Are YOU A Stylish Personality Or Someones Brand Image?


By Ange Fonce


One of my favourite clients from a few years ago was named Ramon. 

He was a great person... he tried his best at all he did... he worked hard at learning from everyone he met and he was a very genorous young man. 

There was one thing about him though that I was always able to give him a hard time about... his clothes. 

More often than not Ramon would be dressed top to bottom in Nike clothing and the swoosh and the brand name were on his hat... his shirt... his pants and his shoes.






"How much is Nike paying you to advertise for them?" 


I used to ask him and he used to tell me that Nike was not paying him anything he was paying Nike for the honour of advertising for them.

This is one of the sadder tendencies of our commercial culture... advertisers are recruiting people to live life with their logos on their clothing... their cars... their uniforms... their backpacks and so on.

You name it and it has probably got a highly visible logo on it. 

If you are an athlete or actor or any other extremely popular person they will pay you an awful lot of money to wear their clothing and the rest of us have to pay for the privilege. 

Tiger Woods gets paid millions of dollars every year to wear Nike clothing and Ramon has to pay inflated prices in order to be able to advertise for Nike.

How do we get so wrapped up in the desire to have certain clothing that we are willing to pay to wear their ads? 

I know what the psychologists and psychoanalysts would say and that explanation is rather long and drawn out. 

As simply as possible it seems that you are trying to send a message about your own tastes and preferences to other people by deciding to wear certain logos. 

In theory this expression should attract others with similar tastes and preferences which may help you to make contact with other people who are like you.

In practice though the wearing of logos acts more like a barrier on both ends to sender and receiver. 

Many people read the logos to mean... 

"If you do not like what I like then stay away." 

This is not an unjustified interpretation of the message as many people especially high school students actually use logos in this way. 

Much of their personal esteem and self image is wrapped up in that logo and the message it sends and which person who wears an over priced logo T shirt to school wants to be seen hanging around with someone who is wearing a shirt from Cut Price or a lower quality brand name? 

The student wearing the Nike clothes feels somewhat superior to the kid wearing the no name shoes from a department store.

This seems to be a rather natural symptom of a society that is increasingly fragmented among people who more and more have to SEARCH for an identity for their parents are not sharing theirs any more. 

Unfortunately the ad campaigns teach them to search outside themselves to try to find identity and thus fulfilment in things that have nothing to do with their real lives.

Bill Watterson in one of his typically perceptive "Calvin and Hobbes" comic strips says... 

"A good shirt turns the wearer into a walking corporate billboard. It says to the world, "My identity is so wrapped up in what I buy that I paid the company to advertise its products!'" 

He ends the strip with the line... 

"Endorsing products is the American. And not just America by the way, any country that is influenced by the western way way to express individuality."

It is a rather scary thought that young people are learning that their identities are somehow connected to what they buy and what they own despite thousands of years of wise women and men pointing out that this attitude is harmful to us as human beings for it keeps our focus on external aspects of our lives. 

And as you focus more on the external you are less and less able to see clearly what you need to see internally... take for instance a woman who I got to know a little was a total Apple fiend and when she saw that I use a PC and Windows it was like I was some kind of sub human?

To me it was just a computer that did the job I wanted it to do and did it well... to her it just made me some kind of misfit and judged me for it.

When my youngest son would like clothes with a certain label I will buy them if they are reasonably priced and I will always let him know that his choice of clothing simply because of the brand name is exactly what the corporation wants of him... free advertising of their products. 

And I will never pay a high price for any clothing when more reasonably priced clothing is available in the next rack.

I do not know if Ramon loved his Nike clothing or if he thought that the clothes contributed to his identity. 

I do know that Ramon did not need the clothing as he was a great person and his personality spoke volumes on its own. 

I also know though that the clothing acted as a barrier to some people who might otherwise have found him to be much more approachable.

Because his skin style was black he faced automatic assumptions and judgements placed on him because of his appearance which he did not deserve. 

Ramon was not Nike and Nike was not Ramon... yet Nike sure had shoved itself into his life and his consciousness.

And on a personal note I avoid brand names like the plague... preferring to save and get my shirts and suites made by a local tailor. 

My shoes are hand made... my ties are hand made. 

The initial cost is much higher than mass produced brand names. 

However I have clothing that is personal to me and made to fit me of high quality and will last far longer than any mass produced brand name which if we are truthful is not of the best quality. 

You just pay for the name!

I am willing to invest in quality clothing made by Craftsman who love what they do and provide that Human Touch of a personal service that no multi nation mass market brand name could ever compete with.

There is a truth in the saying cloths maketh the man and has a big influence on those who meet you.

What you wear will lead others to make assumptions and judgements about you and put you in their boxes.

There is no way to control the wants and needs of others and there certainly are ways to educate people to bring out the best of their own Style!

And one last comment...




Your Style


Every one of us has a suit that is custom tailor made and self repairing very flexible and all weather... all terrain... waterproof and will last a life time! 

It is called Skin the biggest organ on your body.

What do you need a brand name for when your personality is your brand and your skin is your style!

Have you any thoughts or comments you would like to share with me on what I have written?

I would love to hear from you.

Thank you and may you enjoy a Loving... Prosperous and Dynamic day!

Yours Sincerely




Dynamic Lifer... The Tribe of Dynamic Lifers

1... A person with a penchant for Science... creativity... books... writing... communication... fitness... women... sexing... sexuality... human relationships... psychology... physiology and any other area involving heavy use of the Intellect.

2... A bright person and glamorously Intelligent!

3... Ange is an Author... Speaker and Dynamic Peak Performance Personal Development Consultant... and Humanistic Counselling Psychologist... Sexologist and Multipreneur... who works with those men and women who desire to personally develop themselves and their relationships to become Dynamic Lifers... creators of their own life... relationships and wealth! 

4... If you are Happy and you Know it... you are becoming a Dynamic Lifer!

To Speak to Ange and arrange a consultation for what you would like help with CLICK HERE




"Transformation happens when people fall in love with a different version of themselves and their future!"


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