Style has many interconnecting components…color palette; contrast; silhouette shape /lines; understanding basics, essentials and statements; capsules; practical aspects due to climate, function, care, etc.; sartorial preferences, emotion and personality. Some people can intuitively pick items that work well. I am not one of them are you? If so, have you always been? If not, how have you developed your wardrobe and personal style? My maternal aunt is my number one style icon, she had amazing intuitive sense of what worked well both on her and on others. In my eye, she always looked elegant and I have always wished I could be similarly elegant. Deciphering the factors that created that elegance has been a difficult and elusive process. What worked for her does not work for me since she had very different coloring, body frame and personality. I have concluded that people look most elegant and stylish when their lines, innate personality, and what they project are aligned. I have been re-evaluating my wardrobe to try to identify the factors I can use to improve this sort of harmonized “elegance”.
Color and contrast seem to be one of the relevant elements. Angie had called me Miss Midtones, and that seems accurate. Currently, I am happy with my color palette choice. Since I can not pick colors intuitively, I have relied on a palette provided by a seasonal color stylist….light summer. Sadly, the light summer colors are hard to find in cold seasons….which is 3/4 of the year in my climate. Therefore, my wardrobe has naturally accumulated a larger proportion of neutrals vs. colors. My current neutrals are mostly indigo and inky blues and all shades of grey. As I replace worn items, I am trying to shift my neutrals from the navy/ink tones to dark spruce greens, lighter rose browns, rose beige, mid tone sandy tan (not too warm) and mid to light cool taupe. I will keep the grey because it works well with my hair and eyes. I suspect this will be a slow transition since it’s hard to find my preferred neutrals in my preferred lines/silhouettes. I continually look for clothing in my colors.
Line/silhouettes and proportions are important for elegance, but also not intuitive for me. Learning my body shape from Angie…rectangular, was truly eye opening, I adjusted my wardrobe accordingly, making use of proportional adaptations, and for the most part it worked well but I still could not figure out why one tailored blazer looked amazing and another looked awful, despite being so similar. I could not intuitively sort out the details. The book, suggested by Suz, The Triumph of Individual Style provided some clues about what sort of details might work. I also looked at Kibbe since his name came up so often on the forum. My Kibbe results turned out as strong Yang…Dramatic. However, some people on the forum thought I might be FN, or Ethereal. I did not feel I could not wear the flowing large shapes of FN. In fact, when I shopped for trench coats, the oversized shapes that should be ideal for an FN, looked awful. Ethereal seemed too soft and light but something about Ethereal style felt right, the delicacy, and feathery nature of its details felt right, as did the opalescent shine and light color palette. Dramatic had many good elements for me with its sharp tailoring, but it still felt too harsh and maybe large. I found a system created by Florentine Mossou, of Calla Studios. Similar to Kibbe, she relies on Yin and Yang features. She categorized me as a Mysterious type….primary influence vertical Yang, secondary influence horizontal yin, and tertiary horizontal Yang. Female celebrities with similar lines include Maria Sharapova, Tilda Swinton, Taylor Swift, Jenna Elfman, Nicole Kidman, and Cara Delevigne. Male celebrities include David Parsons and Jim Tennant. Her description of the type is “moderately tall, very narrow and very sharp”. The qualities of a mysterious are “tall and imposing, yet she also has a delicate quality”. I felt a sense of relief after reading the detailed feedback she provided. Yes, I could understand why certain aspects of Kibbe’s Dramatic and Kitchener’s Ethereal had worked for me, and why Kibbe’s FN had not. From what Ms. Mossou taught me, I could immediately understand why one blazer would work, and one seemingly similar did not. Since my Calla Studio analysis, my clothing selections almost always work if they are in my color palette and adherent to the guidelines for a Mysterious type.
The part that has escaped me until just recently is to ask whether my personality is truly reflected in my clothing selections in a way that feels and looks right….is it elegant? For so long, I worked to soften my intimidating/imposing features. To do this, I tried Boho and feminine frills. Most often these fail and feel weird and unnatural. I have tried neutral and classic pieces, but they often feel a bit boring. I have tried pure dramatic items which are too harsh. I have a playful side, a sporty side, an earthy side a serious side, a quirky and a creative side. I’m still not sure how to best incorporate these aspects into my wardrobe.
In addition to lightening up my neutrals, my plan for the next leg of my style journey is to figure out my version of Ms, Mossou’s “imposing yet delicate” to project my personality. Her words seemingly resonate with my style statement (words reversed)…Composed Genuine. The composed is the imposing, the Yang, and the genuine is the delicacy, the yin. As a starting point, I think the delicacy needs to come from my color palette, textures, and accessories. My first step is going to be a re-evaluation of my jewelry to see how that may play a role in adding delicacy to my stronger vertical, narrow and sharp lined silhouettes.
If you’re still with me, I know this has been long. Thanks for reading! I look forward to your responses.
