are just
Elysha:the expression of who you are. You don't want your clothes to determine who you are. Right? That's inauthentic. That's when you feel like you're wearing a costume.
Helen:Oh, yeah.
Elysha:That's the last thing you want. You want your clothes to just be an authentic expression.
Helen:Oh, gosh.
Elysha:And you are really embodying it. You're doing it. And I'm wondering, would you be willing to do a little before and after? Like, show pictures of what you look like? Yeah.
Elysha:I don't know how long ago.
Helen:I can do that. I should do that.
Elysha:Right now in your fabulous vibe right now because I think it's really inspiring. People need to see this. They need to see women Right. Really claiming their personal style, feeling confident in their clothes, and not being a size 2.
Helen:Yes. I was just gonna say and it's not about being the size you wanna be. Because a lot of times, that eludes us for whatever reason. And it I don't know. I'm guilty of it all the time.
Helen:But now I'm not disturbed by it. I am just, like, I'm just in it. And I when I saw you the other day and I had the and you were like, I love this. And I had my my furry jacket and whatever I had on that day. And you were like, I'm loving this.
Helen:And you did your little hand thing, whatever. It was like the stylist seal of approval yet again. But I went to after I left you, I was in a store on my way back, and there was a gentleman in the store who was whatever. He saw me walk in. He goes, I am loving he almost said the leash a hand.
Helen:He goes, I'm loving this. I'll tell you where it was. It was a club Monaco. I was looking for a wrap for the dress. I ended up buying these jeans that I'm wearing, but he did this with the hand.
Helen:He went, I am loving this vibe, just like that. And I thought I have landed. This is so good. I got the hand.
Elysha:This is what we're going for. Oh.
Helen:Oh my gosh. For those who are just listening, we've got a hand wave in front of camera. Almost like the John Cena, you can't see me, but backwards the other way. If you know wrestling, you know the reference.
Elysha:It just comes down to knowing who you are, understanding which what clothes will highlight you best, and then just owning your look.
Helen:So good. So good. So what's your advice to someone who is just at the beginning of this and they're like, I I'm I'm awake now. I'm listening. How do I fix it?
Elysha:1st off, I just wanna say, yay. So excited for anyone who's feeling this that they are awakened and ready to fix it. And my advice is to go take this quiz because this is gonna give you a very beginning way to think about your style. I also have on my site, I have a guide how to highlight your body so you don't have to hide it anymore. So these are some very practical clothing tips about what to wear to highlight your body.
Elysha:Great. So that would be another so the 2 together would really go well for a great start.
Helen:It's just learning. It's all and I think that just like we're learning, I'm teaching people how to make transition videos, and there's people that have learned and said, I would never have attempted this if I didn't see you doing it successfully. So learning from other people is getting inspiration when I walk on the streets of the city, and you do this all the time too. You're like, what are people wearing? And you're just kind of a little more observant of your surroundings and seeing what these things are.
Helen:This is one of my favorite things to do now in New York, just really pay attention.
Elysha:You are so lucky how amazing everybody looks around here. It's so interesting. But I was gonna say that learning is part of it, and then the other part is practice. Practice, practice, practice. This is how you really get better at it.
Helen:I'm gonna ask you something I know a lot of content creators are gonna wanna know because a lot of times we have to batch create our content. And so I do a lot of this where I'm in a I'm in a zone. I'm recording a couple of tutorials. I'm gonna record a couple in a row. And I used to be so stressed out about changing my top or changing my look.
Helen:And what
Elysha:would happen
Helen:to me, Alicia, is that I would get so caught up, I would lose like a half an hour changing my clothes because, oh, I don't like the way this looks. The other shirt looks so much better. Why am I so I, a lot of times, say don't necessarily change your clothes. But do you have a recommendation for someone who batch creates? What's your take?
Elysha:My take is to prepare your wardrobe with the preparation of your content. So think about what you wanna wear and I would recommend to change your clothes.
Helen:Oh, you do.
Elysha:And I would recommend to
Helen:We might be on different sides of the fence a little bit.
Elysha:Build the prep time into the entire preparation.
Helen:Okay. And
Elysha:maybe this is the time when you're just gonna wear tops.
Helen:Okay. And let me ask you now related to this. Let's just say, I'm gonna go deep and force you into another zone. Because a lot of times, I've got the shirt. I'm feeling good.
Helen:It's not a big statement. It's a simple black and white thing. So So it's not like I'm wearing a bright blue color, but it's gonna be very recognizable video after video. Okay. So I'm wearing something simple black and white.
Helen:Could I simply consider changing accessories to change instead of, like, a whole outfit change or switching something, like, minimal on it? Would you recommend that? And do you think that's a reasonable way to operate?
Elysha:That's a reasonable way to operate for sure, and I completely understand. Again, we have to think about what is the purpose of this content here because, obviously, someone who wants to be more expressive is gonna wanna change their moods.
Helen:Okay. For my content, I'm teaching a lesson. People are barely looking at what I'm wearing a lot of the times. I like to think they are because I take some time with it. But I don't think a lot of people would remember.
Helen:They might just say, oh, when she taught that stop motion lesson, or, oh, when she showed me how to do that shirt change transition. I don't actually think people are remembering what I was wearing in the lesson. They they might remember what I was doing when I ripped the jacket off from one jacket to another. So I do think this is content dependent. So depending on the type of content, if you are just literally a talking head, give delivering lawyer information, and you think your people are really not doesn't matter if as long as you look professional, you can bank out a bunch of videos, fine.
Helen:But if you're doing something where it's expressive and it has something to do with, I don't know, your persona, your character. What would be an example of a person who really should change their outfit versus someone who not? Am I putting you on the spot too much much with that?
Elysha:I mean, me. Anybody who wants to talk about fashion, style, clothing, makeup, anything like that, who's really about the image Okay. Change the outfit.
Helen:Okay.
Elysha:I think listen. That doesn't mean that I don't repeat outfits. Okay. I don't do clothing rental. I have just my own wardrobe, so I repeat.
Elysha:So if you look at my grid, you will see some repeats.
Helen:I think that that's the main reason I started doing a rental was because I thought, I'm on camera so much, and I don't shop enough to support this changing wardrobe that I wanted to that I thought was important. I mean, I do realize it's not as important in my content as it might be for you, for example. But I do think now, as I'm starting to think about it, my rental thing the purpose of my rental thing was really to keep myself rotating through different things and not have to commit to buying and spending and buying and spending. Plus, it's like, I try different styles that I I would never have bought this gold shirt I'm wearing. I I wouldn't have even shopped for it off a rack, and this was a rental.
Helen:And I put it on, I went, oh, you were with me when I put it on. And you said, that looks good. Wear it with that skirt, tuck it in the whole nine. Honestly, this shirt became a thing that this needs to be in my closet. Cause I know I could wear this with jeans or with a fancy evening dress and evening skirt.
Helen:So I think rental has helped me open my eyes a little bit to other styles that I might not have wear because I don't wanna necessarily wanna commit to it. I wanna see how often I'm gonna wear it first. Mhmm. So if you're a person that likes rental, my rental is Nuuly. I do the Nuuly thing.
Helen:I was just at their influencer event this morning, which was fun, and that's why I'm dressed like this. Because I wanted to wear one of their pieces to the Nuuly event. I just wanna say that if you are somebody who's thinking about doing this, I am lucky enough to have this one as my friend. So we get together and we start talking about things enough. I can freely ask her fashion questions, if you don't have Alicia in your in your Rolodex like I do Rolodex like old school in your phone, in your contacts, then using her quiz to get you to the place you need to go would be very, very helpful, I think.
Helen:At least we'll get your mind in your in the mindset. Also, she's got a newsletter, so she sends out tips every week. I'm always reading Alicia's newsletters and learning every week about something new. And I'm like, oh, look what I can do with belts this weekend. Very, very informative news.
Helen:I love your newsletter.
Elysha:The whole purpose is to just feel comfortable in your clothes. You wanna feel confident, and you wanna have fun. I like to think of it as it's really not a high stakes situation because there's always another opportunity to change your outfit through the days.
Helen:There is. And it's like that's when when styles change. Oh, I know one thing we didn't touch on. Trending outfits versus, like, trends. I want your take on because you know how you talk about when styles trend.
Helen:And I know you have a position on this about trends. Will you share your position on trending trending styles?
Elysha:So here's the here's my thoughts on trends. People are very concerned about trends, what's in, what's up. So number 1, if you wanna know what's gonna out what's trending. I wear clothes that give me confidence and I love, and I don't pay attention to the trends. And if we end up buying something at shopop.com, great.
Elysha:So we have a trending piece, but we didn't buy it because it was a trend. We bought it with it was because it was our style.
Helen:I love that. Because a lot of people try and fit into a round peg into a square hole, trying to fit with a trend that isn't right for their body type.
Elysha:That's a big
Helen:That's one thing I've learned.
Elysha:Big problem. Big, big problem. People see another woman and, oh, I want what she has, but you don't have anything. You're not like that woman. So why would you want what she has?
Elysha:Why don't you get something for yourself? That's gonna be so much better.
Helen:I will say from my even my teen years, I've always wanted to be different. I will say that as much as I as a teenager, you kind of always wanna fit in. I also wanted to be a little standout. I guess I've always been that. And I never really owned it as much as I'm own it took me till now to really, really own it, but I never wanted to just be conformist.
Helen:And we're all gonna wear the same thing. And, yeah, I've I've always had that in my mindset, so I feel happy that I'm finally to a place where I can own it.
Elysha:Yeah. And it's the thing
Helen:Thanks to you.
Elysha:The algorithm the algorithm fashion, it it just has everybody dressing the same, and I find that really frustrating. Boring.
Helen:It's boring. It's boring. So let's not be boring. Be you. Don't that's a new saying.
Helen:Don't be boring. You.
Elysha:And have fun with it.
Helen:Alright. Alicia, thank you so much for joining me today. This was so much fun.
Elysha:So much fun.
Helen:Thank you so much for listening. If you land here just by a podcast platform, make sure you subscribe to the newsletter because this whole episode is gonna be featured in newsletter form and was released this morning in newsletter form. And so you'll want all the links. I put a few of the links in the show notes, but all of the links are in the newsletter. So make sure you're subscribed to the newsletter.
Helen:And to find Alicia's quiz, I'm putting that link in the show notes. But do you wanna save the link for the quiz so everybody knows it? Let's say it.
Elysha:Alicia atlincoln dotcomforward/hellosocialize.
Helen:Oh, she put our name in the quiz. Yay. So go check it out. She is amazing. Alicia is spelled e l y s h a.
Helen:Lincoln is l e n k I n.comforward/hellosocialize. Thank you so much, Elisha.
Elysha:Thank you.
Helen:Alright. Everybody have a nice weekend. Bye.
