I tell my clients never to wear patterns on stage.

Clean lines. Solid colors. Nothing that competes with your message for attention. I have said this hundreds of times. I believe it. I teach it.

While preparing for last month’s speaking engagement at the Slowdown Summit, I found myself torn between two options, and whether or not to break my own rule.

Option one: a magenta pantsuit. My signature color. Clean, polished, camera-ready. And practical: this talk was being recorded, and I knew I would be using that footage for a long time. A well-fitted suit in a color I love photographs beautifully and reads “speaker” from the back of any room. (A few of my current favorites here.)

Option two: a striped sweater knit set, paired with my most comfortable leopard shoes.

I was torn between what I knew would look better on camera and what would better serve the moment and my message.

Then I thought about the room. The Slowdown Summit was hosted in an art gallery in Columbus, Ohio. The audience skewed younger, casual, and intentional. These are people who come specifically to reject the performance of hustle culture. My talk was about authenticity and the cost of masking in professional life.

And the sweater knit set did something the pantsuit could not: it did not hide. The silhouette showed my figure at its fullest. No blazer, no structure, nowhere to disappear to. Just me, in stripes and leopard, saying what I came to say. That was its own kind of vulnerability. And it was the right kind.

The audience felt it. Seventeen people named me by name in the post-event surveys. Several specifically noted that my outfit and presence matched my message, that I lived what I was teaching. One person wrote: “I realized I wasn’t showing up as my full self.” That is the whole point.

That coherence is not accidental. It is what I mean by “Authentically Appropriate.” Not permission to wear whatever you feel like. A framework for understanding what your choices are actually communicating, and whether they are aligned with who you are and what you are there to do.

A polished pantsuit has its place. That day, in that art museum, it was not the right one.

Video of my full talk is here. Watch it, and then consider this: the framework behind that 13 minutes is what I will be demonstrating live, in full, on June 18.

The Identity Impact Index Showcase is a free, 60-minute virtual session on June 18 at 1:00 PM ET. It is built for organizations, teams, ERGs, and leaders who are ready to close the gap between who they are and how they show up. If that sounds like someone in your world, this is the hour to send them. Registration closes June 15.

Register and share here: www.morganwider.com/showcase

The best teams are the ones where people do not have to hide. Send this to the leader who is ready to build that.

Yours in Style, Shopping, and Soul,

Morgan

P.S. A bold, statement suit is always a good thing to have on hand. A few of my current favorites are here.