ProductiviTree: Cultivating Efficiency, Harvesting Joy

The Productivity Hack Nobody Talks About: Your Clothes

• Santiago Tacoronte • Season 2 • Episode 51

Share episode

Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.

0:00 | 43:46

Send a text

Reginald Ferguson talks about how he got started in the fashion industry, influenced by his family and the energy of New York City. He explains how what we wear can affect how others see us at work, and why dressing well matters for credibility and respect. Reginald also examines how ideas about leadership attire are changing, the impact of fast fashion, and why personal style matters. He shares practical advice for anyone looking to improve their wardrobe without sacrificing their sense of style, and he discusses the specific challenges women face in the workplace regarding style and judgment.

Takeaways

  • Fashion is influenced by personal experiences and upbringing.
  • New York City serves as a significant backdrop for fashion inspiration.
  • Dressing well can enhance productivity and credibility.
  • Leadership attire has evolved; it's not just about suits anymore.
  • Personal style should be distinct and aspirational.
  • Fast fashion can be avoided by developing a personal style.
  • Reinvention of style is a gradual process.
  • Knowing your dimensions is crucial for making smart clothing choices.
  • Clothing communicates who you are and affects how others perceive you.
  • Women face unique challenges in workplace attire and judgment.What’s Your

Real Productivity Score as a Leader? Take the Free Test: https://santiagotacoronte.com/productivity-quiz/


Thanks for listening to ProductiviTree! If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and share.

🟢 Spotify

🟣 Apple Podcasts

🟡 Amazon Music

🔴 YouTube

Take the New Productivity Test: https://links.santiagotacoronte.com/Productivity-Assessment

Connect with me:

Have questions or suggestions? Email us at info@santiagotacoronte.com

Connect with the host:
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/santiago-tacoronte/
• https://santiagotacoronte.com/

Reginald Ferguson, welcome to Productivity. Thank you so much Santiago for having me. Hey, what sparked your passion for fashion? Yeah, really what sparked it was a combination of three individuals. My mom, my grandma and my grandpa, her parents. I like to say they were my fashion teachers and they were making choices for me before I could even make choices for myself, right? So. In their respective households, they always stress the importance of style and fashion. And my grandfather was my direct male example. He taught me how to tie a tie. He taught me how to shine my shoes. Heck, he taught me how to tie my shoes, to be honest. And growing up here in New York City, I thought every red-blooded American boy was being nurtured the same way. And you go to school and you realize that's not the case. But those were the individuals who started the monster, as my mom later said to my grandparents. So you are a New Yorker and of course New York, Paris, Milan, those are the capitals of fashion. How has New York shaped your approach to style and how it has influenced you as a fashion advisor? think it shaped me indelibly because to your point Santiago, this is one of the fashion capitals. And clearly my mom and my grandparents, if they're stressing to uh a child the importance of style and fashion, I can't speak for any of those individuals. They're no longer here. But I believe they stressed it for two reasons. I think they stressed it because they just had a genuine interest. in dressing sharp and dressing well, but also candidly, I think because of the color of their skin, they understood that navigating in this world, in this country, much less this city, means you should leave nothing to chance from the standpoint of credibility and respect. And I still believe in the 21st century that clothing offers that respect. So New York City, Santiago, I tease about this all the time. It's a competition once you hit the streets. ah definitely it led to an amazing impression and sharpened my vision, my eye, you know, for what I wear and what I watch other people wear. And certainly it has benefited my business immensely. So you said that. your mom, your dad, or your grandpa put you into this, but at what point, at which point did you notice that fashion was also a productivity factor? don't think I truly started realizing that until probably college age. Because when you talk about productivity, I'm still gonna tie in credibility. And I'll give you a great example. A few years into my very young business career, I was fortunate enough to be a door-to-door salesperson selling copy machines. Not the easiest of tasks, particularly because you're not actually lugging the physical item. The point of those two things being intertwined in my point is if you're knocking door to door, it is not a given that you're going to be granted entrance door to door. And if you dress well, if you are articulate in your request, you may get an opportunity to actually set up an appointment. If I don't set up appointments, I can't be productive, I can't make money, I can't receive commissions. So I think there's a direct correlation. I don't think there's any question about it. Also, mm-hmm. sorry. In fact, credibility is very much associated to productivity because credible people is more productive or tend to be more productive. I would agree with that sentiment of yours, certainly. What does, let's shape this around productivity, leadership. What does this dressing like a leader uh really mean today in the very diverse work environment? We know, Reggie, what it means before, a suit, so to speak. But now you see a lot of leaders that don't wear a suit. In fact, less of them wear a suit. That's right. means dressing as a leader today. I think to your point, there is not one way to lead, which means there's not one way to dress. I am a old school guy from a classic menswear perspective, meaning this. I think no matter what you do, You should make a decision to slightly, in the very least, set yourself apart from the rank and file of your organization. Right? It doesn't mean that you're 180 degrees different in appearance from them. But I think uh there's a fine line between being one of the boys and one of the girls as a leader and making the choice to actually lead. And there has to be some distinctions, I think, to create some type of separation for aspiration. much less leadership. think if I look literally just like you. What's going to drive me to go, this is the individual that I want to give my all to 12 hours a day maybe, right? In an extreme case. And I think it has to be an individual who may not exactly look like you. They may understand you, they may empathize with you. To me, I think there's an importance there. And again, to reiterate, I don't think you have to look drastically different than the rank and file. But I think in clothing overall, and I think this leadership question ties into this, you have two choices. You can stand out or you can fit in. There's value in both. There's no question about that. But I'll give you a related example. to further this answer to this question. There's an individual that I spoke with who's a potential client. It's not a current client, but hopefully it'll be a client one day. He has a YouTube channel and his audience is young military men, I think 24 to 35, and his role is as a part of me, financial advisor. I think personally, he's not the best dressed. I don't think he needs to represent classic Benz wear, but I think he has to dress in a way that's aspirational for these individuals to look at him credibly. And I don't think he understands that yet, but hopefully he will one day with my help. Let's narrow down this topic a little bit because I'm very curious. When you say it has to be aspirational, the leader, people needs to somewhat admire the way their leader or a leader looks like. Is this about brands? Is it about style? Is it about expensive clothes? Is it about being different? How can a leader differentiate? ah the way they look. I culturally to your point Santiago, it's a style and it's an ethos. It's not about brands, it's not about money. To me, a great example and a touchstone is the late Steve Jobs. Steve Jobs was not a classic menswear individual, meaning he certainly eschewed the wearing of a shirt and a tie and a suit. I respect the heck out of that. But here's what a lot of people don't know. Those mock necks, in those pants, his designer was Issey Miyake. That's a brand and that brand cost money. Now he had a very uniform style of dress because he didn't want to give any thought. So really if you think about it, he created his own capsule collection with the benefit of the late Issey Miyake. You open up his closet and there was a modularity. Right? There was a uniformity. Black mock necks, black jeans, black pants. I don't know the shoes. You talk about productivity, there's an efficiency there, right? He didn't want to have to think about what to wear every day. I also don't think about what to wear every day, but I have a much greater variety and diversity in my clothing that, you know, God rest him, he ever would have. In that type of environment, which is a Silicon oh Valley environment, which again, if someone has a suit on, people probably would run for cover. You still have a group of individuals that are going to kind of do their own thing, right? That's again, their cultural, that's their culture, that's their ethos. But you still had a guy who was so focused on product, right? One of our greatest leaders in product creation of all time. I would argue that he still cared about how he looked. Many people uh want to dress well, also find a bit of a dilemma on the fast fashion topic. Because fashion is changing very quickly these days. Or much quicker than before, better said. How does this impact ah people that want to dress and be stylish or have their own brand? at work and that feels that they need to go and change the entire clothes set every, I don't know, three or six months. Well, I think you hit it squarely on the head. know, fashion involves cycles. And like you said, they've been accelerated to a point that we've never ever witnessed before. Certainly there's always the conversation and I think that's what we're leading into right now. Style versus fashion. And I am of the mind that if you create your own personal style, then you're not going to be caught up in the trap of fast fashion and barring significant weight gain, you're going to have items of clothing that will last you at least 10 years if you take care of them. And again, if you don't have an amazing increase in girth. And to me, again, talking about productivity, that is an investment in which you will save time by not having to your point worry about what the whole Palloy are wearing every three to six months. Right now, interestingly enough, and I'm sure you and your audience are aware of this, We now have this frenzy about the quarter zip top, something that I never thought would cause such a noise, such a buzz. have quarter zip tops. I've never called them that. I've always called them zipper tops and I have not put one on due to the buzz that's been surrounding the press and social media. Probably because I just haven't felt like it. But the thing I have found amusing about this is first of all, within a year's time, If you look at the chronology, that quarter zip initially was looked down upon, and now it's elevated. For me, it's part of my arsenal, and yes, I do view clothing in that type of framework, but I'm not forcing myself to all of a sudden wear them because I'm being told to wear I'm an exception, I'm well aware of this Santiago. I created my own style since childhood. I started developing my own taste at around 10 years old. And I certainly can remember as an adolescent, my grandmother telling me after we had a brief curt exchange, because she bought me a gift of a jacket out of love, and I shook my head fiercely and said, I don't like that. I remember my grandmother looking at me saying, don't worry, I'll never do this again. Meaning she'll never make a purchase for me, she never did again. Because really thanks to her, unbeknownst to her, I started developing taste and I knew what I liked and I knew what I didn't like. I think a lot of men don't have that opportunity of having that nurturing to then develop their own independent thought. But certainly, if you are beholden to the whims of Instagram and Pinterest, I think that's a losing proposition. Let's give a little bit of advice to all these men and women that might not have their own or might not have found their own style yet. uh But still, we'd like to do something different. How can people reinvent themselves? When, for example, You talk about leaders before when someone moves from having a role into her being becoming a leader. How can they reinvent the way the fashion so to speak? Reinvention is a really strong word because to me that gives a thought of making a 180 degree change. Right? So it's something rather extreme. I think it happens very deliberately. It takes a lot of time. And I think the individuals that you mentioned, have choices to make. One choice is becoming erudite. in learning from either reading or, you know, candidly social media about what they think foundationally makes sense for them to adorn. And then I think candidly the other approach is seeking expertise. working with individuals in the fashion consultancy or stylist space whose job is to make individuals become the best version of themselves. So again, you have a choice. You can seek the knowledge and do trial and error or you pay for expertise and maybe there's not as much trial and error. What are the biggest style mistakes people make when trying to dress for success? The number one Santiago, particularly I think for men more than women, but they're not uh devoid of this. Knowing one's dimensions. It blows my mind, particularly for men, how individuals don't know their sizes. I often share the story that Listen, when we were growing up, I can remember going to the store with my grandparents. And when you're a kid, every kid remembers this, regardless of gender. You go to the department store, you're with your family, the salesperson comes to you and your family and goes, what are you looking for? Your family tells them you may agree or not or not agree because you're a kid. And then the salesperson goes, what's his or her size? And then the family gives out a number and maybe you give out a number, but you probably don't. And then the salesperson pulls out some tape, either confirms or denies the number because particularly if you're a little kid or you're an adolescent, you're growing, right? You're growing rapidly. So your size from six months ago could be different than now. For me, I literally remember hearing these numbers. He's an eight, he's a 12. He wears a size six shoe. I never forgot those numbers and those numbers constantly changed. And now here I am in the gray stage of life. I know all my numbers. I know my dimensions, but I can talk to a peer and they can't tell me anything. And I don't understand what happened. Where did the drop off occur? We were literally indoctrinated to know our sizes. How did you all of sudden conveniently forget? I know my hat size, even with this big fro. I know my neck size. I know my shirt size. I know my pants size. I know my shoe size. I will never know all the dimensions that a tailor needs, but to go to a department store, I know my number. And if you don't know your numbers, I think you are prone to make mistakes on buying clothing that does not fit you properly. There you have it. Hmm. Reggie, I remember once, ah a few months back, I was working at a company and there was a leader that used to dress in a certain style. And all of a sudden he shows up with a very colorful outfit. Like, I don't know, everybody was looking at him like, well, what just happened? Can radical style changes help? or herd professional credibility. That's a loaded question. It's very individual. I think you hit on something very clearly and strongly Santiago. The departure sounds like an extreme versus a gradual change, right? When you mentioned earlier reinvention, I thought of gradual change. because that's how change really works, doesn't it? It's usually not abrupt. It can be seismic, but for the most part, it's gradual. And I think in that type of instance, it's a shock to the environment when, like you said, one day you see this individual in a certain way and then the next day it seems like. it's it's extreme And I think what those individuals should be asking themselves, it's nothing wrong with making that type of leap. But I think to your point, How is the audience, how are your coworkers, how is your leadership team going to respond to the extremity of that change? I love what you said about change and that is a gradual thing. I do believe that midlife crisis trigger many of these sudden changes of style where people say like, wow, what just happened? but let's leave midlife crisis for another episode, Reggie, if you don't mind, because it's going to be very, very deep. Now let's give some tips. Three actionable. tips, two or three actionable tips for someone looking to upgrade their style but you know they don't want to go crazy into as I said Pinterest, magazines, spending you know a lot of time, many choices, spending a ton of money. What is an easy way of start upgrading yourself? I think three tips. So I think the first tip is learn how to take care of your garments. because to me, longevity is key. So if you have fragile garments, I'm an old school guy. If I have a wool sweater, a wool sweater is put into a plastic storage bag before I put it in my chest of drawers, right? Because fear of, you know, a moth or a bug just eating away at these lovely fibers that I spent so much money on. That same tip goes to your shoes. Leather shoes are a skin, just like our face, our skin. And it needs to be moisturized. It needs to be well taken care of. So having these regimens of vigilance will add longevity to your item. because I don't think anyone should have to look, as we talked about earlier before with fast fashion, every few months, what do I need to do? No, there should be ease and comfort in all of this. So I think that's one tip. um I know you talked about really upgrading. think one has to, and this takes a long time, one has to understand that if you decide to upgrade, via a brand that does not necessarily guarantee the upgrade that you're looking for. You have to understand, and this takes a lot of time, you have to understand and be able to discern quality of an item. I grew up in an environment, my late grandmother was a seamstress. She was what we call now the help. And the great thing having a grandmother who knew how to make clothes, though she never made clothes for me, but just having that facility of cuffing some pants, basting something, stitching something. When I went shopping with my grandmother, she was constantly giving me lessons on worksmanship and quality of items at, you know, stores, right? Not specialized tailoring, just department stores, like, you know, the majority of people shop in the world. So I think that's really a second tip. don't buy into the hype of a brand per se. I am not saying that there isn't a given and an understanding that certain brands maybe means the worksmanship is at a higher quality. Yes, that should happen, but it's not a guarantee. And particularly in this world, there are brands that you're never gonna see plastered on a billboard. And it doesn't mean they're not providing good quality to the consumer. And then let's see, the third. Look at people you admire, whether it's in person or whether it's virtually, and know, take maybe uh a piece from them. If you see someone that you admire, you love their sweater, and you're able to literally buy that sweater or something similar and it fits you well. um Yeah, I think that's the third tip. Certainly as a child, I watched everyone like a hawk and being a television kid, being influenced by videos. I had my grandfather who represented classic menswear. I'm the first generation of rap. So it was always an interesting balancing act. I'm still a young man and caught up in certainly trends. If you're a kid, trends are all you live and breathe. I want this, I want that, I want this, I want that. We're very consumer. culture oriented. But I think those three tips along with time ah will help you be a better version of yourself. How can listeners develop a style that aligns with their personality? um And I want to bring this to, know, if we can, Reggie, um introverts, extroverts, should you dress for yourself? Should you dress for others? You ultimately should dress for yourself. There's no question about that. You should not dress for anyone else but yourself. And you gave the polars of introvert and extrovert. I mentioned earlier and this kind of ties in with this. There are two ways to dress. You can stand out or you can fit in. Both are effective. But I emphatically am going to reiterate, you dress for yourself. You don't dress for other people. And I think that really ties into something my mother used to say to me. Your mother is your first teacher, right? And my mother used to say this to me and I share this every once in a with people and it seems to blow them away. And for me, it wasn't a big deal because it was being with my mom. My mom used to say to me, Reggie, be yourself. Because if you're not yourself, I cannot recognize you. And I feel that's probably the reason why I have a strong sense of myself. um There's probably a whole bunch of other reasons all emanating from my mom and my family. think love being, you know, another ingredient of someone, you know, being confident in oneself. But you have to do these things for you. You can't do them for other people. Reggie, what do you say to critics? What do you respond to critics that say style is a superficial thing and irrelevant to productivity, right? It doesn't matter, right? Because you're here to think, not to dress at companies, know, corporations and these kinds of things. What do you tell them? Yeah, I tell them that there could be no bigger falsehood than that. People like to say they don't judge. I would immediately argue and disagree. If individuals did not judge, we would get hit by cars every day. Right? I see a car, I look at the distance, I look at the traffic light, I know my gate, I look at the environment. So let's not say we don't judge. We all judge. I've never understood why that's viewed in such a negative light. We all judge. You you were talking earlier about credibility. So credibility oftentimes can just be perceived. Someone had an aura. How did they dress? How did they present themselves? There's nothing wrong with the physical manifestation of who you are as a human being, how you feel, how you lead, how you follow. We all have these cues for individuals who have partners, husbands, wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, others. You were attracted to these individuals. What attracted you to them? Was it the flower in their hair? Was it the tie that matched the color of their eyes? Was it the flow of a skirt? It could be so many things. So why are we denying these natural inclinations that we have? We have, you particularly through technology, if we go back to, you know, Silicon Valley or even finance guys, right? With, with, you know, a Patagonia vest. These are all signifiers of a tribe. These are all ways that we identify and perceive each other. So let's stop playing a game that we don't do these things to either attract, to repel. Clothing is communication. I can understand someone thinking there's a superficiality to it. I'm not saying that there is an extremity that represents that, but how I choose to dress every day reflects who I am and represents my credibility. in all environments. Reggie, want to deep dive, double down on this judgment thing because unfortunately, still today in 2025, there are a lot of stereotypes around women at work. Men, they can get away with anything, but women are very much always under the radar and somewhat judged. uh by people around, she's dressing too sexy. Oh, look at this skirt. And the other way around, what's your advice for women in the workplace to not, I mean, to be themselves, but at the same time, break these stereotypes without causing any self damage or potentially career damage? to themselves because of the way they dress. It is much harder to be a woman than it is to be a man. That goes without saying, the double standards that exist and persist are awe-inspiring and not in a good way. Certainly there's some individuality here because depending on the industry, the culture of our organization. Everyone, but you're right, there's, you know, this heightened sensitivity is towards women in the workplace. There's a fine line between expressing who you are satorily. versus being treated, first of all, being sexualized in the work environment, right? So, you know, the woman in your audience understand this far better than I, but I was raised by women. And I think the balancing act is being who you are, which is represented through cut, color, and pattern. But understanding that depending on the industry, depending on the environment, there is a double standard that persists every day. The Me Too movement really brought that to light. It certainly illuminated my mind that probably every female member in my family have had a Me Too moment. And I never knew that because I didn't grow up with men in a family that treated women poorly. It's not that they weren't products of their time and environment. but my aunt and my mom were college educated at a time in which my grandparents probably could have made a choice in which if they weren't college educated based on that era of history, it could have been okay. But they made a conscious choice that my mom and aunt were college educated. So know the room, know the room and understand that If you are surrounded by men, you will be judged accordingly. And that's just a plain honest truth. Reggie, I want to do five rapid fire questions. 30 seconds or less to answer each, all right? Number one, one fashion rule every professional should break. should break. that once you know the rules, can break the rules. Number two, what's your favorite power color and why? purple, because it's royal, and I'm a Prince fan. I am too. Number three, best wardrobe investment for productivity. Comfortable shoes. 4. On a tight budget, what style upgrade makes the most impact? Shoes, better quality shoes. And number five, sustainable fashion, hype or must have. Why? because we're finding that there's a lot of greenwashing involved, that we're finding that it's not that easy or that simple. And really going back to what I just said, we're finding that it's not that easy or that simple to create these systems. So there's a lot to learn. And I think that's why you don't hear that as a buzzword, not the way you did the past two years. Reggie, for listeners uh curious but hesitant about changing their style, what's the first small step they can take right now? The verse, small step they can take. is finding their dimensions so that when they make a purchase, they're making the right purchase and that it fits their body appropriately. I can't stress that enough. Reggie, we have a large audience, a lot of people that for sure is interested in what you do. How can they get in touch with you? How can they work with you? How can they know more about what you do, your advice, your incredible uh sense of fashion, and everything that has made you a big figure in New York? Thank you. I will gladly answer that, but if I may, before I do that Santiago, I would love to say to your audience, as someone who also is a podcaster, what Santiago does and what he's doing takes a lot of hard work, takes a lot of effort. So the very first thing I would love to ask of your audience is please make sure to give Santiago a write-up and review and any podcast reader in which you listen or watch podcasts. That's number one. Number two, I have two things for your listeners or viewers. Number one, I'm giving away a free guide to your audience. And if they go to www.nyfashiongeek.com forward slash 1010things, they will get a free guide, which I think can help them. And then in addition, If any of your listeners go to the same website, www.nyfashiongeek.com and hit the button, upgrade your style and set an appointment and say that you're a friend of Santiago's, we will give everyone today a 30 minute consultation. Thank you so much, Reggie. That's so generous and so kind of you. Thanks a million. Reggie, I want to thank you for this time. A lot of wisdom. um This was not only about fashion. This was also about personality. This was about change. This was about judgment. This was about humans. So very much appreciate your point of view. I'm taking two things away. Two things. Reggie, right now. First one is that... Fashion is for you to make yourself feel confident, to make yourself feel proud of yourself and not for the others. The second one is that make sure you know your size. Ah good. Reggie Ferguson, thank you so much for being with us today. Santiago is certainly my pleasure. Happy holidays. Same to you.