The Glamorous Grind

Power Dressing: The Law of Image with Dean Hall

• Ilona Antonyan, Mila Arutunian • Season 2 • Episode 5

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Can what you wear make or break your career? This week on The Glamorous Grind, Ilona and Mila welcome fashion expert Dean Hall to talk about the politics, pressure, and prestige behind how we present ourselves. Dean has styled celebrities, CEOs, and pro athletes—and he’s here to spill the glam tea on everything from courtroom couture to TV set chaos.

Together, we discuss:

  • The psychology behind style and first impressions
  • How to radiate authority and femininity without compromise
  • Why looking polished isn't about being rich
  • Style advice for lawyers, entrepreneurs, and ambitious women everywhere

Get ready for bold truths, relatable laughs, and practical glam tips that will change the way you show up.

🎧 Hit play—then hit the mall (or at least the mirror).

Want more glamor during your grind? New episodes every Tuesday. Make sure you are subscribed on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts.

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Mila:

Honestly though, you guys I feel like this episode is going to get hate because America's all about being comfortable Like a loner.

Dean:

That's the problem. A loner and freaks.

Mila:

People are like what is wrong with you? Why do you dress like that? I'm like I like to Welcome to the Glamorous Grind where law meets lifestyle, and power always has a look.

Ilona:

Our guest today is Dean Hall. Stylist and image consultant, he's worked with celebrities, ceos, big brands and even has his own segment on Fox 5.

Mila:

It's not just about looking good. It's about power, credibility and the energy you project. We will discuss power dressing and how women can own authority and femininity through fashion All right, Dean.

Ilona:

Well, thanks for joining us in very cool shoes and an outfit that stands out.

Dean:

Alona and I both love fashion, so we're so excited to have you here. Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to be here. I am a fashion person through and through goes back to high school, so I've always loved fashion.

Mila:

Oh my gosh Same same.

Ilona:

I mean they used to call me the club girl because I was always fashionably late and you could hear my high heels click, click, click in the hallway before I would walk in.

Mila:

Well, I feel like in our culture, fashion is like how you present yourself is a big part of your identity, who you are, and like how I was raised and I don't know if your family is the same way it was like being fashionable or like dressing up, showing up for yourself as a part of showing respect, like my grandmother would say. Even when I was in college, everyone would like think I'm crazy, because my grandma would tell me, if you're going into an exam, you have to put on a nice dress and heels, because that's showing respect to your professor. And I did. I always wore heels to college and everyone was like what's wrong?

Dean:

with you.

Ilona:

Everyone's like in pajamas. I'm like walking around. Yeah, I wrong with you. Everyone's like in pajamas. I'm like walking around. Yeah, I mean, it's something that I think as a matter of culture and former soviet union. Like all women, they don't go out. They wouldn't go outside in sports clothes or flats, to even go buy groceries like you had to wear a dress and you got to do your makeup. It was uncommon for anyone not take care of their hair or makeup or their clothes. It was expected and if you didn't do that, they think something is wrong with you.

Mila:

You're like an alcoholic or you don't take care of yourself. I was always raised that way. I got married when I was 21. I went to visit my husband's family and my grandma said don't go downstairs, Don't let anyone see you until you wash your face, brush your teeth, put on your makeup makeup and get dressed.

Ilona:

Which nowadays, since I have a lot of kids and sometimes I run late in the morning and I have to drop off my daughter and I'm like, ok, I need to go buy something. It's sprouts, and I'm wearing slippers and I haven't brushed my hair very well yet and I have no makeup on, I'm like, ok, do I walk like this into a store in public? But I hear my grandmother's voice Do not be seen like that in public. But I violated that rule so many times now because nobody really cares anymore. Nobody gives a shit in America what you look like, it's up to you.

Dean:

I care, I think ladies are still holding that line and holding on to it, but men are just like. It drives me crazy. It's the cargo shorts, the flip flops, the polo. I'm like, no, like. That just shows that you just don't care. One of my favorite designers, tom Ford, says dressing well is a form of manners.

Mila:

So how did you get into the fashion industry? Tell us a little bit about that.

Dean:

Well, when I was younger, I used to always save up my allowance and I would buy GQ. So I would anytime. I would get like an A on a paper. I just always just saved up all my money and was buying GQ. Oh an.

Mila:

A on a paper. I just always just saved up all my money and was buying GQ. Oh my god, you're my dream child. My son refuses to wear nice clothing. It's so hard.

Dean:

My nephew's too. Just bribe him. Every time you look nice, we give you $20. You iron your pants $20. You wear a non-wrinkle shirt $20. And instantly he'll start to fall in love with you.

Dean:

When does it stop? It doesn't. So my friend I went to high school with. She got into VH1 as a publicist and so when she was in LA, she was like, hey, we're starting this new show called basketball wives. We need a stylist. We don't really have a big budget and I think that's something that you want to do based upon your social media. At the time, I was writing this little blog that was basically just like taking pictures from NeimanMarketscom and Nordstromcom and just giving my feedback on it. I wasn't really doing much and so I went to the meeting. I did really well and I think the reason was because I had underbid severely and I got the job, did that for two seasons. It was an experience, to say the least. Reality TV is like going to the zoo, but the animals are just running wild. I mean, it is just screaming. The production side, the clothes side, you know they're throwing drinks at each other. It was just. It was shocking.

Mila:

I was literally thrown into the deep end.

Dean:

Oh my god, it was anything but fun they yelled at any point, because you asked somebody to wear an outfit they hated oh, absolutely.

Dean:

And then production production likes to provide input too. It's like, no, they need to do this. And so I'm thinking, well, why don't you just fucking dress them? You know, since you have so much input, what am I doing here? So it was just that constant trying to follow what's fashionable, what looks good on them, and then a lot of times people think that they know what they look good in, but have no idea. So it was this constant struggle, did that for a little bit and that was like, okay, I can't do this all the time.

Dean:

So then I worked on uh, the rouse was orange county. I worked with lux de bolino for a couple years. That was fun. Um, and I was just like, no, I can't do anything, I want to stay in san diego. At the time there was a magazine called fashion 50. Um, they attacked me to be the fashion editor. So I did that for about three years and then, fox five, one of the producers was like, hey, we like your style. You want to come in and do a segment? Did one segment and when I tell you, I sweat through my whole shirt. I was so nervous I'd never done it. I'll never forget I was wearing a sky blue Dogekabana shirt and by the time the segment was ended it was like all sweaty.

Ilona:

Did that air like that? Yes, I was like oh, my Talk about mortified.

Dean:

It was quite shocking. And then from there it kind of snowballed. I got to work with Antonio Gates and some of the Charger players, but one of my biggest things was when Bentley released the Bottega. So they had me style the runway show for the release at Beverly Hills and I was like wow, that moment was just probably one of the highlights to this day.

Ilona:

Since you sweated in that blue shirt, did you start wearing T-shirts under oh yes, Shirts after that? And I never was. I would never, ever with someone who sweat, but I think it was because I hadn't done something like that before and it was so big and also, the lights too weren't set, were kind of warm, and so I'm just sitting there just like sweating a lot of lawyers do in court when they're nervous, you'll see puddles and, like with men, they take off their jacket. It's like all the way down here and it's funny.

Dean:

And when you know you're litigating, I made you sweat I always tell people too a really good thing is to put paper towels in there. So if you can just take paper towels to the inside as well as a purse pit, it'll help to absorb that that's so uncomfortable. It's great yeah but it's not as embarrassing. I'd rather be uncomfortable than embarrassed. So yeah, it definitely helps, for sure.

Mila:

So I want to bring up one thing that I think it's important and I brought this up previously for a second before we started shooting is that I think a lot of people may take offense to this episode because a lot of people like in America it's so in to be comfortable, yes, and like nothing against that style or lack thereof, but I think it's important to recognize that, like you know, fashion is still a thing and you know, the reason we're doing this episode is because how you show up, how you present, is so important in the professional sense.

Dean:

Yeah, there's no second person impressions, right, yeah, and I think San Diego is one of those places that I love the weather, love the people, but the style is just what style? Exactly.

Ilona:

Sometimes I judge myself and I'm like am I shallow, cause this person shows up to a business meeting not looking professional at all and to me it's maybe my stereotype. I'm like all right, if you don't take care of how you look, how are you going to deliver the product and service to me if you don't care about how you look? A hundred percent, and I judge lawyers like that too. I mean, if somebody comes up, comes to an interview, if they look sloppy, I'm like your work is probably going to be sloppy.

Mila:

Exactly how you do anything is how you do everything. Oh my gosh, I love that. That's like that's my life motto and it's so key.

Dean:

It's so key, I think, you know, san diego, for the climate has always been more relaxed, fashion and style wise, and I think with the pandemic it kind of amplified that more relaxed people at home and I think people are just not willing to let that go as much. But I will always suffer in style. I think about back in the old days, like the Ateliers, like Cristobal Balenciaga, christian Dior, yves Saint Laurent, like those guys were always dressed up, no matter what time of the year. There were suits, there were ties, there was certain decorum that was lacking today, you know.

Ilona:

Even when you look at the old historic photographs of san diego from 1800s in the courtroom or around, you know the county of san diego offices. People wore tall hats, men wore suits. They didn't have washers and dryers. At the time they didn't have dry cleaning, but these people dressed up. Women wore long, you know they didn't dress casually although they had to sew everything themselves and hand wash everything.

Dean:

Exactly, I want the pocket watches to come back. I miss that.

Mila:

Oh my gosh, that attention to detail right.

Dean:

Like to me. I always say true style lies in the detail, and so having those little pocket watches, just like the nice shoelaces. Now I see people like walking on their shoelaces. That was one of my things. That just drives me crazy. Anyone walk on their shoelaces or the back of their pants.

Ilona:

I instantly want to just like well, what do you think about the style when men had their jeans? You know all the way down.

Mila:

Oh my God Baggy jeans.

Ilona:

Hey, you have a jersey no it was everywhere.

Dean:

Me and the belt industry were just doubled over.

Mila:

It was so bad doubled over, it was so bad it's it's sloppy, because again you show that you don't care right your presentation well, in in that sense, I do want to just bring up the fact that you know being stylish or being presentable doesn't always mean you have to have money. You don't have to wear designer brands to be presentable. So there's a big difference between someone showing up to a meeting you know you don't have to show up in Chanel and Dolce Gabbana but also like showing up with your hair undone and looking like you just rolled out of bed and putting no effort into your look. You can go on nowadays like I think there's no excuse for not looking presentable because everything is so cheap and accessible. You can go on Shein or Timu and order very nice things from China very cheap, exactly $5.88.

Ilona:

There are plenty of stores like Forever 21, papaya. I'm thinking of stores that I shopped when I was in law school, charlotte Roos.

Dean:

That was my favorite, I love.

Ilona:

Charlotte Roos. But I used to spend more money than I had to because there was always a sale and I'm like alright, I have to buy it for my cousin, I have to buy it for my everybody. And I ended up spending five times more because I get some sale and I need to buy it for everybody you have to buy it.

Dean:

You have to do it. It's something that you have to do. It's just so important. I think we have an arch. If I like a shoe and it looks good, I am going to just drink more wine, but I refuse. I've seen that so many times that people take their shoes off at events and that is so cringe. I know I don't do that either.

Mila:

I don't judge people for doing that, because I get it.

Dean:

But I will judge myself.

Mila:

I'm actually not mean when it comes to other people. I won't be like oh how, but I will judge myself.

Dean:

You say hard on yourself about it. Yeah, yeah, I would just suffer until I get home and then on the floor just crying like oh my God, oh, I have had the first time I bought like my very first pair of red bottoms.

Mila:

I wore them. I remember I was working at a law firm and they had a 10 hour Christmas party. It started at like 10 in the morning and it went. Yeah, it was off and I wore these red bottoms, like thinking, like my first pair of red bottoms. I was like a second year attorney. Literally by the end of the night my feet were bleeding.

Dean:

Yeah, and he's known for making that. He's caught on record so many times saying he makes them just for looks. It's not about comfort. No-transcript.

Mila:

Red bottoms are not for the weak.

Ilona:

I used to wear like stripper size shoes when I was a teenager the six Because I always wanted to be taller. I wanted to be a model when I was younger, but they told me I was too short. So then I started ordering those tall platform shoes with 16-inch heels, and that's what I wore for a long time.

Dean:

And they look probably more comfortable than they are comfortable, very comfortable.

Mila:

Well, because they have the platform at the top.

Dean:

Yeah, which helps it?

Ilona:

Yeah, which my shoes now are the same.

Dean:

They're comfy. You're like perfect.

Mila:

Never had to take them off as often as I have to take off the dress shoes, so Dean, now we're going to transition to our red flag green flag segment. Are you ready?

Dean:

Ready, let's go.

Mila:

We're going to hit you with some rapid fire scenarios and you're going to have to tell us if it's a red flag or a green flag, and why.

Dean:

Let's do it, sorry in advance.

Mila:

Number one a female attorney wears leopard print pumps to a closing argument.

Dean:

Green flag.

Mila:

Yes, leopard is my thing.

Dean:

Sorry, yeah, leopard is my thing, because you're wearing a snake. I'm wearing a snake. I can't help a snake. It's like a spiked snake. It says, as I mentioned earlier, true stylizing details and to me that says I kicked your ass. I'm just putting up a while on the ass kicking.

Mila:

It's just like a bravery, a statement of bravery, exactly Braveheart like a bravery, a statement of bravery, exactly brave hearts.

Ilona:

All right. A litigator wears a bold red dress on the first day of trial. Red flag what I would wear a dress on the first day of trial to me.

Dean:

It says, like showy, you're doing too much, and rather than focus on the facts, it says look at me because red is very like, like bull, you're the cape.

Ilona:

So it's like look at me, look at me, rather, listen to me but it could be the first day of the other side's opening trial and you want to distract them you want to distract them?

Dean:

yes, yes, but I would still say no. Thinking about it fastly, quickly, yes, no what about with the black jacket? Not just it's a yellow flag, so it's in the middle. Now we're getting warm. Now we're getting warm okay, next one.

Mila:

You're overdressed at a casual industry mixer green flag.

Dean:

there's no such thing as being overdressed. Yes, thank you, impossible. There is a quote that I love.

Mila:

It says you can never be overdressed or overeducated.

Dean:

Amen to that Amen. There just is no way. I mean looking good again. You can wear tux. In my opinion, you can wear tux anywhere, especially as a man, and man in a tux is perfect. A woman in a great suit or a perfect LBD little black dress works everywhere.

Ilona:

You know what I think would be cool in the United States If women were able to wear hats like they do in London on a daily basis.

Dean:

You could, you could Carrie.

Ilona:

Bradshaw does it, so it would be a red or green flag to wear cute hats to court with your suit, like they do in London.

Dean:

Green Green flag. So funny you mentioned that, because I love that they wear wigs in the courtroom in London.

Mila:

I'm like bring those wigs back. Oh my gosh. Yes, that's a green flag. The white ones oh, I love those things?

Dean:

Yes, absolutely.

Mila:

I think they're not cute but they're like a very strong sign of authority.

Dean:

Exactly, it's very much our fore.

Mila:

Your outfit makes you feel amazing but doesn't align with the company dress code. Energy first, or fit the framework.

Dean:

Red flag. In order to continue to be happy and live, you need a job.

Dean:

So the company is saying, like you can't wear it. Think of interesting ways of how you can incorporate it right. It's so funny. Years and years and years ago I worked in the contract department and I would go there with with like these blue Prada, like with pilots shoes on there, and I'd also be like, why are you wearing that? Like this is the accounting department, what are you doing? And so it's just like, okay, I'm toning it down, so it's again knowing your audience and just. But I would always wear fun socks. So I was like I can't wear fun shoes, I want to wear fun socks. So figure out how to express yourself. But again, you want to keep a job so you can keep being happy open toe shoes for women in court.

Ilona:

That's my pet peeve, no red flag.

Dean:

Red flag, it doesn't matter how nice it's, a distraction there's like not to take it too much to life. But people have, like you know, toes can be distracting for a variety of reasons. We'll leave it at that. Okay, yeah, if you want your pedicure done. You know, the reason why I like family law is that you know you get it's more glamorous.

Ilona:

You go to court, there's litigation, it's fun, uh, when I was a new lawyer, I tried to do immigration law initially because I speak different languages and I went to immigration court and my the first council on opposing side, she wore sandals to court, open toes, without having a pedicure oh my god, no, like you could almost see the dirt under her toenails because I looked at them every day, because I was like what is this?

Dean:

it doesn't matter, if you have, you can have the prettiest feet in the world. Feet are distracting, especially in a courtroom, like watching you pace again, and then if it's like hot pink or if it's like white, right, it's just. This color is constantly moving and so people are just like well they're not hearing anything you said okay, I have one for you.

Mila:

I actually have two that I want to ask you, and I want your response on both of them. A junior associate shows up in a hot pink pantsuit to a law firm interview red, red, 100 red flag.

Dean:

They don't know how amazing you are. And so, again, you know it's animalistic. It could show that you don't care, right, you don't take law seriously, especially depending upon the law firm, right. If it's I don't know, maybe an international firm there could just be, like etiquette, that's there, right. Or it could be a firm that focuses on domestic abuse, right, firm that focuses on domestic abuse, right. So it's like, again, there's so many things that you need to get in a job first and then look at. Then you start to push the boundaries, but on the first time, unless you're going to be like an attorney at Vogue or Elle magazine, then obviously go in there. The pink and the fuchsia Well, that's the funny thing, like even with me.

Mila:

like I'm pretty, I'm a pretty big fashionista, but we had a girl interview at a prior job and she came in. She looked so cute. Her outfit was like on point. She had these like see-through open-toed shoes. She had like rings on her toenails, toes, what she had like ankle bracelets. She looked so cute like a super tight pencil skirt. I was like I want to go out partying with you. You're so cute and so cool. But I was like no, you're not going to work here though. That's not a professional way to dress. And again, it's like know your audience. You obviously didn't do your research, didn't look into where you're applying.

Dean:

Read the room before you get inside the room.

Ilona:

Wrinkled suits.

Dean:

Red flag. That just shows you don't care. That's one trend I'll never subscribe to. Yeah, being wrinkled anything. Yeah, sure, like that's wrinkled and dirty.

Ilona:

Can you give our viewers advice on what materials to purchase that are not going to get wrinkled, if you're the kind of person that just wears things straight out of a dry cleaner or, I'm sorry, out of your dryer?

Dean:

Well, that's tough because most fabrics within I mean I would say cotton blends tend to hold the least amount of wrinkle. But if you're someone like silk or some of the nicer stuff you have to breathe that press, it's just going to be wrinkled.

Mila:

But I would say anything with a cotton blend is going to be your friend. So my next question is a junior associate shows up to an interview with hair undone, looking like they just rolled out of bed. Double red flag yes, amen, if you don't care about yourself, you don't care about others.

Dean:

I think the careless look like the effortless. It takes a lot more work to look effortless than actually just not caring. So that just taking care of yourself again. If you can't take care of yourself, how are you going to? Take care of any business that we give you right, yep, and to me just says that you're rushed, you didn't care about, you didn't set proper time. My dad always said seven p's prior.

Dean:

Proper planning prevents piss poor performance so, my god, I need to write that down yeah, it's like every time I set my head I think, I just I think about everything I do. It's like why were you late, why weren, why were you unprepared, why didn't you know what was going on at the law firm interview, all that kind of stuff you know. So it's just the seven P's of life.

Mila:

Anytime my son gets nervous about anything, I always tell him like proper planning, If you're prepared, you will never be nervous, because you have nothing to be nervous about.

Dean:

Exactly Like. Sometimes you're nervous, if you care.

Mila:

Yeah.

Dean:

Because you want people to be able to feel all the emotion that you've put into something.

Ilona:

Do you have experience with dressing people for a courtroom?

Dean:

Yes, one of my good girlfriends. She's an attorney and I just redid her wardrobe, her professional wardrobe, and so one of the things we did was I always say you should stick to silhouettes and avoid prints Going into a courtroom and as much as I love Gabbana, but going into a courtroom dress head to toe in Dolce Gabbana with those loud prints, while again it's fabulous, it works in vogue, it is so distracting, right, and so your outfit should be commanding and not distracting when it comes to the courtroom. So strong silhouettes, strong colors and the blues, the grays, like pinstripe, not hot pink, even though we all are legally blonde. I'm a huge fan and I love, I love a pink or fuchsia wide leg trouser in a courtroom, but it doesn't work really well. And when you do white, I always say break it up. And white symbolizes like angelic right, like the angel the savior. So, depending upon what kind of court case you're doing, Do it for opening arguments?

Ilona:

I'd normally do it for my opening or closing arguments.

Dean:

Yes, oh, how's that Like? Have you seen it?

Ilona:

I think I mean to me mentally works, is that's what I associated with? Okay, my side is a good side, the white side, so I'm not presenting my story and when I'm doing cross-examination I would wear.

Mila:

Do you wear red lipstick with a white suit?

Ilona:

I wear whatever lipstick I can put on before I run out of the house, so that I don't plan.

Mila:

I love a red lip with a white suit. I think it looks fabulous.

Dean:

It reminds me of every time I see that combination. It reminds me of Scandal, olivia Pope. It's just so good that combination, that white with the red, it's the white knight. Yeah, it's so good. It's so good, it's so good. Yeah, definitely, stick to um. I always think that courtroom. Avoid skirts if you can. I just think it's a distraction. So, yeah, I mean, we did wear a wardrobe, we did do some really good pencil skirts. I think it's important to be mindful of like slits. You don't want anything that's going to be too distracting again, or too high or too tight. I've seen that a lot of times too, where it's just so fitted that we can just see so much of the contour of your body and it's like this is not really courtroom, this is like dance room ballroom type thing. So it's just walk on that fine line and then shoulder pads too. Be mindful of that.

Mila:

No shoulder pads or shoulder pads no no, like the excessive shoulder pads.

Dean:

No bomb on right, Like I said, we love the dramatic Olivier Rousteing.

Mila:

I love shoulder pads.

Dean:

But not big ones, not like 1980s, okay.

Mila:

I think it's important to note too, like how you present is going to depend so much on your confidence levels, and your confidence levels are. You know, people can deny it all they want, but people are generally more confident when they are dressed nice.

Dean:

Yeah, when you look good, you feel good, and so no matter what that means to you.

Ilona:

So it's about self-awareness, because if you are dressed like shit, at least let's say you think that you know someone's dressed like shit, but they feel amazing.

Dean:

Oh yeah, they feel confident.

Ilona:

They don't give a shit.

Dean:

They might have just given up too, or they just don't get it.

Ilona:

So how do you become aware when you're not, like when you don't know what to care about?

Dean:

Well, I always say, when you walk into a room, what are three things you want people to say about your style? And that's how you start right. And I would say, in the years that I've been doing this, I've had maybe a handful of people whose wardrobe actually align with their words. A lot of times people think that they're conveying this message and they're really not right. So it's like, oh, I want to be known as someone who is fashion forward, edgy, um, but everything in your closet is like ralph lauren or ann taylor loft and it's like there's not really edgier, fashion forward. Right, you think maybe because you have, like a leather jacket, it's saying that, but overall it's being able to have that fresh pair of eyes come in, identify what the message is and then make sure that the wardrobe is congruent to that.

Ilona:

And I like it when I see older men or even older women. I'm talking about 60s, 70s. Dress up young because it makes you think someone looking from the outside hey, like they're still living young lifestyle.

Mila:

Look at J-Lo.

Ilona:

She's like what, 50? She's almost 60.

Mila:

She's not that old?

Ilona:

I'm not talking. These are outliers. I'm not talking.

Mila:

these are outliers I'm not talking about you know, celebrities of the world.

Ilona:

I'm talking about regular people that are older but are trying to dress young, like they'll wear shoes that 20, 30 year old yeah, cool sneakers. So they'll wear fun shirt or pants and a belt and they'll style their hair if they still have hair, they'll style in a certain way and just to look young and it's like, oh, you know, I don't know just kind of level with them more.

Dean:

It's nice to have that youthful soul. Yeah, there's a youthfulness that lies there. Right, and just being careful that we're not trying to like be 20, right, you're just dressing youthful but not trying'll do like a bruno cuccinelli sneaker and maybe like a lightly distressed, dead dark denim, and so just taking some of those trends and making them feel I hate saying this word, but like age appropriate. So he's not like wearing shredded jeans to the max you can see his knee like. It's not that much.

Ilona:

So, again, just taking those cool little youthful styles and making it their own I think I also have those self-limiting beliefs now where, you know, when I was younger, I'm like I can wear anything. Holes here, holes there, splits up to here and I'm like all right, I'm an attorney. I'm it's you know 45 years old now. I have kids, I have a business, I have to portray a certain image, so I can't look like a hooker if I go out.

Dean:

It's all about moderation, everything in moderation.

Mila:

I'm so bad at moderation, I'm awful at it.

Ilona:

If you want my mom will give you a call and she'll set you straight.

Mila:

I think I need that in my life.

Dean:

Hopefully you have that inner voice being like don't do it. Don't do it. Just because you can wear it doesn't mean you should wear it out. So I would just say some things you just keep in the comfort of your home.

Ilona:

Who's the audience is another thing.

Dean:

Exactly.

Ilona:

If you're going to go to the beach and be with a bunch of teenagers or young people, it's one thing. If you're going to look that way in a room where you're in a professional setting, you just have to know your audience and be self-aware. But I think that's where a lot of people lack that self-awareness. They don't know how to dress for the occasion. They don't worry about it in California, yes, 100%.

Dean:

They don't worry about it in california. Yes, a hundred percent. And I and I one of the things that drives me crazy, and I just hear my grandmother and grandpa always saying is like there's no such thing as being overdressed right for an event. The worst thing you could do is be underdressed yeah and I think people uh have a hard time regulating like the difference between, like, a black tie or cocktail attire, and they come in with sneakers and jeans and it it's like, well, that's not what it actually means, right.

Ilona:

I feel like in the last two months I've had a lot of those experiences where I started almost like doubting myself Do I have high expectations here? Am I like some snob who just expects people to be dressed up and look professional at certain events? Like, for example, I go to this one event where it was supposed to be this business mixer and I think I was the only person who was dressed up Because people they were wearing white socks with sandals that have the ones that stick on each other.

Ilona:

And I was like that's not where I thought I was going.

Dean:

That's not the vibe we were giving.

Mila:

So what would you say for someone who's a party to a lawsuit, like a plaintiff or a defendant? How would you recommend that they would dress?

Dean:

So are they guilty Great question Are they guilty? Or not.

Mila:

Everything is arguable.

Dean:

Exactly that's why we're here, that's how they paste the big box.

Dean:

Allegedly Keep it simple, right, like the acronym KISS. Keep it simple, stupid. You can never go wrong with all black right and no labels, obviously, because people are very judgmental if you go out there, especially if you're considered someone who has wealth. You come in there with you know, gucci head to toe. Again, it just it really it's off putting to the jury. There's people in general, right, and it's like, oh, they're a rich asshole, he probably did it, we're going to send him away, no matter what the facts say. So just be mindful. No labels, super simple, and think about.

Dean:

In my case, I would say, what would my parents wear? Yeah, right, Because again, I think people would take. This is probably going to sound bad, but people who take jury duty the most serious, I think, are the generation above us. It's like the last ones who really do, because I know a lot of my friends are like, oh, I hate jury duty, it's a pain in the ass, like they don't have that. That civic duty is not so high, and so what would my parents dress like? Because that's who I would imagine would be considered a peer.

Ilona:

That's a good tip.

Dean:

Yeah.

Mila:

And keeping in mind that juries are people, exactly, the judge is a person and technically it's supposed to be neutral and they're supposed to look at the facts. But you know humans, like you said, it's an animalistic tendency to judge other people and a lot of those judgments will come from how you present Okay and a lot of those judgments will come from how you present.

Ilona:

Okay, what if someone has no clue where to start?

Dean:

Well, they call me. I always say start a mood board, right, like, pick up some magazines and find out what inspires you. I know that sounds like cheesy, but you spend so much of the day wearing clothes. You should find something that you actually like, right, what colors that you actually like, what patterns you like, things like that and just create a little mood board. You can just do it on your phone, nothing crazy. Just try on some of the clothes. Understand what some of the fits are like fabrics. Read the tags. Every time I'm with the client I make them read the tags so they understand slim fit versus skinny, versus athletic. Really get to understand what you're going to be putting.

Ilona:

Can you explain those styles what they should be looking for? So, depending on what you're built like, right, so you're talking about men or women, right now Everyone, so this is across the board.

Dean:

Yeah, but men are simpler, right, so you can make it as simple as possible. Men will love that right Simplicity. So again, just knowing the most universal style for a man that's going to work perfectly is a slim straight. It doesn't matter if you're a little chunky, if you're really, really thin. A slim straight pant is going to work for you 9.99999 times out of 10. So all you have to do is look at the back of the tag and see If it says skinny, don't do it.

Mila:

If it says athletic or oversized.

Dean:

Don't do it, unless you're a really good fashion guy.

Ilona:

I'm going to play this for my son, because he wants everything oversized. And your husband.

Dean:

What do you say to people who think that style is shallow or that don't have any time for it? That's an interesting question, one I think that there are. If we're just going to be frank, they're lying because they have a style themselves. Style is basically how you wear something repeatedly. How you wear something repeatedly. So, no matter if you think you don't have style, you continuously, every day, wake up and try and fight the trends of L, the trends of all this kind of stuff. So that is your style. You have a rebellious style.

Dean:

So, even when you think you don't have style, there's style in there, and so everyone has time. If you have time to brush your teeth, you have time to watch Netflix. You have time to eat, you have time to watch netflix. You have time to eat. You have time to develop style. So, essentially, what you're telling me is that you have enough time to live in the world, but you don't have enough time to care about what you look like doing so or how others perceive you, and I think that is just bullshit. It just really gets down to the core of your confidence and helps to um emote that what's the best advice you have given someone on Fox 5 show looking back?

Dean:

I did a makeover on this mom. So she was going through divorce and she had put all of her focus into getting her daughter to college and so she really was something like style wasn't really her thing, and so I never forget this. And so, uh, I never forget this. I put her in this like black and maroon top, the sequined skirt and these like ballet flats, because I believe in that you style for someone's life like she's not a heel woman, so putting her heels is not going to be beneficial. If anything, she might see how well she looks in it and maybe she can't use them for age things like that. It would make her feel worse, right? So it's like giving her a cute like really cute flat to do that. And I mean I went to her house before we did the on-air segment to make sure everything fit. And then she starts crying and I start crying.

Ilona:

I was like oh my.

Mila:

God.

Dean:

Like she just never thought that she could like look so pretty. And I think you know women, when they have focused on being a mother, being a wife, being a career person, it's so easy for you for women rather, who are naturally nurturing to forget about themselves. So it's like all the water is going out but none of it's coming in. Yes, and then you have nothing and you know you don't feel like the beautiful flower that you are.

Mila:

Yes.

Dean:

And so that was it to this day. I probably done maybe like a hundred and some segments. That will always be my number one segment. I love that. It's just. It's why I do what I do, right. I love seeing people just that confidence, right? People may think it's so silly, but watching someone go slouching putting on something great being like, and seeing them light up and just like, well, you're going to start crying, so I'm going to. Yeah.

Ilona:

What do you put on to feel good about yourself when you're having a shitty day?

Dean:

A robe. It's so funny. I love my. What kind of robe. Tell us what kind of robe it is. It's a cheetah print it's a cheetah print it's a white plush robe from Revlon. Yeah, it's just something it's, and I put I don't take it out very often, but I'm having a rough day, I'll just put it on.

Mila:

I love that.

Dean:

It just is comfortable. And I love clothes, I love what I do, but sometimes for me it's the escape. Yeah, so it's just like I'm just going to sit on my rope.

Ilona:

So for this glam tip of the week, we're going to hear from Dean.

Dean:

Yes, I would say the glam tip would be to put a little bit of extra cologne or perfume behind your ear. Go to Sephora, get the samples, because when you heat up it interacts differently when you're cold. So just spray some on for a week, see how your body reacts to it and you're good.

Ilona:

I used to spray myself with a ton of perfume and I didn't feel it. Now, when somebody sprays themselves at least twice, it's too much for me. Like one spray is enough, you must hate being around me. No, I don't smell you Really. Actually, I do smell you, but it's not that bad.

Dean:

It's Chanel. I mean, it's not that bad. You don't smell like that. It's not that bad, it's tolerable.

Ilona:

It's Chanel.

Dean:

It's tolerable. We'll take it, it's fine.

Ilona:

It's not too much, it's normal.

Dean:

That's one thing, too, that drives me crazy is people put on cologne like it's rose water. They just start spraying it everywhere and it's like that's not how you do that, right, but if you have nice clothes, because what it does is it'll just start to disintegrate the materials and things like that you have cashmere and silks and things like that.

Dean:

So I always say just spray it here, boom, and then here this. I always say just spray it here, boom, and then here. This way that people when they come talk to you they go oh, that smells good, but it's not overbearing.

Ilona:

Spraying it on your neck and that, that's just. It's a lot. In former Sabine we used to put a little bit here, a little bit here, here, here. That's how it was taught. Yeah, me too, I just spray it once here.

Mila:

I spray here this, and then I just it's so interesting because scent is such a strong sense and I think that your perfume makes such a strong statement about you. I remember when I was growing up. Some of my memories with my mom are always associated with Coco Chanel Mademoiselle, mixed with 120 Capri's.

Dean:

Oh my.

Mila:

God Menthols.

Dean:

My Nana June. Oh my God, those long scents. My Nana June smoked those shoes, oh my God. Menthols, oh my God, those long, oh my.

Mila:

God. So, like every time, I would like put my my face on my mom's like chest. It would be the combination of Coco Chanel, Mademoiselle and Capri's.

Ilona:

Does not sound good to me. It's not so good.

Mila:

I do like the Coco Chanel Mademoiselle.

Ilona:

Yeah, but it's like a core memory for me. It's surprising you didn't uh create a negative association with coco chanel after a mix with the cigarette smell.

Dean:

Yeah, and it's no, it's opposite.

Mila:

I now enjoy the smell of cigarette smoke because it, like, reminds me of childhood. It's nostalgic yeah so what's next for you?

Dean:

so right now I'm working on a book. It's called start with style. I believe uh anyone wanting to start, uh, being curious about fashion. Or if you're going through a change in your life you've lost weight, you've got a promotion, you unfortunately gone through a divorce, um, or you're going to a different country, what are some of the key things that you can do to make sure that your style translates wherever you're going? So I do things like how to create a cologne bar in there, what makes a good tailor, what makes a good cobbler, uh, proper underwear, things like that. So it's really going to be a guide, like a how to thing for both men and women.

Dean:

For both yeah. No boxers for men no boxers from it or thongs.

Ilona:

Dean, thank you for reminding us that image is power and that women can dress however they want to feel confident and successful.

Mila:

Remember, whether you're in Louboutins or loafers, courtroom or cocktail hour, your style speaks volumes.

Ilona:

And we're here to help you say what needs to be said. Subscribe, follow and stay glam with us every week on the Glamorous Grind.

People on this episode

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Ilona Antonyan

Co-host
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Mila Arutunian

Co-host