Put On the Suit – Become a Hero

Watch It

Here’s a great TED talk by Adam Savage all about ‘cosplay’, which is where people visit conventions dressed as their favourite character from a book, TV show, movie or comic. The way he feels transformed by being particular characters is fascinating.

Get It On

However, the key idea I want to get across here is not the hiding behind a mask – which can be very powerful – but simply how wearing the right clothes can actually alter your mental state.

Scruffbag Wins

Last year I sneaked* my way onto the filming of a new Netflix series called ‘The Crown’ and I was a bit concerned that I wasn’t dressed smartly enough – it was very hot and I was in shorts and trainers. I decided to walk around confidently and pretend that I deserved to be there. However, as I moved through Ely Cathedral (doubling for Westminster Abbey) it soon became clear that I had unwittingly used a rather good strategy: on any TV/film set, the formal clothes/seniority level is reversed: the least important extra may be in military uniform, but the director is in a T-shirt and looks… well, a bit scruffy. Clever me.

Mind Games

Here’s the thing: you use the clothes you put on to help you become the confident person you want to be. Start by visualising your super confident self.

It depends entirely on the context, obviously. If I’m visiting a video games developer wearing a suit, they’ll think I’m in accounts or legal, and I’m not (I’m a level 97 presentation ninja and I play by my own rules). So I wear a waistcoat to show my eccentricity. OK, that in itself might not quite do it, but I’ll be wearing jeans, which works well.

An advanced technique which I enjoy is to give games developers the incorrect first impression and then surprise them by pointing out that I worked in the games industry for a long time as a designer (and all the games industry people I worked with rarely wore smart clothes). However, that’s a risk, so don’t do it unless you know it’ll be fun. Also, it only works one way: looking like you’re from their tribe and then pointing out that you’re actually not will disappoint rather than delight (and you want to delight).

Conclusion

Want to feel confident? Try some new clothes. Want to feel super confident? Try the clothes that would be worn by your super confident self.

* I was invited by brother Pip, who’s in it. I just wanted to sound cool.

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