The Almighty Jacket Layer
By Judith Rasband

A Mormon mother, inviting me to present a program to her stake mother-and-daughter night, cautioned me not to talk about jackets.

“Jackets? Why not?” I asked. “Jackets are key items in a workable cluster of clothes.”

“Well, these girls don’t like them,” she explained. “They won’t wear them. Really, they don’t need to wear a jacket until they’re out of school and have a job.”

“Oops. Too late,” I told her. “People won’t wear what they’re not comfortable in. If we wait until it’s time for a job interview, internship, or first time on the job, we’re going to be miserable in a jacket.”

A high school student teacher, expected to wear a jacket layer to appear more professional, yelled at her advisor, “You’re setting me up to fail.”

Inexperienced in wearing a jacket, the girl was conscious of the fabric around her arms and around her neck. It distracted her attention and she couldn’t relax, think, or perform. She likely won’t fail, but she won’t feel at ease or deliver her best either.

The teenage years used to be the time we got experience with a variety of clothes and looks, a time to discover which clothes reflect who we are and want to become, a time to learn how to use our clothes as a resource — an aid to achieving our goals. If we didn’t get this experience in our youth, we can certainly start at whatever stage of life we’re in. It may be a bit more awkward, but we can do it. It’s never too late to become more like the person you want to be.

So why bother? What good does a jacket do? Why spend time or money on a jacket?

Jackets play a key role in how we think, how we feel, how we speak, and how we act or behave, then in how others react or respond to us.

Adding a jacket layer surrounds us literally with a layer of protection — physical protection from the weather and psychological protection from other people. What’s the first thing many men in business and leadership do when they stand up to speak? They button their jacket.

That layer of fabric surrounds the body and takes attention away from the body. It literally protects and increases confidence to proceed. It’s all about becoming — confident, capable, and competent. It works.

Adding a jacket layer causes us to take up a little more space, causing us to appear a little more noticeable, a little more authoritative, and therefore more influential. Worn over a contrasting shirt, viewer attention moves into the middle for a slimming effect, then up toward the face for better communication and negotiation. It’s all about coming into our own — credible and influential. It works.

If you’re still skeptical, visualize two people standing before you, one wearing a shirt and one wearing a shirt with jacket layer. Which one of these people is more likely to draw your attention, hold your attention longer, and remain more memorable? Instant answer from all asked? The person wearing the jacket.

Our student teacher doesn’t have to wear a tailored, matched suit jacket if she’s not comfortable in it physically or psychologically — if it’s not her personal style. She can benefit from the effect of a jacket by getting herself a softly tailored or untailored jacket in a style, fabric, and size that accommodates her body and her personality.

If the weather is hot, she can get a very lightweight jacket or rely on a shirt-jac. It’s all about getting a jacket look that is authentic for her, appropriate for her role — not distracting, attractive to herself and others — not disturbing, and of course affordable.

If this sounds hard to accomplish, it’s likely you’ve had little or no experience and you don’t know where to look to find what you need. That’s where I come in. If you have trouble finding the style you need at a price you can afford, contact me for solutions.

Oh, and if you discover you’re just not a jacket person or live in a role that needs less visual authority, try a sweater layer. Mr. Rogers knew exactly what he was doing!

©2007 Conselle L.C. Conselle L.C. Institute of Image Management • 7052 University Station • Provo, UT 84602 • 801/224-1207 • FAX 801/226-6122 • www.conselle.com • judith@conselle.com

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Judith Rasband is founder of the Conselle Institute of Image Management and director of the Foundation for Image Integrity. Specializing in the artistic, social, and psychological aspects of dress and image, she has experienced 40 years in the field as educator including 12 years at BYU. She has taught at BYU Education Week for more than 25 years. She is a trade and textbook author, columnist, speaker, consultant, market analyst, and video producer. An international authority on image management, she is a presenter, consultant, and coach to private individuals, civic, corporate, government, and academic organizations and associations throughout the U.S. and Canada.

Top priority roles include wife, mother, grandmother, and Gospel Doctrine teacher. Judith (Judi) is married to S. Neil Rasband, Professor of Physics at BYU. They are parents of four children and grandparents to 14 grandchildren. They love to travel and sleuth out great restaurants and historic homes. They recently traveled for 16 days across the European Alps — on a motorcycle. It’s never too late to try something new!