My Real Estate Career

“Which property are you listing?”

I can’t help but chuckle as I’m continually mistaken for a real estate agent when sporting a navy sport coat and gray trousers (the “menswear uniform”) in my neighborhood. Boston’s South End is a hot market right now.

Back when I lived in the financial district, wearing the same thing would just as often get me confused for a banker or accountant.

Clothes have powerful associations that inform how you’ll be perceived when wearing them and those associations are filtered through the context you’re operating within.

Navy sport coat with gray trousers in the South End? Real estate agent is the obvious inference that a stranger would make.

So to successfully communicate with your style, you must not only be literate in clothing associations but also the social dynamics of the context you’re dressing for.

That is a tall order. It’s no wonder that most guys can’t be bothered with style — or can only participate on the rung of expression, yet not communication.

Because context and backdrop are fluid in nature, wearing the same thing in different places can trigger different perceptions. Communicating with clothing is an imprecise science, but a science nonetheless!

While the surface level message can be fleeting and fluid — in the South End they think I’m a real estate professional and the FiDi they think I’m a finance guy — the underlying aura you communicate is more stable.

When I dress with a business palette (adding my own flair of course) I’m co-opting the associations of professionalism and expertise that are present in perceptions of RE and finance professionals alike.

I often sport this look when meeting clients from those backgrounds, so as to engage them on a frequency they likely wish to operate within.

That being said, the nuances of my style tend to trickle in throughout an interaction. While the sleek silhouette and professional uniform are very apparent on first glance, my purposeful composition of colors, patterns, and accessories denote an artsier vibe more befitting of a stylist.

Although I suppose if this doesn’t pan out for me, I could try for a real estate license. Apparently, I look the part.