What are people's first impression of you?

Recently I attended a conference in Los Angeles and while there had the pleasure of listening to clothing and style experts, among others, describe the variety of personalities and the typical looks from classic to artsy to eccentric.

As I listened I came to a startling realization.

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Was I fully embodying my brand from head to toe? If I look within at my personality, was my clothing, color, style and type, representative of me?

Was it I who picked out some of these outfits, or was I instructed by my Mom or looking through magazines, watching tv commercials and more how to dress for success?

It was a strange feeling that came over me. It was like all of a sudden, I was one person on the inside, and another on the outside.

Some of the people at this conference I already knew, but others I was meeting for the first time after knowing them through social media. So, was there a disconnect in their minds about me? Was there a confused first impression?

They may have had an impression of my personality and only that little square photo from Facebook and Twitter to recognize me. But if they had a sense of me in their mind of innovative, funny, expressive, colorful and more and then see me wearing conservative colors and corporate type clothing, what message was I sending?

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I am now in the process of revamping what's in my closet and what I put on, so it clearly expresses who I am and everything will be in synch. From now on knowing how important that first impression is, I plan to fully embody my brand.

So are you fully expressing youself or did someone else tell you what looks good on you?