by Layla Randle-Conde

Created on: December 31, 2008

There are some wealthy people who only wear brand new designer clothes and cover themselves in gold jewellery and diamonds. They're called rappers and lottery winners. Most well off folk don't blind you with bling.

As an occasionally starving artist I can think of many reasons why I'd want to give the impression that I'm better-heeled than I really am. But the main reason is it helps me get work. Being self employed I have to dress richer in order to get richer.

Whether I'm going for a modelling job or sweet-talking an editor, the more financially successful I look, the more confidence they have in me to do the job.

Money likes money like flies like honey. Dressing well gives you the edge in all sorts of situations. I feel absolutely confident walking up to someone with a lot of money, asking them to put some work my way and talking to them as an equal - they don't know how overdrawn I am at the time!

The first and perhaps the most important tip is this. It sounds corny but only because it's true. Attitude is almost everything. Get this right and it will all fall into place. Don't just dress well, speak well. Put yourself across well. Have excellent manners. Your accent and attitude can either undo or enhance the good impression that your shoes and shiny hair created in the first place.

Start to think like a richer person. Well off people are confident in themselves. They don't need to overdress. As a rule they don't need to cover themselves in logos and dangly things. Not everything they wear is brand new either.

The well-off tend to be healthier than poorer people. They often have better diets so they have good skin. They can afford to go to the gym. Being overweight and having bad skin automatically makes you look less well off. Look after yourself!

Bags are a huge giveaway. Most people have never seen inside your wardrobe. How do they know how many handbags you have? They only see you with one at a time, so make sure its quality. Get yourself a fantastic leather bag and throw all those naff, fake leather bags away. In fact, burn them at the bottom of the garden and never, ever buy another one. Your leather bag can be new, vintage, gently used, stolen from your mum or even a charity shop bargain. But for goodness sake, make sure it's leather. Nothing says poor' like Pleather.

Shoes are exactly the same. Buy leather shoes and boots and maintain them. Polish them from time to time. Save the sparkly platform numbers for nightclubs. Be ruthless, it's amazing how many

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