I like clothes. I like colors. I like designs. I think the clothes a person wears tells a story about the person, so I try to make the things I wear represent who I want people to think I am. Gary Greenberg, Executive Creative Director at Allen & Gerritsen (my employer) and clothing afficionado and I often compare notes about our favorite designers. The other thing we like? Bargains. We both want to change it up a lot so we are looking to make our resources go as far as possible. These are two extremely disparate philosophies for guys who like designers like John Varvatos, Hugo Boss, Robert Graham, Ted Baker, Paul Smith and (angelic music) Barker Black.

So sure. I have passion for clothing. I like brand names. I know what colors match and I have an eye for shoes, but I also know what I don’t know.

I’m not always sure what fits. I don’t know squat about knits. I am not that strong in accessorizing or making sure that the stuff I buy is mix and match. So when I was approached to participate in the Men of Social Media Makeover, I didn’t look at it as an insult, I looked at it as a chance to learn a thing or two and hopefully kick my game up a notch.

Here’s video of me shopping with Emmi.

Shopping with a Style Consultant from Schneider Mike on Vimeo.

My thoughts on Zara

Enter Emmi Sorokin whose passion is fashion- or so I thought. Emmi actually is about putting men in clothes that make them feel comfortable. She believes that clothing is important, but she also wants to make sure that she understands your needs, your budget and your life objectives. OK, this is making it sound like Emmi is all business. She has a lot of energy and she knows the stores she will take you to cold. That means when you go in, she has already seen just about everything in the store – or, in my case, has pulled a good deal of the clothing in advance so you can just dive right in. I think part of the reason we got along was that I was upfront about my objectives.

Talk about your goals and your budget

Be frank about what your goals are in life and in business. Letting Emmi know a little about my lifestyle made it easier for her to recommend clothes that are not only cool, but make the statement that I want to make. I also told her that I was not willing to break the bank and that as much as I would like to buy a ton of clothes, I had to stick to a certain amount. Emmi knew how to make the most of the money I was comfortable parting with. That said, be realistic. Don’t expect Emmi to be able to clothe you for the season on $50

If you don’t like it, don’t buy it, but be open minded

I tried on a lot of clothes. We liked some and we didn’t like others. We agreed on most things but there was a sweater that she liked that I nixed. I tried on everything that she asked me to try on. I kept open to any idea that she brought out. As a result I learned a lot about how to wear sweaters, which I had no clue about how to do properly and I learned about a store that I never would have considered going into.

Have fun

Go in with an attitude that going shopping doesn’t need to be a chore. Emmi brings a lot of energy to the situation and she knows what she’s doing. She is great for fashion beginners and also for people who are fashion clueless. Either way, she will treat you like you are the most important person, she will make sure you have a good time, she will respect your budget and your goals and I guarantee that when she’s done, you will look great and feel great about your wardrobe.

Emmi did not approve of this.

Come Out During Fashion Week

Oh, and if you want to see what Emmi did for Mike Lewis, CC Chapman, Stuart Foster and I, come to the Men of Social Media Makeover!

Starbucks VIA Instant Starbucks from Schneider Mike on Vimeo.

Guy Kawasaki was hanging out in the blogger’s lounge early one morning at SXSW. He had a coy smile and announced that he had something cool that we would all love. As a result, I got to try Starbucks VIA! Thanks Guy!

It all started a month ago when @melkirk tweeted:

Each morning when I come to work, I try to steal a few minutes of time to read four web comics. I have tried a bunch of others, but I find that these are the ones that give me a mental boost that kicks off my day in a way that caffeine cannot. In other words, “clever” is my morning drug of choice.

During my first year at the agency, I had the pleasure of working with strategic mastermind, Justin Holloway, now with Dye, Holloway, Murray in London. We were working on a pitch and he was explaining the brand identity of Trader Joe’s. He summarized it as a company that sort of brings the epicurean delights of society to the common man.

Trader Joe’s specializes in being an affordable gourmet store. They eliminate the middle man by producing their own foods with vendor partners. If the food does not meet their quality standards, they have no problem with axing it or making it unavailable until they find a new partner. They carry very few brand names and will often carry a brand name until they can clone it to their standards (like Nutella). The shocking thing is that the industry average for product development is 9 months. Zara is rumored to be able to develop a product and get it to market in 2 weeks. When I first read about Zara, I thought not only is this a fantastic model, but it is a lot like Trader Joe’s.

Google introduced a new line of googlevative designs for their iGoogle personal portal. They assembled some of the best known designers, artists and musicians to build a series of trendy skins as part of Google’s global effort to allow its users a way to make their experience unique. Bonus they can also express their love for some of their favorite artists.