I think I have manufactured my shopping/dressing touchstone. At long last! (WARNING: *very* long)

I have mused about style descriptors and rubrics last year. That helped but I felt I needed something more. A stricter or more vivid mnemonic perhaps. Thus, I belong to the Arty Eclectic tribe, but how do I rule out the huge variety of styles that encompasses. Angie called me 'folksy', which rang a resounding bell, but how did I integrate that practically, visually?

Today, Becky's post switched a lightbulb on. Like her, my closet needs to function across a range of climates and environments. Because I am itinerant by profession as well as preference. This had been missing from my old checklist.

Also missing had been a shadow persona that I would prefer to bring out into action from time to time---a futuristic side. Even though I adore some very traditional or nostalgic outfits and details.

I identify also as a bohemian... but not necessarily the popular icons of boho fashion.

I need to feel grounded but also to step lightly on the earth.

And in a weirdly contrarian way, this wallflower is at a point in her style journey where she wants to stand apart and be counted on for non-conformity of a sort. Like breaking figure flattery rules. Without looking clueless. And this in a way more drastic than whimsy at times.

Underline my fascination with cross-cultural pollination on the runway, and also my rootedness in my own ethnic heritage...and it gets a bit more ambitious.

So I have chosen to articulate my fashion interests through the persona of the Gypsy (Eccentric) Time(less)Traveller.

Gypsy = my bohemian leanings (NB: this is the gypsy archetype of fantasy and intended as any disrespect to the actual peoples); cultural rootedness and cultural magpie tendencies (reference to the integration and adaptations as the Romani travelled beyond India while retaining Romanipen as a core identity); choices to own less and leave a lighter footprint on the earth.

Eccentric = the whimsical and the unexpected element, the defeat of expectations about figure flattery, environmental norms, contemporary trends by the desire to go my own way; an important but not everyday aspect of my current style, its hide-and-seek presence articulated in the parentheses.

Time(less) = the seesawing between uber-traditional motifs and silhouettes, nostalgia and retro elements and futuristic ones (fabrications that recycle or upcycle, 'technological' textures) that seek to preserve the earth perhaps or hope for its continuance in time; also articulates the non-trendiness of a style neither classic nor modern but avant-garde enough to resist dating and to conversely be at home in any decade

Traveller = a key consideration missing from my past attempts, this is to remind me of my itinerant reality as a professional and in my personal life; to explain the coexistence of disparate cultural influences as well as to reference a certain degree of ruggedness and rumple and resistance to the elements; to emphasise the need to bridge or cross seasons and climes with durability and comfort

Now, that was the sum of the parts. But like Una said in talking about the UWP and how she didn't resonate at all to princess...until it was a warrior princess, so also the time-travelling gypsy encapsulates ideas that modify or exceed its separate elements. Thus, it suggests an attempt to fit in across a multiplicity of contexts and a tension due to the unlikelihood of really fitting in. It represents to me a readiness to repeat and revisit as many do when travelling and forced to dress out of a suitcase; a trimming away of excess baggage towards a certain minimalism... but not too spare, with the bringing of my whole life in my caravan. There is colour and texture there. But also a restriction of the palette (I am reminded of certain nomadic tribes with their signature colours of black or white or red as the basis of all garments). The bags are big and bottomless...but every item in it must work hard to earn a place.

Thinking of this also helped me recognise that I not only repeat favourite outfits but have certain favourite silhouettes and proportions I repeat often. It seems I might be an uniform dresser (waving to Vix) under all the barnacles I have collected!
Silhouette 1: the long/loose tunic and leggings
Variation A: tunic and long skirt
Variation B: the dress with length and flow (A line, empire line, semi-fitted rather than strict fit & flare or sheath)
Variation C: tunic or other voluminous top (kaftan, banded etc) with straight or skinny bottoms (jeans, pencil skirt etc)
Silhouette 2: voluminous pants/skirt with more reined-in top (sleeveless or shorter length, very tailored or body skimming)
Variation D: volume on volume

Huh. You guys still here? ::blinks owlishly:: Thought I was talking to myself there!

Well, this novel needs a dedication: To Suz, who reminded me very recently that frustration often precedes a breakthrough. Plus acknowledgements of indebtedness to whole rafts of folks who commented on Becky's and Rae's threads as well as mine.

It really is as though the brain must work up a lather to switch gears or push through. Now to see if I can actually shop and dress to this image.

*Time* will tell.

I still have the problem of a picture in my head I can't seem to find in the shops.