The Secret Language of Clothes with George Brescia, Celebrity Stylist

Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Hi there, I'm Diane Griselle. I'm also known as Silver
Disobedience, and this is the Silver Disobedience Perception
Dynamics podcast. And wow, I have a really
interesting guest today who I only just met moments ago, but I
can't wait to drill down on the topic of style and fashion.
My guest is George Brescia. He wrote the book.

(00:25):
Change your clothes, change yourlife.
Because you can't go naked. There you go, exclamation point.
I cannot wait to drill down on this topic.
He has graced runways, fashion shows, TV, commentating on
style, fashion looks that we're seeing all over the place.

(00:48):
So this is a wide open topic that we're going to drill down
on because as he says, we can't go naked.
George, thank you. Oh my God, Diane, thank you for
having me. I'm so excited.
This is so cool. I'm so glad to have you here.
OK, We need to start with Yeah. How'd you start?
Oh my God, I feel like Dun, Dun,Dun.

(01:10):
Let's see. How did I start?
You know, I, I was a singer and an actor and a dancer and I and
I went to school for that, actually.
And then I thought, you know, I wanted something to compliment
kind of that. And so I started communications
at school, and I ended up getting a major in
communications and a minor in theater.

(01:32):
And, you know, I did the whole thing like everyone does.
You come to New York and you have your dream and you're in
dance class and acting class andyou're singing your heart out.
I mean, I have like a legit baritone voice.
People are shocked when I sing, which is so funny.
But, and, but I loved, I always loved fashion.

(01:53):
You know, I did, I always, I always loved clothing.
My mother had a clothing store when I was growing up.
And so I just was obsessed with Ralph Lauren at the same time.
So when I graduated college, I started working for Ralph
Lauren. And the Reader's Digest version
is because, you know, we only have a certain amount of time
and I don't want to take it up with my biography that no one
cares about. But basically, I, you know, I

(02:14):
started working for Ralph and asa salesperson in a store and I
worked my way up through the company.
And by the time I left, I was incharge of all the freestanding
Polo stores, all the women's departments.
And I was the liaison between design and retail.
And I used to go and do trunk shows all across the country and
then teach them about the line and then how to merchandise the

(02:36):
clothing in that season. And then here comes the
communications, right too. Because then I started doing
like in house videos for them that they would send out to all
the stores teaching them about, you know, whatever the season
was and what the line was and the inspiration and all that
kind of thing. And I had a ball and it was
great and I loved it. And then I left there and I went

(02:57):
to the other side of the business.
I went to Tommy Hilfiger and I was on the wholesale side of the
business. And it's funny because here we
are at the Hammerstein Ballroom and I was saying to you that we
walked in. I was like, I had a Christmas
party here when I was working for Tommy Hilfiger.
This place is amazing. And I think like, you know,
Justin Timberlake was performingor something crazy and I, I was
in charge of the women's showrooms and I was designing

(03:19):
them and pulling all the looks for all the mannequins and
working with marketing and advertising.
And I was on that wholesale sideand I was the vice president of
Tommy Hilfiger. And then I left there after 10
plus years. Of course, you know, we're going
to keep me in my, I don't know, let's say 40s.
That sounds good to me. Although both of us with the
silver hair, I don't know if people are going to buy it, but
I'll, you know, I'll try. And so, you know, I started

(03:42):
freelancing and I worked for Donna Karen for a while and then
I started working for Jay-Z and Beyoncé at Roca wear his line of
clothing and doing their showrooms.
And I was working, you know, with different companies and,
you know, and just kind of freelancing.
But what I realized was because I was singing and dancing and
doing all that stuff on the side, you know, it's like I, I

(04:05):
just, I didn't really feel fulfilled.
And I, and every time I wanted to get something more in
fashion, I would meet with a headhunter or, you know, when
they would say, well, we got to get this resume.
You've done so much George. We need to kind of focus in.
And I thought, you know what, ifI'm going to reinvent myself,
I'm going to reinvent myself with something that I love and I
really want to do. I mean, I loved fashion, but it

(04:26):
wasn't like enough for me because I wasn't expressing
myself completely creatively as to who and what I really am.
I mean, let me tell you, you canlook at me for 10 seconds and
you know that first of all, God is still tired from making me #1
and #2 I was put on this earth to entertain people and service

(04:47):
them and help them. And I thought, how do I put the
fashion with the entertaining and bring it together?
And I read this book called The Firestarter Sessions by Danielle
LaPorte, and she talks about what have you been doing for the
last 25 years? You know, just because it comes
easily to you and this is what you've been doing, other people

(05:11):
don't do that. That's your gift.
And how can we take where you have momentum in your life and
expand that? And that's when I thought the
fashion, the performing, let's put it together.
Let's go on television. Let's do style segments.
I had all the credentials for, you know, the fashion.
I had the love of performing, being on camera, talking to

(05:35):
people, right. And so I did, I started, I
started, you know, through friends and I knew a lot of
people and I started going on NBC on New York live.
And, you know, there was a producer there, Amy Rosenblum,
who really is kind of like responsible for my career.
And she put me on and then just kept having me on.

(05:58):
And then I was on New York 1 andthen I was on Fox and then I was
on Pix 11. And then I was on CBS and then I
was on ABC and it just started to spot to spiral.
So I, you know, I, I was so happy.
And then through a series of events, I decided that I needed
to do a book. And that's actually a really

(06:19):
interesting story. So I decided that I needed to do
a book. And I had friends that had
written books. And there was a friend of mine
who had written a book and Simonand Schuster had published her.
And she was like, let me talk tomy agent and see if we can get
you a meeting. And, you know, I did.
And that didn't work out. And then there was a woman who

(06:40):
was going to help me with like aproposal.
And, you know, she just started working on it.
And I was like, wait a minute, how much are you?
And the next thing I know, she'slike, well, if I do a whole
proposal, it's going to be like,you know, $10,000.
And I was like, OK, that is not I, I can't do that.
So a friend of mine, I was telling about this book story.
And she was like, no, no, no, I know the president of Simon and

(07:01):
Schuster. She's a friend of mine.
We'll go to lunch. You can talk to her.
That never happened. But one night I was watching
television. It was like 9:00 at night.
And this friend of mine called me Andrea.
And she said, what are you doing?
I said, I'm watching TV. It's 9:00 at night, what are you
doing? And she's like, come over to my
loft right now. And I was like, why?
She said, because I'm having a party.

(07:23):
And I said, you know, she said, no, just trust me.
Do you trust me? And I said, yeah.
So I went over there. They were having, like, a
gallery showing in her loft. And she goes, go upstairs.
I want you to see my new office.So I go upstairs and I look at
her office, and in walks this blonde.
And she kind of like, flies in the room.
And I'm like, who is that? I love her.
Like, I love her energy. So I went over and I introduced

(07:43):
myself. I said, hi, I'm George Bescher.
She said, hi. I'm Jen.
And I said Simon and Schuster. Jen, she said, yeah.
I said, I want to write a book. She goes, Oh my God, What do you
mean you want to write a book? Everybody wants to write a book.
I said a style book. She goes, I hate style books.
I did them all. I said, wait a minute, it's not
a style book. It's style meets the secret.

(08:06):
And she said talk more. And I said, well, it's like the
secret language of clothing, like your clothes talk whether
you want them to or not. So you have to figure out what
you want to say to the world by what you're wearing, because
you're making that statement anyway, and you might as well
control it because you have to wear clothes.
You know, you, you interesting concept because you worked with

(08:28):
some iconic USA brands from Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger and
Roca Wear. I mean, these are all very US,
all America kind of brands. So how did those kind of things
shape you when you think about you have to find your your inner

(08:49):
style, your personality, your who you are within your clothes.
I mean, you know, that's an interesting question.
I, I have a very sort of sort ofclassic kind of style.
I mean, modern at the same time.And sometimes I like to be sexy.
But it's all sort of. Well, those are classic.
You had a classic foundation. Exactly.

(09:11):
Ralph or Tommy? It's very classic, yes.
But because I had to do and lovedoing many different things in
fashion, many different kinds ofworking with all different kinds
of other companies that I had been freelancing for, expressing
different kinds of style, I had a really wide range of knowledge

(09:34):
of what kinds of things I could do.
And then when I was working withindividual clients, I had to
adapt myself because it's not about my style when I'm dressing
someone, it's about their style and who they are, and I really
keyed into that. That is such an interesting
point and I want to drill down on that because I was talking
with someone the other day and Iknow this person very well and

(09:59):
she hired a designer to redo herapartment.
And I'm looking at these sketches and I'm like, where are
you going to put all your crap? You know, this is beautiful.
And she's like, you don't like it?
I'm like, I love it. It's beautiful.
But in a billion years, I can't imagine you living here, you

(10:21):
know? And I think you should think
about that before you proceed. And clothing is so important.
Like that one time someone as a gift gave me a personal stylist.
And I'm like, these clothes are great, but I would be so
uncomfortable wearing them. Yeah, my clients.
Never ever say that to me. Ever.
So how do? You get through that.
How do you figure out what styleis?
Because they can't go naked, yes.

(10:42):
Exactly, you're required to wearclothes by law, so they might as
well be the clothes that you want to have the world see you
in a certain way. Interestingly, when I, you know,
was doing this book and and, andI had like I was telling you, I
had mentioned this to to this president.
The next thing I knew, I was in her office on that Monday.
We had a meeting. She's like, no one knows what

(11:04):
this is about. You got to start telling the
story. Pitch them.
So I told them the story, How I Met her.
Whatever they signed me. They found me my agent.
They found me the the book writer and I had a book at Simon
and Schuster. So going back to your other
question, how do I you know, andand it turned out that she that
Jen was obsessed with the way people looked in the workplace

(11:25):
and how they presented themselves and clothing.
So it was kind of like kismet atthe same time.
So how do I, you know, learn someone's essence, right and,
and work with them? And I tell my clients this, I
don't turn the dial 360°. I turn it 3° to the left or
three degrees to the right. So it's you, but it's your best

(11:49):
you. And the way that I do that is to
talk with you. We meet, we talk, I go through
your closet, I call it Ground Zero.
I got to see what's going on. I never judge because if it's a
very intimate process and I've done it on camera during COVID
and I do it in person before that.
And now I'm doing it in person again, obviously.

(12:11):
But you know, it's like, becausepeople want to, you know, like
they want to be seen by the world in a certain way, but yet
they don't wear the clothes thatrepresent that.
So I have. To ask you a question, Yeah.
What would you do if you had a client like me who has never met
an article of black clothing shedoesn't like and prefers to wear
black on black, on black on black, and it's just a variation

(12:33):
of black? What do you say to someone like
that? I say black is a very difficult
color to wear and there are veryfew people that can wear it and
have it do what they want it to do and illuminate them and make
them look the way that they wantto.
It can be a very draining color,especially as we get older.

(12:56):
So, and it also makes a statement because when you're
wearing all black, you can kind of disappear.
So I say we can do black, but what if we mix it with color?
So you're wearing, you know, a blouse that has snaps.

(13:18):
I could put a little colored underpinning underneath that
just to throw a little light up on your face.
And maybe we do like turquoise jewelry with it.
So that gets a little color. You know what I mean?
Like, but you're still in black.I mean, there's and then you can
do a black and white situation or you could do a black and tan
situation, Black and a neutral. I mean, there's so many
different ways of doing it. Black and silver looks great.

(13:40):
You've got this gorgeous silver hair.
So we could play that up, you know, like and just kind of show
them. I would show you like all of the
different ways of doing it. And then I would say I invite
you to. Try less.
And less of it. Maybe it's only one piece of
black in an outfit. So maybe we open up your blouse
and we do like a white underpinning and a white pant
and it's all white with the black jacket.

(14:01):
Do you know what I mean? Yes.
How much? Psychology goes into this
because it would be a very difficult thing to shift someone
off how they're used to seeing themselves, whether they think
that's right or not. I mean, obviously someone who
says, George, I need help, you know, or you know, where do you
start with that? You know, it's a kind of thing

(14:21):
that so when you look in the mirror, you can tell I don't
have to say anything. So I just had this woman, she
called me, She lives in Cape Cod.
She's, you know, our age. I'm assuming we're plus the same
age and, you know, and she's like I, I, I just want to be

(14:41):
taken seriously. I do acupuncture, I take I lead
these trips. You know, I, I travel with
people, groups of people, and I'm the leader and I just don't
feel like I look like that. But I love crazy color and
Prince and I'm and I'm such a boho hippie.
I, you know, I know I'm not going to look like, you know,
necessarily a sophisticated, youknow, executive, which is not

(15:05):
what I want to look like, but I just know that I want to be
taken seriously and I want to look more sophisticated.
And I said, well, we can do that.
And so I, I sent her all these clothes and, you know, I did her
closet first on, on camera, I mean, on camera.
And I knew I was like, OK, well,this is going to be interesting.
But I sent her all these clothesand she was like, Oh my God, I

(15:27):
really like these clothes that you sent me.
She was like, how did you do that?
And I said, well, because I think they're still sort of you.
They're just a little stepped upyou.
And she's like, and, and what's the word?
Like she wanted to really study it.
You know, she was a person who really sort of understood like
an academic point of view. So she was, I said, but there's
no, she was looking for like finite rules.

(15:49):
And The thing is, is that in fashion and in style and in
clothing, there are no finite rules.
There are some guideline rules, but fashion is fluid.
It's always changing. So you know, but there are
certain things that, you know, that there's some like broad
stroke things that, you know, I could give her.
So I, I really helped her and she was like, and she's been

(16:10):
texting me and so funny. She's like, people are just
dying about how I look. And then, you know, of course
she loves it. And this is what happens with my
clients. And I think it's because I
connect to the person 1st and I never talk at them.
I talk to them. You know you.
Mentioned The Secret earlier, Yeah.

(16:31):
Elaborate on that. How does The Secret or what you
learned in the book The Secret, which was obviously a big
bestseller and a rewrite of the book in the 1920s, I believe it
was, that it first came out. But how would you say you bring
that essence of the secret to what you do?
Because there's. So much pathology in how we wear

(16:55):
clothing. Time out.
You've got to expand on that pathology in how we wear
clothing. Sure.
Meaning it's so emotionally charged.
There's so much back story to it, our relationship with
clothing as a child and how we grew up and what our mother made

(17:16):
us wear and what she didn't let us wear, what our dad thought of
what we wore, what what, you know, like there's just so much
in it. And then there's so much, all
our insecurities come out because most people want to hide
in their clothing. They don't want to be seen in
their clothing, you know, And sothey just kind of kind of buy
clothes that sort of fit and kind of hope for the best.
And they can button their pants.That's good.

(17:37):
And they can sort of tie the shoe and that's kind of good.
And I look OK instead of like really relaxing and taking it in
and saying, what do I want to say to the world?
So like the Secret. So The secret obviously talks
about manifestation, right? Being present to your life, not
being like a robot, just going through the same thing every

(17:59):
day, really being present to your life.
What does that mean? It means getting in touch with
how you feel. Where are you in your life?
Are you, are you in a job that you like?
Are you in a relationship that you like?
Do you have friends that you really like?
Do you are you, you know, like, are you spending time the way
that you really want to spend time?
Are you just like on autopilot, which most people are in the
world? And So what I, So what I found,

(18:24):
you know, like where this all came from was, you know, I am
very connected into the Broadwaycommunity here in New York.
And so I was dressing a lot of Broadway men and women, not only
for their events and their red carpets and their Tony Awards
and their opening of the show, but for auditions.
So, you know, you walk into an audition room and, you know, you

(18:46):
have everybody there, you know, the producers and the directors
and the, you know, choreographers.
And if you are auditioning for the female lead, right?
And she's, like a sophisticated,you know, a real estate woman or
something like that, right? And you walk in and RIP jeans

(19:06):
and, you know, a sweater and boots.
You could sing, you know, a classic Rodgers and Hammerstein
and the most beautiful soprano they've ever heard.
They're not buying it because they were going to say, yeah,
but it's not really her and it'snot really what we're looking
for. So I never put people in

(19:26):
costumes for auditions, but I was like, well, let's just speak
to the role. So you know what?
Why don't we just do like a beautiful sheath dress and a
heel and your hair and go and sing in that, You know, that's
it's. Brilliant.
And then she books. It So what I realized was when
you're walking down the street and you look at somebody, you

(19:49):
make a a story in your head likethat.
Oh, he's a lawyer. She's a Wall Street girl.
That must be a doctor. Oh, that's a a hippie.
They must be like a starving actor.
We do that, but by what we see. It's that is so true.
I I tried to tell every kid I'veever interned our own children
that are really into fashion want their mother to come out of

(20:12):
the 1980s. But but you know, one of the
things in fashion I always observed is if I would go to a
makeup counter, I have the exactsame amount of money in my
pocket. But if I'm there in a kiss
T-shirt or a Guns N' Roses T-shirt, I go to the bottom of
the, you know, pay no mine list.And but if I walked in in fur is

(20:34):
unpopular, it is or leather or I'm dressed up in some beautiful
outfit, nice outfit, you know, that says money.
I, I could have three people helping me, you know, in an
instant. So there is such a psychological
impact of how people judge someone instantly, whether it's
in an interview, on a first date, on a meeting, on a, on an

(20:56):
audition, as you're talking to. That's right.
And when the stakes are high, we're meeting the parents for
the first time. We're going for a loan at the
bank. We're all going on a job
interview. We're going out with new friends
to a dinner. We're going to a party where we
don't know anyone. What do we do?
We pull out the stops. We take the time.

(21:16):
The big word is time to connect to ourselves and make the
statement that we want to make. Oh, I'm going to this party that
I've never met these people before.
My friend is bringing me. I want to make a nice
impression. I'm going to do my hair, do my
makeup, put on that new dress that I just got because I want

(21:41):
people to think ABCD, whatever it is you want them to think.
But when we're running to the grocery store because we are out
of milk and we're making dinner and we need to get a couple last
ingredients, we are throw on whatever is in front of us, the
sweats and whatever and what happens.
We always bump into someone and the first thing we do is either

(22:03):
run the other way with our sunglasses on so they don't see
us, or we apologize. Don't look at me.
Don't look at me. I'm just getting, I'm just
getting the milk. I'm just don't look at me.
First of all, what do you mean don't look at you?
We see you. You're not invisible.
Like, what are you talking about?
Of course we see you. So I always tell my clients,
make sure you have the cute jeans in your wardrobe, the cute
sweatshirt that is in your colorthat you look good in.
You have to wear clothes anyway.Make them the cute clothes.

(22:26):
You know it's. It's such a funny point.
Just the other night, I was having a hilarious conversation
with a girlfriend and we were talking about what people wear
to the airport these days to travel.
And, and we were saying, you know, invariably you either run
into someone at the airport or you talk to the person sitting
next to you on the plane, even if it's only for two minutes,

(22:46):
you know, there's some social interaction.
We were talking about the peoplewho get on a plane in their
sweatpants or what looks like pajamas, you know, looking like
they just rolled out of bed. And the people who get on a
plane looking like they're the rock star that you want to sit
with and you want to meet and you want to start a conversation
with. That's right, because some
people know how to flex that fashion muscle and some people

(23:09):
just aren't interested or just don't know how to do it.
And I feel like but most people want to be seen in a good way,
they just don't know how to do it.
Let's talk about. That the flexing the fashion
muscle, you know, there's there's I think a whole
Instagram genre called the hype beast, you know, which I had to

(23:32):
ask my kids what that meant, butthey explained the hype beasts
are the ones that, you know, have on the Dior shirt, the
Chanel sneakers, the, you know, Louis Vuitton pants they're
wearing. They will only wear a designer
and everything on their body hasto be a mega big designer brand
that screams I'm wearing this designer.

(23:52):
That's right. What do you think of that trend
and I mean? You know, I think it could be
cool. I mean, I think it depends on,
you know, like again, what do you want to say?
Like what? Like what's your, how do you
want to be seen? I mean, you know, I feel like I
see it, you know, I that, you know, the Balma sweatshirt
that's, you know, $2500, you know, you know, with the $250
Chloe jeans, I mean, I see it. The sneakers, you know, that are

(24:13):
like, you know, 1500 bucks. You know, it's a because it's a
different way of looking sort ofstatus and we've gotten into
such a casual culture. You know, casual Friday turned
into casual Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday.
And so and denim is the hugest it's ever been coming out of
this pandemic because no one wants to put structured clothing

(24:36):
back on, although it kind of is coming back around.
Not only. That I'm seeing on the street
and I I was wondering with denimif Yellowstone and the whole
Yellowstone series and all the different spin offs of it
because the other day I'm walking with my husband and I
said Gee, there must be some cowboy party everyone's going to
He goes you didn't notice that every corner roll the girls are

(24:59):
dressed like they look like they're going to a western event
That's right because. Western is huge.
Unbelievable. Yeah, and I used.
To think of that just more like Ralph Lauren, I would think, you
know, America, right? You know, the heartland.
Yes, absolutely. Yeah, you're.
Seeing a lot of it now. Yeah, totally.
And, and The thing is, you know,I think that, you know, I'm, I'm

(25:20):
for whatever you want to do. I don't people are so funny.
They're like, George, I'm sure you just walk down the street
and judge. I don't judge anybody because
whatever makes you happy. I just, I want when when people
come to me, I just want to help them.
And, you know, we're talking about all this fun stuff and it
really is fun. But, but, but the other side of
it is, you know, I actually really inadvertently and and not

(25:45):
even as a focus realized that I'm in the service industry and
I really am serving people. And, you know, I had a very
interesting experience just thispast week where I had a
transgender client and she is 74and just had the operation in

(26:08):
December. And it's that's going to be a.
Big wardrobe shift the and it. Was and it's the third time I've
dressed her, but, you know, she had been dressing like a woman
for I think five years and then wanted to do the operation at
that late point in her life. And, you know, and this time
that I dressed her because she had already had the operation.

(26:29):
We spent two days in a store andand she was with a friend and I
was also dressing the friend because they're going to
Barbados. And she started to reveal her
story, you know, married for 35 years.
And then just, you know, then came out, you know, and, you

(26:49):
know, and, and had the operationand how her children were
handling it and how her ex-wife was handling it and, you know,
just really revealing. And of course, you know, threw
her arms around me. Thank you for helping me find
myself. And, you know, she wore glasses.
And so we got like 10 pairs of different glasses for all the
different kinds of clothing. So they would work with the

(27:10):
clothing because it's such a central part of the look, you
know, And I sent her to the bestwig specialist in New York City
because I have those resources and so happy with these amazing
wigs, you know, because you're creating this look.
And she sent me the most beautiful e-mail and, you know,
and, and someone like that, you know, to be able to help them be

(27:33):
able to express to the world this new person that they have
become and what the the transition that they've gone
through. And that's just like that kind
of a story as well as someone I've helped people that, you
know, have had a long term, you know, illness and come out of
it. Thank God.
OK. But now what do I wear after the

(27:53):
chemo, after the radiation, Whatdo I do?
What's my look? I don't even know someone who
had been out of work for a really long time back into the
work world. What do I do?
How do I do it? How do people take me seriously?
You know, those are like heavy issues and significant issues.
And, and when I'm doing it, likeI don't think, Oh my God, I'm

(28:16):
really helping this person because I just see this
beautiful person in front of me and I'm just working with them.
I'm like on this journey with them.
And then afterwards sometimes I'm like, wow, that was really
something like it hits me after.Does that make sense?
Yes it does. And, and it's it's very
heartwarming. And, you know, you're talking
about the psychology that goes into clothing and the, and the,

(28:38):
the depths of fashion. And when we had a little call
yesterday on the phone and I said to, you know, I really
never thought about fashion until seeing the movie The Devil
Wears Prada. And when Anthony Stanley Tucci,
I can't remember his name in themovie, really dresses down the
what's her name? Anne Hathaway.

(28:59):
Anne Hathaway, he dresses her down and says, you know, you
don't understand what fashion isand that it's an X billion
dollar industry and that, you know, it impacts every aspect of
people's lives and how many people have employed, been
employed and how it infect effects whether you were going
to be employed. And it's what you're saying
right now. It's really, it seems so

(29:21):
superficial on countless levels,especially when we're talking in
a world of fast fashion. People like turning, you know,
just we've got, you know, $2.00 articles of clothing that people
will wear for a night and throw away.
And then you've got the classicsthat somebody can wear for 100
years from now and it'll still be classic.
That's right. So it's an interesting dynamic

(29:41):
that's happening. I mean it.
Is, I mean, you know, like I love that movie The Devil Wears
Prada, of course. And you're right.
And you know, and Stanley Tucci,does he he, you know, because,
because Anne, the Anne Hathaway character thinks that it's all
very vapid and Runway magazine, which is modeled after Vogue
magazine. And you know, obviously Anna
Wintour, Oh, who cares? And you know, the girls that

(30:03):
work here, the Clackers because their heels just clack, clack,
clack as they walk down and they're Jimmy Choos and and all
of this. But the fact of the matter is he
happens to be right. It is huge.
And if the commerce that it brings us in all of the retail
stores, all of the wholesale stores, I mean the wholesale and
you know, now all the online shopping that is done.

(30:23):
I mean, it's major, major business as we know, but it has
certainly changed tremendously. And again, that's where the book
and you know, it's funny becausebecause you can't go naked, but
you can't. And that when you think about
it, there is not a person reallyin most of the world that does

(30:44):
not have to clothe their body. And so, you know, because of
that, I want people to win at that game.
And instead of being a robot andnot paying attention, I want
them to pay attention and take time for that.

(31:05):
And women, it's because most of my clients are women.
I dress a lot of men, but you know, women, I don't.
You know, you're unbelievable because you service everyone
else, your kids, your husband, your mother, your father, your
sister, your friends, Everyone gets serviced by you.
And who comes back to give you attention?

(31:28):
No one. And most women do not take care
of themselves and give themselves the time.
They squeeze in the manicure pedicure maybe once a month.
Maybe. Maybe they'll buy a new shirt, a
new blouse. But then they feel so guilty.
Oh, my God, why did I buy this? I, I should be sending my

(31:49):
daughter money when they could easily afford to buy themselves
something. When's the last time?
Oh, they get their hair done what, once every six weeks?
You know, And it's like the hugest deal that they got a
blowout. Why?
Like, why? No?
And I always say to my clients, no, because the more you take
care of you, you're going to be a better mother, a better

(32:11):
sister, a better wife, a better friend because you're going to
be happier. You're taking time for yourself.
And that's what my book talks about.
So you have to get dressed in the morning.
I say, take a deep breath. Look in the mirror and you're
washing your face or you're brushing your teeth.

(32:34):
What do I have going on today? What's my day?
What am I doing today? Oh, I'm having lunch with Susie.
Then I have to go pick up Bobby and Cindy from school, and then
I'm making. So what are you going to wear
that's going to make you feel nice when you go for that lunch?
By the way, it could be a Jean, a sneaker, a cotton sweater.

(32:57):
But if it's all in the color andthe silhouette, that looks
really good on you. And then you're doing your
little crossbody bag and maybe you have on like a little Moto
jacket. You look adorable and you feel
cute and you have a great lunch.And then when you go to the pick
up line in school, when you see one of the other pair, Oh my
God, Diane, you look so great. I love that jacket on you.

(33:17):
Is that new? No, that just, I've had it, you
know. Does that make you feel nice?
So we don't. It's not that we live for the
compliments, it's that we feel good.
I have talked to more women thatI dress and even women that I
don't dress. They're sitting at the hockey
game. They're sitting at the field
hockey game or the baseball gamewith the kid, and they're just

(33:38):
miserable because, well, hockey.And field hockey, that's pretty
cold weather, so they just want to be warm, I don't think.
But you can be warm and still. Look cute.
That's that's what people say. I can't be warm and be stylish.
Yeah, you can. There's a million cute jackets
out there. I could show you where they are.
So my point is. But then they see the woman come
on the, you know, the bleachers or in the hockey rink or where

(34:02):
or whatever it is a school play and she looks adorable.
And they're like, why does she look so cute?
How come I don't look that cute?Because why does she wear the
cute jacket and the cute little booties?
And why do her jeans fit her so great?
And whose are those jeans? And what, what is that?
Because you're just not taking the time, you know, and, and,
and it makes you feel bad about yourself.

(34:23):
And I find that so many women have such a, you know, like a
poor self-image of themselves. And, and it's because they're
just like on roller skates, running through life, doing all
the things that they have to do and never take the time for
themselves. And so, you know, that's just
what I'm all about, whether it'smy book, whether I'm dressing
someone, whether I'm talking on a podcast like here today or

(34:45):
whether I'm on a talk show or whatever I'm doing because
anybody can do it. It's not, you know, it's not
hard. It's interesting because this
woman that I talked about, she really, you know, it was hard
for her because she just didn't know but how to do it.
But yet she could see it in the mirror when we put something on.
She's like, I don't know why this looks good, but I see that

(35:06):
it looks good. How do you?
Recommend somebody starts, I mean, where, where do you begin
if you want to tweak that 3% of the dial in One Direction or the
other? What do you if you're by?
Yourself and you can't have a George.
That's what I talk about my bookRent a George.
You can't. But maybe you maybe you have a
good friend. Maybe you have, you know, your

(35:27):
daughter or you know, a relative.
You know, you can go through your closet and you can sort of
go through your things and maybeget someone's opinion.
But you could also go through your closet and say, OK, I'm
going to go through my closet. First of all, what am I really
wearing? Most people only wear 2% of
their closet. Can you imagine all those
clothes? They're wearing like 5 pieces of

(35:47):
clothes over and over again, noteven touching the rest of their
clothes. That's usually.
How I do my clean out when I need, when I realize my closet
needs a clean out, I'm like, if I haven't worn it in the past
six months or when, you know, taking into weather differences,
you know, last winter or yes, then it goes, yeah, you know,
that's my donation to the Goodwill or whatever.

(36:09):
Dress for Success or one of those.
Yes, which? Are great organizations that
love dress for success I've worked with them so I think that
what you can do is you go through your closet your
drawers, go through your clothesand look at the pieces that you
get compliments on what color isit how does it fit because the
compliment that you always want to hear and we've all had this,

(36:32):
you know you could like is Oh myGod, that sweater looks so
beautiful on you versus I love your sweater who cares who cares
You love my sweater I throw it out if that's what someone says
to me I'm like, well that was a bad purchase because if you love
my sweater you wear it like I don't want to wear it What you

(36:54):
want to hear is Oh my God, that color looks great on you because
I could have on like, you know a$35 sweatshirt, but if it's in
like my color and someone says Oh my God, George, that color
looks so good on you that's the compliment that you want that's
a very different compliment and you know you talk about all the
red carpet stuff right now we'regoing to go you know to the

(37:16):
let's. Go to the red carpet because
some of the stuff you see it's. I mean from total totally
inappropriate. Yeah.
And to what were you thinking? Yeah.
To classic, to elegant, to vintage.
Yeah. Sometimes I wonder how those
choices get made. And I'm sure there's plenty of
money exchanged in the background for some of the

(37:38):
outfits. Yeah.
You know, and I mean, not just buying them, but who's
showcasing what for who. Yeah.
But it depends. I mean, here's the thing, you
know, I have never been the typeof stylist.
Some stylist and some designers,it's all about them.
They want to have a big fashion moment.
They want, you know, like to have the credit.

(38:01):
I want my client to have someonesee her or him and say, did you
see Nicole Kidman the other night at the Golden Globes?
She looked incredible in that dress versus what was that dress
Nicole Kidman was wearing? Or like I loved her dress but I

(38:24):
didn't love it on her. Like so I always.
Thought those columns were so cool.
Cruel. Who wore it best?
Where they take somebody in the same outfit Like who wore it
best? I'm like, oh, what a cringe
moment that is for a magazine todo to someone.
It could. Be and it is.
But you know, this is what I tell because I have so many
celebrities that say to me, especially the Broadway girls,

(38:49):
why? Why do I have to?
I'm like because why do I have to?
What? Why do I have to?
Yeah, like why? Do I have to dress a certain
way? Why do I have to look this good?
Like, why do I have to do it on the red carpet?
Like, why do I have to go on this talk show and look like
this and get hair and makeup anddo all these things?
You know, people that went to Yale Drama School and people
that went to, you know, that have won Tony Awards and all
kinds of things. I'm like, because that is the

(39:12):
game, my dear, and whether you like it or not, that game is
happening, so you might as well win at it, that is.
Such an that's that's that's thenugget right there.
It is because the game. It's a game and.
It's life. I mean, you're in show business.
That's the way it. Goes it doesn't even have to be

(39:33):
show business if, you know, if Iwant to win over a big crisis
management contract that I do ifI walk in in jeans and AT shirt
versus making sure I'm putting on the best suit I can manage to
purchase, you know, within the budget, I'm comfortable that's
going to make all the differencein the world.

(39:54):
Absolutely. And you know, like, and by the
way, men, I had this woman come up to me in a restaurant.
I was eating dinner. So New York.
And, and I knew her. It's very new.
York, I interrupt other people'sdinner.
Oh yeah, she did. She came right up to me.
I mean, I knew her from, I knew her from a very friendly.
City. Yes, and.
I love that. And I knew her from years ago.

(40:14):
She said to me, Oh my God. I said what?
She goes, you have to help me. I said do what she goes.
My husband drives this family crazy.
I was like, why? She goes?
Because he's an ad executive andhe is constantly, you know,
pitching and doing these presentations.
And whenever he has a big presentation, the whole house is
in an uproar about what he's going to wear.

(40:35):
And he, like, freaks out and he doesn't have anything.
And then he feels awful and it'sgoing to be no impact.
The presentation. You got to get him some clothes.
I was like, OK, so I met with him and it's interesting.
Men have just as many insecurities.
And, you know, he's like, I don't know my belly and this
suit and whatever. I got him all these clothes.

(40:56):
She called me a month later, she's like, Oh my God, thank
you. Our life is So now he just goes
into his closet. He puts on these different
things. He feels fabulous.
He looks amazing. Like everyone is so happy.
It is such a difference. Like, I just don't think that
people, a lot of people, they again, they don't know how they

(41:18):
don't take the time. If you don't have a stylist
sometimes, I mean, not that you,not that everyone needs a
stylist, but if you don't have someone that you can trust, it's
hard because you go into a storeand you think that people are
just trying to sell you stuff. And so you don't believe what
they say. You know, I'm, I mean, you know,
I, I just know I've had, I could, I mean, listen, we could

(41:38):
be here for weeks. Like there's just so many
stories, but. But it's such a good point which
you make about the ad executive,because I've owned a public
relations firm for 30 plus yearsand yeah, you.
Really get this subject? Well, there were.
Times that I would hire someone that was young right out of
school and I always believed in that expression, baptism by

(42:00):
fire. So if I hired someone you were
going to be in client meetings right off the bat and I'd say,
you know, they're they're in debt from school, they're new to
the work environment. And I don't know if you can
still do it now. I used to call up Macy's and
say, listen, I'm sending over a kid the budget.
Sometimes I would, you know, it was 1000 or $1500 is what I

(42:22):
would say. This is your sign on bonus
because I think you're going to be great.
But we got to dress you and thatkid would walk out and maybe 2
suits, you know, 5 shirts, 2 belts, a pair of shoes for
whatever the budget was. And the next day they'd come in.
It was priceless. Yeah.
To see the difference, yeah. That's it.
And how they shook a hand. That's right.

(42:43):
What you're talking about is is exactly what I do for a living.
Yeah. And, and and it's very
important. And, you know, and then there's
just all different degrees of it, you know.
I mean, you know, I think that like, I had a client that, you
know, she was doing a show and she wanted the show had gone to

(43:03):
Broadway and she wanted a raise.And I said, go get, you know,
wear the red dress that we got and wear your nude shoes and the
nude bag. Go get your hair blown out.
Do it with the gold jewelry and go into that meeting like you
mean business. And she did and she got the
raise. I mean, you know, does it work
every time? I don't know.
But it's about how she felt about herself.

(43:26):
It's the fact that, you know, she looked like that people
respond to that. It's, it's like when you think
about it as a fun game or just you don't take it that seriously
that it, you know, debilitates you.
It's kind of a weapon. You know, you don't have to do
it every day. Just be aware of when you are
doing it and when you're not doing it.

(43:47):
So how? Would you say the expression
clothes make the man or the man makes the clothes?
I I feel that the clothes make the man feel.
Like a man, yeah. Like he's wearing that's so, so
it's the same sentence, but you just put the word feel in there.
Do you know, and because they they do, they make you feel a

(44:08):
certain way. You know, it's, it's not a
mistake that I'm wearing an orange sweater today, you know,
with a white shirt. I mean, I knew I was going to be
on camera and I look great. I was a little thank you.
I was a little tired this morning.
So I knew it would like give me a little bit more of a buzz, you
know, and make me feel and have people, you know, respond to me
that way. So, you know, and then there's

(44:29):
like, you know, there's some broad strokes, right?
Like because I do these talks incompanies all over the United
States, you know, for like 500 to 1000 people, usually mostly
women. And what do you teach?
We talk in the workplace and it's, you know, like how to
dress for the job you want, not necessarily the job you have.

(44:50):
And, and let me tell you before I do these talks, you know,
because we live in a different society now and I understand and
these HR people get on the phonewith me.
You know, you can't say this. You can't say that you can't,
you know, and I get it because everyone needs to be included
and feel included. And it's, you know, we have a
but it's annoying. Well.

(45:11):
We just, we live in a culture now.
So I, I respect it. I do, I do because, you know, I,
I just do. But I, you know, I, so I did.
I was at this company in Boston and this big financial company,
and I was doing this big talk and one of the young girls,
she's like, I don't have a lot of money.
And I said, well, you're young and you're lucky.

(45:31):
You can wear a lot that an olderperson can because as we get
older, that inexpensive clothingdoesn't look as good on us.
And I said, but here's some tricks.
You know, you want to look expensive.
You dress monochromatic, you know, in one color, could be
blue, could be brown, could be green, whatever.
It looks very expensive and you can get it very inexpensively,

(45:55):
but you will look expensive. You should have a beautiful
blazer. It doesn't have to be expensive,
but it may be in a dark color that looks pulled together.
And then when you wear it, thereare certain things that you
need, you know, in your wardrobe, just certain staples
in that kind of a work atmosphere that can present you
the way that you want to be presented.

(46:16):
And, and, you know, these kids are all taking notes.
It's hilarious, but it it's true.
And I and I think that, you know, and also giving people
like a different perspective. I think we see ourselves in a
certain way. And then when you have someone
that can be objective and just kind of see you, it's very
fascinating to me. Like, you know, I'm looking at
you and I see all this gorgeous silver hair and these big
beautiful almond eyes and you know, like a beautiful skin.

(46:38):
And there's so many things that I could think of that the way I
would dress you, but but I just see this beautiful woman in
front of me, right. But then I hear you say, Oh, my
husband. Oh wow, she's married.
Oh, my kids. Oh, wow, she's a mom.
I don't see, it's interesting. I don't see my clients that way.
It's fascinating to me and it and, and, and I think it serves

(46:59):
me and them that I don't becauseyou know, people will say, what
do you love about what you do? Like what's 1 of the things that
I love the most is when I'm working with a client and she
looks in the mirror or he looks in the mirror and they're like,
Oh yeah, oh, oh, there's that guy, there's that 25 year old.

(47:25):
Oh yeah, oh, wow. And the same thing with a woman.
Oh yeah, there's that girl, there she is.
And they'd start to do their hair and they, you know, and
they take their, and they're moving differently.
Like, you see, like they're so much lighter.
Like all that stress and all that negative self talk is just

(47:46):
kind of goes away, you know? And it's fascinating because
it's just me and them and someone is paying attention to
you, giving you full attention to attend to yourself, right?
It's big. Well, you.

(48:06):
Know you said something funny when you came in.
You said something about, you know, maybe I could have added a
scarf or something. And that really made me laugh
because when I first started blogging and I was posting
things on Instagram and then I made the commitment I was going
to going to blog every single day.

(48:28):
So I would hire photographers, go out on the street, bring
three different jackets, either denims or Leathers.
And my mother had had a scarf collection that she built over
the years. And my mother knew I was trying,
you know, trying to take 365 different pictures a year is
challenge. And so I would layer up my

(48:52):
T-shirts, have a couple of denimjackets, but bring 20 to 25
scarves with me. And people used to say, oh, my
gosh, you wear scarves all the time.
And then I'm like, yeah, becauseI'm trying to pretend I'm Mick
Jagger or Steven Tyler with all the scarves hanging on the
microphone. But it allowed me to change up
outfits in the most simple way. Although my kids nailed me on

(49:13):
it. They're like, mom, I've never
seen you in that many scarves. But that's.
Hilarious. And then it got written up in
the Daily Mail and El Argentina,you know, the influencer who
wears scarves every day. I'm like, oh this is very funny
now. Do you do you only wear black?
Really. Well, I wear mostly black.

(49:33):
In the summer I wear mostly white.
Oh, you do. And in between, I have a
collection of vintage Hermes women's shirts that were.
They're made out of like the scarf silk that were made in the
60s and 70s. And I have them.
They're all different sizes, butwhatever size I could ever find

(49:54):
one in, I would buy it because they're the ultimate travel item
for clothing. And the patterns on them are
exquisite. But even though they're 4050,
sixty years old, you can literally roll them up in a
ball, George. And you take it out and it looks
like. Yeah.
Those are major they're. Unbelievable.

(50:15):
I got my first like 6 at an estate sale and then it set me
on the hunt and I would my husband would say, what do you
want? I'm like, can you find me
another vintage? But it's got it's got to have
the buttons. I now know the labels it has to
have. That's fabulous when you wear
all white, but do you get a lot of attention?
I don't know because I'm usuallysweating because.

(50:36):
But I would imagine you would like all white is definitely
your thing for sure with your hair.
That looks really good on you. I was I was sitting here
thinking, God, she should do like all white or white.
That's really good with your hair.
I'll have to. Keep that in mind.
And I don't want to end this, George, because I'm having so
much fun with you. But our time is up.
Oh my God. We really, it just seemed like 2
seconds, didn't it, You know? Time really goes and this was so

(50:59):
much fun getting to know you. It was a really interesting
conversation. Everybody my my guest today has
been George Brescia. He's got a great book out.
All his info is going to be below the videos or below the
audios. Whoever you choose to listen to
or watch these podcasts I run. Thank you very much for joining
me. Thank you for.
Having me it was really fun I. It was a really good discussion,

(51:22):
I enjoyed it tremendously. Me too, thank.
You well. Everybody.
I'm Diane Worsell. My guest was George Brescia, He
wrote, wrote the book. Change your clothes, change your
life because you can't go naked.Very true, everybody.
So I really hope you check out all this information below.
Follow him on Instagram, check out his book, look for him on

(51:42):
the red carpet or some TV show 'cause he's on plenty.
And please subscribe again Silver Disobedience Perception
Dynamics podcast and share this with your friends.
Thanks for tuning in.

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