Why Your Wardrobe Is Part of Your Brand with Kati Kons

Kevin Dennis (: 00:01

Alright folks, welcome to another episode of Mind Your Wedding Business. I have Kati Kons with us and she's here gonna be telling us how to like style ourselves and make us not look like schmucks, I guess would be the word, I don't know. Make us look better than what we probably should be. So ⁓ Kati, tell us a little bit about yourself and how we got you here today.

Kati Kons (: 00:23

man.

carry.

Kevin Dennis (: 00:27

There you go.

Kati Kons (: 00:29

I

studied political science in school and was a paralegal for four years and got into the wedding industry by getting engaged, which most people do.

Kevin Dennis (: 00:35

wow.

Kati Kons (: 00:41

got really into the wedding fashion scene. I love wedding dresses and realized very, very quickly that there were not a lot of options for queer people to get married in anything other than a wedding dress and a suit. And if you're outside of those gender norms, you really don't have an option or a process for finding an option. And so I really got involved in trying to help people find their option. And so...

Kevin Dennis (: 01:00

Hmm.

Kati Kons (: 01:07

That's what I mainly do is kind of connect people to those resources and help people find something that makes them feel confident. But I also do some personal styling and other styling. So I'm doing a bunch of different things and that's why I'm here.

Kevin Dennis (: 01:20

I love it. I love it. Okay, so we're going to be talking about when should you be caring about your personal style as a wedding vendor? I guess when we start like just to start us what like help the audience. What is a personal stylist?

Kati Kons (: 01:35

So a personal stylist is someone that helps you craft your personal brand, in other words, and uses style as a vehicle to communicate your personal brand to the world. And I think that it's really important to do that, especially as a wedding vendor, because you're showing up for the first time most of the time in person to meet your couple and a lot of other couples.

especially when word of mouth is your main resource for finding other couples and communicating your business, that you show up like communicating your personal brand to everyone else. And I'm not saying that you have to dress in a black tie. I'm not saying you have to dress in a ball gown, but dressing in your personal brand, I think is very, very important. And if you don't know how to do that, I think that's something that we should be working on.

Kevin Dennis (: 02:31

I it. Well, it took me back immediately. I, when I first started my business, I would go to a weekly like business meeting and we would like share referrals. It's like a B and I kind of thing, but it was like a local thing. And we did like this speed networking and I sat across from, and I was 22 years old when I, when I did this, I like show up in a hoodie and jeans and, it was seven o'clock in the morning. So like, I'm not a morning person and I hated being there, but, ⁓

I was told that this is going to be really good for my business and I sat across from the caterer and I was always trying to get business from her and she never gave me business and she looked at me and because I told you I started out as a DJ she called me record spinner and she goes record spinner I need you to show up like you want to be here and want to be in business and so obviously I was not putting off the proper thing and so I started showing up in a shirt and tie and I only at the time only own two ties and so I had just quickly

diversify my wardrobes and when you said like showing up and making that first impression, that's the first thing that I really my head went to. So alright, go ahead.

Kati Kons (: 03:34

⁓

I just think it's super important. The other thing is a lot of there's a lot of decorum around weddings. And I think especially as a it's hard to navigate that when it comes to should you be dressing in the dress code or should you be dressing in all black and all of those things. I think it's really, really important to communicate with your couple and communicate with like other vendors and figure out what you're doing and have like a coordinated approach so that you aren't sticking out like a sore thumb. You're doing the right thing. Everyone knows what's

going on and the couple is on board.

Kevin Dennis (: 04:09

Yeah, I and

I that resonates too because I just worked with her about coming out of COVID. There was a photographer out here that decided her brand was going to be bright, vibrant colors, so she's like almost like think neon and so she'd be showing up to people's weddings in these bright dresses and sticking out like a sore thumb and I feel like it wasn't good for like couples were complaining about what she was wearing so. I could.

Kati Kons (: 04:23

Mm.

Kevin Dennis (: 04:36

It makes sense because you're there, you're representing the couple and you know sometimes that's why everyone, like the default is all black. So, alright, so why is personal style so crucial for a wedding professional?

Kati Kons (: 04:41

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. For sure.

I think personal style says a lot about who you are before you even open your mouth. ⁓

Kevin Dennis (: 04:54

Mmm.

Kati Kons (: 04:55

It can say a lot about what you're thinking and what you're feeling and your belief system and everything in between. And it can communicate how important you think your job is to them and how much you put into your business and how much effort you're putting into their day. It can show them how much effort you're putting into their day. So I think it's so important to show up.

Kevin Dennis (: 05:22

I love

that. ⁓ So how can someone find their personal style?

Kati Kons (: 05:29

That's a really challenging question. I think there's a lot of approaches that you can find your personal style. Obviously you can experiment with different styles and see what you find, but that's a very expensive approach. think a really nice way to find your personal style in my opinion is, and I do this with a lot of the people that I work with, is I set up two mood boards, usually via Pinterest, and I have my clients set up

Kevin Dennis (: 05:31

Okay.

Hehehehehe ⁓

Kati Kons (: 05:58

one mood board of all the fashion inspiration that they love. And I say, what if you had to wear outfits for the rest of your life, put them on this mood board.

And don't put it on the mood board if you wouldn't wear it for the rest of your life, right? And the other mood board, that's only fashion. The other mood board is anything that's art inspiration, architecture, music, literature, sculptures, watercolors, anything art related, goes on that second mood board, just to get to know their creative side and where the creative side of their brain lies. ⁓ And then when to find their personal style,

Kevin Dennis (: 06:11

Eww.

Kati Kons (: 06:38

kind of marrying the two. It's kind of how do you put words into what the creative side is and kind of translating it into the fashion one. And so I think nowadays the way that you could do that is probably putting those images into an AI bot. But also you could probably just find similarities. it whimsical? Is it super colorful? Is it like loud? Is it all of these things? I think it's just finding the similarities and looking. It's

Kevin Dennis (: 06:53

that's so crazy.

Kati Kons (: 07:06

identifying patterns in people's creative minds, pretty much.

Kevin Dennis (: 07:11

Yeah, does their style change as time goes on or does someone you think hold on to their stock? I like I remember when I started my business, I was very much into like bright neon colors and everything was neon because I started my business in the 80s. You know, but now you know, I'm a little bit more blue and and I dress I wear a lot of blue when I dress. Yeah, so.

Kati Kons (: 07:33

Yeah.

Well, I think personal style is actually something that's never fully achieved. I think it's always aspirational. So I think I don't think I've ever found my personal style.

Kevin Dennis (: 07:41

Okay.

Kati Kons (: 07:46

I think people can identify my personal style before I could. And I think that's really funny that like personal style can be identified by someone else other than you. But I think it's always changing because you are always changing and your mind is always changing and your heart is always changing. And so things are always changing. Your inspiration is always changing and the times are always changing. So yeah, I think it's going to evolve with the times. But I think it's also important to come back to the things that

Kevin Dennis (: 07:57

Mmm.

Mm.

Kati Kons (: 08:16

pull on your heartstrings and come back to the things that remind you of home. And sometimes those things never change. So you might have similar inspiration, but some of the things might change, if that makes sense.

Kevin Dennis (: 08:22

Okay.

No, totally makes sense. And I've always liked blue. So that makes sense why I probably gravitate to the color blue. know? All right. So how should someone's outfit change based on the occasion? For example, like a networking event versus a wedding day for a wedding professional.

Kati Kons (: 08:33

you

Taking the example you used earlier of wearing neon to a wedding day, I think a networking event is a great place to wear neon colors, especially if that's your personal brand, because you're trying to show up as who you truly are. And at a networking event, not only are you trying to stand out, but you are trying to show up for your fellow peers.

Kevin Dennis (: 08:49

Okay.

Okay.

Kati Kons (: 09:10

at a wedding, you are trying to be yourself, but you're trying to also fit into someone else's day and play a part in someone else's day. And that mold is very specific and you're playing a role. And so I think you have to take a step back and understand that this is not, you are not the main character that day and you might not be wearing pink neon feathers. And that's okay. You can still slay and go off just maybe in a more muted kind of way.

Kevin Dennis (: 09:16

Mmm.

Kati Kons (: 09:39

if that makes sense. ⁓ You can still look great in all black. Like you can still look great, you know? So I think it's like, it's a balance for sure.

Kevin Dennis (: 09:47

Yeah.

Yeah, because you like for some reason I don't know why I'm a stickler on little things and like there's a caterer that we work with that will allow their staff staff to wear like, you know, converse, but they're not all black. So they have a little white on them and it just doesn't look good. It doesn't look like polished. I mean, if that if we're outside and that's the look, but when you're serving a sit down dinner, you know, it just doesn't match. So yeah, there's so many.

Kati Kons (: 10:15

Mm-hmm. Yeah. But also wearing

all black doesn't have to be, it doesn't have to be like a plain black t-shirt. It could be like a black collared button down or it could be like with a black tie. You know, there's different ways to dress up all black. ⁓ You know, there's a difference between wearing all black trainers and all black.

Kevin Dennis (: 10:26

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Kati Kons (: 10:38

dress shoes, know, ⁓ in like joggers versus dress pants, like there's a very big difference there. And I think that like those different choices of like accessories make a really big difference as well. And I think accessories are kind of lost in terms of masculine attire. I saw your eyes kind of dark when I said accessories. But I think accessories are something that really, really dress something up even when you are wearing a t-shirt. So it's just about.

Kevin Dennis (: 10:39

Yeah, yeah.

No? Yeah.

Yeah, well, I like

accessories so the more the merrier. So alright, before we move on about like we're since we're on the subject of wedding attire jeans. What do you think is are jeans appropriate? Not appropriate?

Kati Kons (: 11:08

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

This is a hard question because I'm queer. And I belong in a queer space, which means queer weddings are a different story in that you can be whoever you want to be at a queer wedding, which means you can wear jeans at a queer wedding. can wear, but most of the time it's like a Canadian tuxedo where you're wearing jeans or jeans, right? You're not wearing like jeans in a t-shirt situation.

Kevin Dennis (: 11:30

Okay.

Okay.

Gotcha. Yeah.

Yes.

Kati Kons (: 11:55

But I will say most of the time that people wearing jeans to a wedding are wearing jeans and a t-shirt. So I will say on this topic, my definition of formal attire varies greatly from the average person because the definition of formal attire revolves around the historical definitions and like social norms that

Kevin Dennis (: 12:00

Yes.

Gotcha.

Kati Kons (: 12:18

we have hailed from tradition, that like society has hailed from tradition, from the patriarchy and from white supremacy over time. And like, it's just, it's just true. And so like we, in weddings especially, I don't know why, but in weddings especially, these trends are upholded. And so there isn't really a space for queer people to exist in those social norms of formal attire. We don't really have.

Kevin Dennis (: 12:29

Yeah.

Kati Kons (: 12:45

something like a default formal attire for queer people to go to.

To give you an example of what I mean is on the red carpet, the Met Gala just happened, the red carpet, celebrities don't just default to a suit or a dress in formal occasions. They mix it up, they have so much fun. Billie Eilish wears t-shirts and shorts. People wear whatever they want. Billie Porter wears dresses that are also suits. Anyone can do anything they want on a red carpet as long as it's high fashion. So why is that a different definition

Kevin Dennis (: 12:56

Yeah.

Yeah.

Kati Kons (: 13:20

formal than what we define at weddings as formal.

Kevin Dennis (: 13:25

It's amazing. I never even a million years thought about it that way. And I just know that jeans is like a controversial thing. A lot of it is based on like a country club setting, you know, like there's a country club that we work at and I'm like, Hey guys, we're going to this country club. even like our setup guys can't wear jeans, you know? So it's like, Hey, you, need to make sure you're not in jeans, but it just, I never even thought about it. I mean that, that depth.

Kati Kons (: 13:38

Okay.

Sure.

clubs are inherently

s,: 2000

Kevin Dennis (: 13:54

Alright, yeah.

Yeah.

Kati Kons (: 14:17

⁓ And if we define formal attire in this weird social norm kind of way and they do in terms of like a fashion high fashion situation Like how can we redefine it so that it's more? Palatable towards the everyday person now How can we do that? And I think honestly jeans is something that should exist in an everyday situation But I mean not in a way that people do it now, which is jeans in a t-shirt.

Kevin Dennis (: 14:42

Yeah, no. Yeah,

because there's ways to dress it up and make it look nice and sometimes I joke, especially with that country club. It's like, hey, like Jean, some of my like jeans cost 100 and something bucks, you know, where you can get a pair of chinos off the shelf at Target for 30 bucks. And what is that? You know, that doesn't mean I don't know. It's very interesting. And my daughter, my 13 year old daughter is.

Kati Kons (: 14:47

you

Kevin Dennis (: 15:06

Gay and so I and the whole time you're saying that is I'm like thinking about how hard it is that she struggles with just trying to find clothes and shopping with her is always an adventure because you know we and you know, we she She can never she has a hard time feeling comfortable. So I mean, thank you easy. You gave me a whole new appreciation for shopping with her. So Yeah, just need to be a little bit more patient with that young girl. So alright

Kati Kons (: 15:17

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Kevin Dennis (: 15:33

So why, since we jumped into the whole jeans thing and got derailed, I didn't mean to derail you, sorry. But what should people consider before choosing an outfit?

Kati Kons (: 15:46

to a wedding or generally.

Kevin Dennis (: 15:47

Just let's do it in general.

Kati Kons (: 15:50

Okay, every day when I choose an outfit

What's the one thing that I can put on that'll make me feel happy today? Like in my head, in this life, we are forced to wear clothing for God knows what reason. And not only that, there are rules about the clothing that we have to wear. And we might as well get some joy out of the clothing that we are wearing. So I go ahead and I put on.

Kevin Dennis (: 16:02

Mmm!

Mm-hmm.

Kati Kons (: 16:26

bright yellow shoes or an orange shirt. And this is my favorite thing. I'm wearing a gold necklace under the collar of my shirt today. I don't know why. But I love wearing things that really like just make me happy and just thinking about it. So I just do something, one thing every day with my outfit that will bring me joy. That's how I dress. Yeah.

Kevin Dennis (: 16:34

Yeah.

I love that.

teach when I go out and speak, I do a lot of things on networking and that's what I tell people. I go, it's important that you choose an outfit that is going to make you feel comfortable and make you feel like confident, you know, like when you go in into a room, cause you're going in, it's like when you go to network and if you don't, if you know just a handful of people, you're still, it's like you're being thrown to piranhas, you know, and you're like, you better be comfortable and confident when you're going in there. So I think clothes helps set that a lot.

Kati Kons (: 17:00

you

Kevin Dennis (: 17:19

And just thinking back over the years, there's many times where like, I know I felt confident because I look good, know, you know, like going into somewhere. So I love that. All right. ⁓ What question should someone ask themselves before investing in new pieces for their wardrobe?

Kati Kons (: 17:42

How many outfits in my wardrobe can I make with this one piece of clothing compared to the other thing I'm thinking of buying?

Kevin Dennis (: 17:47

⁓

love that.

Kati Kons (: 17:52

That's super random, but ⁓ if you don't already, I have a digital wardrobe app on my phone where I take pictures of everything that I own and I upload it to the app and I can compare based upon the things that I want to buy, how many outfits I can make. And it's like, you can see how versatile something is that you're about to buy. Not only that, but then you can see by your average spend, how versatile your investments are.

Kevin Dennis (: 17:54

No!

Wow, what's the app called?

Kati Kons (: 18:22

⁓ The app is called Index, but there are a lot of these different apps.

Kevin Dennis (: 18:24

Okay.

But that's genius, because then you can buy

something that's probably a little bit more than what you would normally spend. But if you can get multiple uses out of it, then it's not that cost doesn't seem as bad. So there was a.

Kati Kons (: 18:39

Absolutely. It will last

you longer for sure over time.

Kevin Dennis (: 18:44

⁓ yeah, it won't be in the back of the closet.

Kati Kons (: 18:47

Yes, yeah, things that will last you longer, like you said, investment pieces. I know it's like hurting the bank right now, especially given economics.

But like spending just a little bit more on something that's a little bit more quality, paying attention to the label when it says polyester versus cotton actually makes a really, really big difference in terms of longevity ⁓ closet. So that's, I think something that would really pay off.

Kevin Dennis (: 19:13

Okay.

How often should someone purge your closet? just if you haven't worn it in the last six months, a year, two years?

Kati Kons (: 19:27

How often does it bother you?

Kevin Dennis (: 19:30

⁓ fair enough. Or how often?

Kati Kons (: 19:32

I mean, if it doesn't

bother you and you have closet space, who cares? Keep it.

Kevin Dennis (: 19:36

Yeah, or you don't have to move it if you don't, if you want to.

Kati Kons (: 19:38

Well, I mean, purging

is just producing more waste and I just don't like wasting. Like, why not keep it if you can keep it? mean, if anything that you have becomes vintage by the end of your lifetime, I'd love to keep everything that I have. I just don't have space for it. So if it doesn't bother you and you have space, keep it.

Kevin Dennis (: 19:42

Yeah.

I

It's my my daughter loves to shop at the vintage clothes store and then which it that's her favorite place. She could spend hours. Yeah Yeah, that's amazing. All right, so ⁓ If someone already has like a fun personal style, how can they incorporate that into like a professional look?

Kati Kons (: 20:00

absolutely. Future vintage. Future vintage is the way to go.

The best way to incorporate your fun personal style into a professional look is to understand, well, carry.

Kevin Dennis (: 20:36

No.

Kati Kons (: 20:39

The best way to under, the best way to incorporate your personal style into a professional look is to understand when there are boundaries and understand when to say fuck it.

There are a lot of times when you can, when you do have to say, listen, this is a thing that I have to not stand out too much, like a wedding when you're a wedding vendor, but there are a lot of situations where people just comply with social norms and they don't need to. Like when you're going to, I don't know, court, you know, sometimes actually I will say, um, I was a paralegal in my old life and, uh, some federal courts will kick you out if you're not wearing formal attire, even

Kevin Dennis (: 20:52

love it.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Mmm.

Kati Kons (: 21:22

rule against it. ⁓ And sometimes I think those rules are worth breaking. I think there's a lot of unsaid norms out there about what to wear.

And I think that they are so restrictive in terms of how we express ourselves and how we feel joy in our everyday life. And I think that people just need to like sit there and self-reflect and think about how are you presenting yourself every single day and the choices that you're making with your clothes? Is it really appropriate to be wearing all gray and all black every single day?

Kevin Dennis (: 21:54

Mmm.

Kinda boring.

Kati Kons (: 22:03

especially in an economic downturn. ⁓ Actually, it's very important if you look at the history of like ⁓ the rise and the fall of the political economy, like when the economics are doing really well, fashion is that it's really like whimsical and fun and risky and like, you know, exuberant. And then when economics are doing really bad, there's a recession, things are boring, things are minimalist, things are neutral, that type of thing.

Kevin Dennis (: 22:28

Mmm.

Kati Kons (: 22:29

When there was a recession, I think at the end of the 80s, early 90s, things became very minimalist, very neutral. That's when like the Michael Kors of the world became really famous and there was like ⁓ more, there was more tailored suits and more boring stuff going on in the work world attire, you know? That's when like the funness of the 80s kind of died down in terms of like ⁓ attire. it just...

Kevin Dennis (: 22:33

Mm-hmm.

Kati Kons (: 22:56

When we're going into this economic downturn especially, I think it's really important to like stick to your guns and wear fun stuff and don't let the like sadness of the world get to you because I think that expressing yourself in a fun way is a form of protest sometimes. No.

Kevin Dennis (: 23:11

I love that. Do you know Holly Gray at all?

She's a wedding planner and so she ⁓ and I'm going to probably butcher her her company, but it's like anything but gray or it's so she basically and you see her and she's the most bright, vibrant person, but she she will not do a gray boring event is basically what it comes down to. She's only in there for the fun and the color. Yeah, I love it too. Holly Holly's a great person ⁓ out there. So how do you feel about someone having a uniform?

to avoid like decision fatigue. Like I'm gonna wear the same thing over and over again because you know, it's, I don't wanna make decisions. Or I don't like to shop maybe, that'd be another, you know, like I don't like to go out there and shop so I'm just gonna buy the same boring things that I always buy.

Kati Kons (: 24:00

Well, I feel like you shouldn't be buying more boring things if you don't like shopping. I feel like you should just stick to what you have because we shouldn't be consuming more. don't like shop it. Don't shop.

Kevin Dennis (: 24:08

I love that.

Mm-hmm.

Kati Kons (: 24:13

I think if you're, if you have decision fatigue, that's fine to keep wearing your stuff, you know, keep wearing what you already have. That's great. ⁓ but if you, think what people struggle with more is how do you make more use of what you already have? I think that's actually something a lot of people struggle with is like, how do you get more creative? Cause it kind of like hurts to start thinking like outside the box. And I think like fun ways to get more creative is like,

people think that there's a way to think about fashion in terms of rules. Like if you have ⁓ skin showing on your arms, then your legs should be covered. And there are no rules with, or if you have wide leg pants, then you have to have skinny shoes. Those are not real. Those are not real at all. The thing about fashion is like, yes, we're all made up. We're all nudes. And so I think the thing to realize about fashion is that like,

Kevin Dennis (: 24:56

Mmm.

Mmm.

They're all made up. wow.

Kati Kons (: 25:13

Anything goes and anything that makes you like happy and feel joy and make you feel confident literally goes will will make you feel good will go.

That's how it goes. And if you're rocking the weirdest thing in your closet, people will stare at you and be like, that's the new thing. Because confidence and looking like you know what you're doing is so, it's all psychology. It's all about how you think about going about it.

Kevin Dennis (: 25:34

Yeah.

Wow, I love I love that too. If you wear it confidently, it'll be the new style because I yeah, I feel like someone does something crazy and next thing you know, we're all doing the same thing or.

Kati Kons (: 25:50

It really will. It really will.

influencers are changing the game. These, well these people, these everyday people are just doing something very confidently and now they're having a much bigger influence than like these other celebrities would have and these other celebrities like play the game and now influencers aren't. Does that make sense? So, yeah.

Kevin Dennis (: 25:59

Oh, I didn't even think about that.

Yeah, totally does. So that's really probably changing fashion.

Totally.

Kati Kons (: 26:19

Sure, ⁓ yeah, they call it democratizing fashion where influencers are kind of aiding this ⁓ trend where now fashion is kind of having a trickle down effect where ⁓ more everyday people are getting into fashion instead of it being a luxury elite type of industry. ⁓ And they also think fast fashion is aiding this ⁓ effort, right? ⁓ But I really...

Kevin Dennis (: 26:24

Okay.

Mmm.

Mm-hmm.

Kati Kons (: 26:47

I really want to steer clear of that narrative. I don't like the idea, and I also don't think it's correct, that it's a bit of a regressive thought that just because fashion is being democratized doesn't mean it's bad for the earth. ⁓

Kevin Dennis (: 26:51

Okay.

Gotcha.

Kati Kons (: 27:11

Obviously fast fashion and the ethics of sustainability and the ethics of like literally the clothing supply chain are really, really bad in what we're doing, but like they've always been bad. That the production process of fast fashion has been like.

Kevin Dennis (: 27:23

Mm-hmm.

Kati Kons (: 27:29

changing the planets superbly. But I will say is fast fashion is making things much worse, but democratizing fashion does not mean it's bad. Like it's not bad that everyone has access to fashion. That's not what's making it bad. And I think that there's this narrative that because everyone has access to it, we have to pull back. And I don't like that. I don't like that there's this elitism around fascism. Fascism.

I

Kevin Dennis (: 27:59

We knew what you meant. ⁓

Kati Kons (: 28:01

don't like that there's this elitism around fashion that only certain people can partake in it. That's not fair. And I think the best way to dip your toe into fashion is not necessarily vintage, because vintage can be really expensive sometimes, but resale. Resale apps, any type of resale, like Poshmark, Depop.

Kevin Dennis (: 28:19

It really can.

Kati Kons (: 28:26

Those types of apps where you can buy and sell peer-to-peer is great way to get into it.

Kevin Dennis (: 28:30

Mm-hmm.

how so speaking of shopping like how often should someone be shopping? I Mean, I know this I mean like in general like it for the average person

Kati Kons (: 28:42

Are you asking how often I shop? Because I shop. If you're asking how much I shop for new things, it's probably a couple times a year, which is not a lot in terms of the average person. I shop almost exclusively resale and vintage. ⁓ And if you ask many, many people into fashion, that's pretty common. Not because it's... ⁓

Kevin Dennis (: 28:44

I know, I didn't want to ask that because I...

Okay. Yeah.

Kati Kons (: 29:13

Not because it's high end, but because things have higher quality back then than they do now.

Kevin Dennis (: 29:19

Yeah,

true.

Kati Kons (: 29:20

So obviously people are looking for investment pieces, people are looking for really cool pieces, people are looking for things that are more affordable that are really cool, and a lot of people can't afford the things that are high-end now, so they look to the past to get the higher-end cool pieces, if that makes sense. ⁓ So I think that's ⁓ how often do you shop is, well, what can you afford? ⁓

Kevin Dennis (: 29:36

No.

Kati Kons (: 29:43

but just don't make it fast fashion. So how often can you afford and how often can you afford resale is the answer to that question, I think.

Kevin Dennis (: 29:52

Yeah, I love that. That's a good way to think about it because I have a friend of mine that probably shops a couple of times a month for new clothes. And I'm like, what do do with your old clothes? It seems.

Kati Kons (: 30:03

That's fine, but like how much a couple times a month? Like is it one piece or is it like 10? Because big difference, you know what I mean? I don't know.

Kevin Dennis (: 30:11

Yeah. Yeah, it is a big difference. So

now in speaking of that, does online like shopping for fashion like change because now that you have so much at your fingertips there in the world of like online compared to like going to the store like I'm older. So I like to like see it and try it on to make sure it fits. I get nervous buying things like online unless it's from a company that I know like I've worn.

Kati Kons (: 30:32

Thanks.

Kevin Dennis (: 30:39

that size from that company before, so I feel a little bit more comfortable, but just randomly buying something.

Kati Kons (: 30:45

My answer is counterintuitive. Yes and no. Online makes everything more accessible.

Kevin Dennis (: 30:47

Okay.

Kati Kons (: 30:58

especially in the world of wedding fashion, I told you I help queer people find their wedding attire. There is no process for finding your wedding attire when, when it's not a suit or a wedding dress, which means there are no in-person shops in your area for finding wedding attire when it's not a suit or a dress. So what do do is you go online. So every single client, every single couple that I have helped have got either flown somewhere to got to get their wedding attire or ordered online.

Kevin Dennis (: 31:04

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Kati Kons (: 31:27

because that's the only way to do it. are no, unless you're living in New York or living in LA or living in some sort of like fashion capital of the world, like there is no...

Kevin Dennis (: 31:28

Wow.

Kati Kons (: 31:41

easy way to obtain that attire because it's just not accessible. It's not in the mainstream and it's not readily available for everyone. So actually online shopping is not great and I know that's where you were going, but I think it's really good in some respects, like finding your queer wedding attire.

Kevin Dennis (: 31:58

Okay.

No, and that

I'd be honest with you. It makes sense because there's a conference that I go to all the time and there's always these Pinterest boards and you have to theme a party and so you're always looking for something and I end up believing or not. I go on Amazon and I find some cheap something that works and that because it's always like Kitchie and you're only going to wear it once. But then sometimes you comes and you're like wait like this size that I normally wear is not like way too small or wow, it's way too, you know, so it's not.

It's always kind of drives me nuts with the sizing, but.

Kati Kons (: 32:32

There's an app

that can size things based upon, it's like an AI app that you put in your own measurements, I think, and then it like sizes based upon the size chart, and then it tells you which one you should buy. Yeah, I forget what it's called though.

Kevin Dennis (: 32:41

Okay.

I love that.

Okay, just throw it in Google or throw it in chat GBT and they'll they'll tell you what it is No, that's great though that and that would be really helpful to have because like because that's the thing you can especially I know for more like men It's a little bit more cut and dry But women have a little harder time because at one my wife is always like I'm like a large here But I'm a medium or a small at this place and like they just make their sizes so different. So I'm gonna find that out

Kati Kons (: 32:52

Yeah, I forget, I'm sorry. ⁓

Yeah.

Yeah.

Kevin Dennis (: 33:18

and give it to my wife, because that would make her day.

Kati Kons (: 33:19

I also

know that there's more and more stores are integrating AI widgets that will help you size at home through making a video of yourself or something to find the right size. And that's obviously an expense that companies don't want to pay for yet, but I know it's becoming a thing. It's just going to be slow to be integrated.

Kevin Dennis (: 33:30

⁓

Well, and I would imagine too, as retail stores are becoming less and less out there, they're going to need to invest in that because that people are going to need to be able to have tools like that. Yeah.

Kati Kons (: 33:51

100 % and especially

because there's a lot more online retailers than there are in person retailers already. Like, I mean, if you think of high end retailers like Meta Porter, Mr. Porter as well, like they're strictly online. So anyways.

Kevin Dennis (: 33:59

Yeah.

Mm-hmm Yeah, I know and I feel like too it's like some of these companies these small companies are popping up out of nowhere and Like like I love all bird shoes, which is not fashionable at all But they're very comfortable and they become and being here in Silicon Valley They like took off here because everyone wore them

at Google at Meta and they become like the the business shoe and I like sometimes will wear some of I have a couple different fun colors and stuff and wear them as shoes but like that that company came out of nowhere you know and they you know they have a few retail stores there and there but you mainly buy their stuff online I think there's more and more companies like that now that are out there so.

Kati Kons (: 34:29

No.

Yeah. How

close are you to Silicon Valley? I bet you see a lot of people in hoodies and blazers nowadays.

Kevin Dennis (: 34:54

We do and I am literally like from Apple from Meta the Meta campus. I'm like maybe 30 minutes and like maybe 45 minutes away from Apple. So yeah, it's.

Kati Kons (: 35:05

I got a season

off the record when we...

Kevin Dennis (: 35:08

When we're done, I love it. I can't wait. But that nerdy style is in here in California because you see a lot of that walking around. yeah, and to your point, it's like people see it and you're confident in it and it becomes a style. So I love it.

Kati Kons (: 35:11

you

Yeah, it's a uniform.

Who,

what celebrities do you look to for your style inspiration? Yeah.

Kevin Dennis (: 35:32

Me? ⁓

don't, celebrities, I don't really. I'll see someone wearing something and I'll go, that's cool. You know, like randomly. So I love sports and I'm not a fan of the Miami Dolphins, but I think their coach is hilarious and they did a hard knocks ⁓ show on them and he was wearing a Louis Vuitton hoodie and I, and I, while he was doing like one of his

Press game things and I thought it was the coolest thing ever and then I went look for it until I found out it was a $1,400 hoodie and I'm like I loved it I'm like I want that hoodie I want it and then I'm like, ⁓ no, I do not I don't make my McDaniel money to be buying that hoodie. So yeah

Kati Kons (: 36:16

⁓ wanna plug my favorite comedian, one of my favorite comedians. I will say one of, because I actually in person met one of my favorite comedians the other day. I didn't know they were based in DC. It was a crazy experience.

Kevin Dennis (: 36:20

Okay.

Okay.

that's awesome.

Kati Kons (: 36:30

Their name is Frankie French, by the way, they're amazing. And this is a Loque, ⁓ Vade Mennon, and they're so funny, but their style is incredible. ⁓ They're just like a very whimsical personality and they show it with their style. And I'm just like, we need more people like that, I think, that are just like, fuck it, I'm gonna wear whatever I want, you know? But anyways, I just thought I'd plug that because great sense of style.

Kevin Dennis (: 36:56

You love

I love that. And so but who is your favorite comedian that you met the other day? ⁓ that's the one. OK, wow.

Kati Kons (: 37:01

Frankie French. Yeah, Frankie

French. It was so funny. I don't want to expose the situation in which I met them, but the way I found out it was them, because I didn't recognize their face, because I had heard them on a podcast.

Kevin Dennis (: 37:07

Wow.

No, no, no, no, fair enough.

Bye!

Kati Kons (: 37:20

And I saw them in person, but I wasn't close enough to the stage where I could have recognized their face. And the reason I recognized who they were is they said one of their jokes to me. When I literally said to them, what is your name? And they were like, excuse me?

Kevin Dennis (: 37:33

how funny.

Yeah. ⁓

Kati Kons (: 37:46

like, my god, you're stealing someone's joke if it's not you. It was so funny and ⁓ it was great.

Kevin Dennis (: 37:50

Yeah, that's funny.

I'm gonna look look look up that can be I'm always looking for good comedy. I can't you there's not enough good comedy out there Yeah, I'm gonna look her up. So alright anything I think we got through it all is there anything else you think we're missing? mean, I feel like we could talk forever

Kati Kons (: 37:59

She's funny.

you

⁓

No.

Kevin Dennis (: 38:16

Alright, I love it. ⁓ How do well first off I like to ask all my folks what's their favorite app you gave us a few apps throughout there, but like what's an app that you're using every day that you feel like you can't get out without right now?

Kati Kons (: 38:29

Okay,

I am gonna plug an app that I just learned about and I loved it until I started using it more and now I hate it. But I want to talk about it. I want to talk about it because I'm really mad at it right now. Because I'm just like, I want this to get back to them. Because I need them to get better. It's called Cosmos.

Kevin Dennis (: 38:38

Own!

I love that.

Kati Kons (: 38:51

And it's, it's like Pinterest, but better. And it basically is if you're on Google or even Pinterest itself or Instagram or Tik Tok, and all you have to do is click like the share button and you click share to Cosmos and you, and you click which album you want to save it to or whichever pin board or whatever they call it. And you automatically from wherever you are on your phone can share

Kevin Dennis (: 38:51

Okay.

All right, similar to Pinterest.

Kati Kons (: 39:19

images, videos, text, sounds to this app. And I was like, that's incredible. Now I can share any medium to my pieces board whenever I want. And then I was like using it and I'm like creating an inspo board for this like homework assignment I have for my, I'm taking a styling course right now. And I'm like, you can't even see half of the pictures. What are you doing?

Kevin Dennis (: 39:26

It's genius! Yeah!

⁓ no!

Kati Kons (: 39:48

what is going on? I'm so mad. So everyone get mad at cosmos so that they get better. I'm so mad. It sounds really cool though.

Kevin Dennis (: 39:50

I don't blame you.

Yeah, because it's it's a genius idea. If you think

about it, it really is. I just well and then like I had an app that I was loved forever and then like used forever and then they like new CEO came in and ruin the app and I it was called Evernote. I loved Evernote and I would. Yeah. Evernote basically like your notes app on your phone, but at the time it was better than any notes app out there.

Kati Kons (: 40:01

Oof. Anyway.

Moose yeah.

⁓ would you ever note? That sounds familiar.

Kevin Dennis (: 40:25

And I was a diehard like I they even ship me an Evernote shirt because I was such an avid you avid user of their app. And then they they like and it was I paid for it and the whole thing. And then all of a sudden they doubled their price and overnight and like new people came in and like ruin the whole like interface. And it was just it was not as fun. So I switched to the Apple Notes app and I've never looked back. So

Kati Kons (: 40:29

Aww, I love you.

You know

what's nice? Notion.

Kevin Dennis (: 40:50

⁓ notion is yes that that can it came out. I really like I've heard really good things about it

Kati Kons (: 40:55

The

AI integration is really fun too.

Kevin Dennis (: 40:58

Yeah, I heard it's really good. So.

Kati Kons (: 41:00

It's cool

because I have the AI subscription because I am impulsive so I bought it once for the whole year and so now I just have it. And so I do the thing where I'm like, hey, create me a calendar with this many events in it for the whole week and it just creates me a whole calendar with the whole sheet. It's all organized for me already and everything's all laid out for me in order of priority and whatever. And I'm like, this is crazy.

Kevin Dennis (: 41:24

Well, and if you had to go do that on your own, would take you forever. You know, not, you know. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And it pops, at least I know that I always I'm sure. Do you say thank you? And are you nice to your notion person over there? OK, you should, because when the the when the machines come back to get us, they're going to remember who was nice to them and who was not. So I always say thank you to. Fine, well, you just you what you.

Kati Kons (: 41:27

It would take me like three hours! It's insane.

I'm not gonna be friends with them when they come back. That's the thing, I'm not gonna be friends

with them. Well, I'm gonna be part of the resistance. I don't know about you.

Kevin Dennis (: 41:51

You want to be spared. You want to be spared is what it's going to.

I love it. That's great. Someone someone taught me that I was at a conference. They're like you. You need to say thank you and please to all these AI things because they're someday going to rock. Yes, get on it now. Alright, well thank you. So Kati, how does someone get in contact with you?

Kati Kons (: 42:05

I'm not trying to get on their good side.

you can find me at portrait of a bride on fire on Instagram or tick tock or at very website, which should be linked in the show notes.

Kevin Dennis (: 42:28

We

will have all of it in our show notes.

Kati Kons (: 42:31

And that's it.

Kevin Dennis (: 42:33

Alright Kati, thank you so much. You made me a little self conscious about ⁓ what I'm wearing, but I will.

Kati Kons (: 42:38

If you

sell her ring watch, she'll never be self-conscious again.

Kevin Dennis (: 42:41

⁓ I don't know not know about that. That's fancy.

Kati Kons (: 42:45

It's

working too. wait, I can't see. Now you can see it. There you go. Anyways. I know.

Kevin Dennis (: 42:48

Yeah, I love that. I have an aura.

I have an aura ring to tell me how to sleep better and all that. But yeah, but it actually the aura thing is I got it for Christmas and it's great. I'll be honest with you. It's like it's telling me like, yep, dipshit. I didn't sleep much last night. And yes, that's why I'm probably grumpy today. And like it's you can't the numbers don't lie when some of that stuff. It's like, you only slept for four and a half hours last night. Yeah, yeah, I am grumpy today because of that. So

Kati Kons (: 42:55

that's nice. Does it work?

I should get one.

Yeah, I should go.

you

Kevin Dennis (: 43:17

Anyway, but I like your ring watch. That's pretty cool. So, all right. Well, thank you so much. We appreciate having you on the show and folks until next time. We'll see you next time on mind your wedding business. Bye guys.

Kati Kons (: 43:19

Thanks.

Bye.