Thanks for my 2 new Style Monikers! - YouLookFab Forum

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Outfits Ensembles Trends Advice

Thanks for my 2 new Style Monikers!

Zaeobi

(website)

Veteran

EDIT: Thanks everyone who's commented so far - it's been really helpful! I'm going with:
Unruffled Bird of Paradise* (casual) &
Practically Polished Bird of Paradise*

*Attaching photos of the Raggiana Bird of Paradise so you can see the earthy/ autumnal tropical colours I'm aiming for

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During my closet cleanout I've realised that, whilst my current style moniker is fairly *descriptive*, unfortunately 'Comfy Covered Colourful Chic' does not give much direction on what would best serve me on my *future* style journey.

So I'd like to open this up to my fellow wonderful Fabbers, as a springboard for possibly revamping my Style Moniker:
Are there any common themes you notice in my outfits? Any particular words that spring to mind?

---

Sorry for not posting a WiW for now - been feeling fairly uninspired as my foot is still confined to just my Jesus sandals & engineer boots, lol. But here's a photo of the focus of my colour story going forward - I touched on this in my 2023 Goals & Colours posts, but am reiterating it here in case it helps you?

NEUTRAL: deep warm Chocolate (+ camel?)
COLOURS: Plum, Teal green, Tomato orange
ACCENTS: Saffron yellow, Mossy chartreuse
METALLICS: Bronze, Brass, Yellow gold

Thank you for any & all of your suggestions or guidance on this - positive or negative! Feeling a little stuck, so hopefully this will help me to see the forest for the trees a bit

---

To recap, these are the themes I'm seeing emerge from the discussion so far:
~ Earthy/ Spicy
~ (temperate/ sub-) Tropical Sunset
~ Erudite/ Intelligent/ Analytical/ Logical
~ Ease/ Relaxed/ Temperate/ Messy/ Undone
~ Draped/ Burnished/ Satin/ Sheen
~ Polished/ Pretty/ Glam

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58 replies

Latest reply was from ChristelJ

Olive Green

Veteran

Tropical. Like a wildly beautiful bird.

Anonymous

Yaaaas to tropical! Angie gave me Earthy Sophisticate, so how about Tropical Sophisticate?

Dee

Veteran

Yes, tropical seems a perfect word for you, maybe tropical passion chic!

Zaeobi

(website)

Veteran

Ooh thanks @olive, I like the word 'Tropical' - & 'Passion', @Dee! I'm just worried they may steer me into the 'cool toned brights' trap though - I'm a sucker for them so I have to keep reminding myself to buy *warmly* saturated versions instead (e.g. no more aqua blue & sunshine yellow, but teal green & marigold are OK). Does that make sense?

@suntiger I like 'Sophisticate' too! But I'm wondering if it's like 'Chic' - I don't think of my style as being very 'done' (I don't usually wear makeup, for example, or collared shirts) but it's also not RATE (no ripped jeans, for example)... Is there a word that can convey that middle level of 'neatness' - still tidy, yet for someone who machine washes her silks & can't remember the last time she touched an iron, lol?

Maybe I'm just overthinking all this, lol!

Ginger

Veteran

"Is there a word that can convey that middle level of 'neatness' - still tidy, yet for someone who machine washes her silks & can't remember the last time she touched an iron, lol?"

Maybe Tropical Natural? Or Tropical Ease? I've wrestled with the same concept myself! It's hard to express that middle-of-the-road neatness that isn't fussy or crisp but neither is it distressed or rough.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

I see drape, structure, comfort, shine, texture, earthiness, pretty, comfort, and lots of curls

Tropical is a GREAT word - especially since you live in tropical climate.

I'll be back....

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Thinking....

NancyW

Veteran

Luxe/Texture/Shine?

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Throwing this out there -- your intelligence is very much a part of who you are and you work as a teacher. You are thoughtful about your outfits but not overly precious. There's a practical element -- seeking (and needing) comfortable footwear, recognizing (with some pangs) that some fabrics just won't work in your current climate. Yet you like to analyze and theorize and delve into the mysteries and delights of colour and shape.

Tropical Academichic?

(Let me pause here to pay respects to the late, lamented blog, sob!)

I'll be back later.

rachylou

Veteran

Well this is very interesting. I think of your colours and I think ‘spices’. I think of your colours and style… and I imagine you might actually fit nicely in an Indiana Jones movie. Don’t laugh! I loved, loved!, the costuming when Raiders came out. I mean you’ve got the academics (Indy was a professor!), bazaars (cinnamons and saffrons!); you’ve got elegant modesty (the 1940s!) - adventure and style! if you ignore the tomb robbing and stuff

CarolS

Veteran

Erudite, temperate, tropical? I also like the idea of tropical sunset to keep the focus on the richer, warmer versions of your colours.
Temperate to denote neither rate nor Uber refined. ??? I still don’t have a descriptor so playing at it for someone else is a good exercise!

Jenni NZ

Veteran

Zaeobi I understand your problem- I faced the same in 2019 with “eclectic matriarch” which was accurate for what my wardrobe looked like but gave no guidance. The forum helped me settle on “Sassy Shoemaker’s Elf” which was more of a guide, though I don’t use it that much. Olive Green’s idea made me first think of a rosella, which might be an Australian bird (?) but then I just looked at parrots and found the below photo that seems rather you in its colours?
I mean a parrot in a good way!

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Joy

Veteran

It sounds like warm colors are best on you. Me too. It makes it hard that retail is pushing cool tones. It makes shopping hard, a downer. Hang in there. I am shopping more second hand than retail these days, looking for what I need in warm colors. This too will will pass away.

Zaeobi

(website)

Veteran

Wow, such great ideas here, thank you ladies - you've all given me lots to mull over! Everyone's guiding words are different (as they should be) but for me personally I think my words should encourage me not to veer towards extremes, since that's my weakness (I'm most unhappy when I go either full-on Colour Magpie / Solid Minimalist, OR Floaty Bohemian / Structured Authoritarian).

@Ginger
Yes, you get it - the middle of the road may actually be the hardest path to traverse I like Ease - though Natural is great too, I have to be careful not to slip into 'crunchy linen' looks (great on others but, even if I don't like ironing, it's too rumpled on me to feel fab). Do you think Languid or Relaxed could work?

@Angie @NancyW
That's great that you're seeing all those things already, considering two of my 2023 Goals are actually to add more shine & texture does Earthy Tropical make sense?

@Suz
Wow thank you for the compliment - I don't know why but I always feel a bit weird calling myself 'intelligent'! But it's something I've heard a fair bit from others, so perhaps there's truth to it?
Haha yes, I remember Academichic! Having finally left Academia now though, & knowing that substyle is a little more 'Librarian', perhaps Analytic would work? I think I tried to convey the aspects you mentioned with Comfy previously, but perhaps Logical would guide me better whilst including that - i.e. before I step out, thinking to myself 'Is the outfit I'm wearing logical for the venue/ formality/ activities I need to do that day?'

@rachylou
Ooh that's interesting actually! I've actually never seen the Indiana Jones films but, as soon as you said that, I knew exactly what you meant lol! The raiding sounds like the fun part though - love the 1950s silhouettes, but I need a little more 1940s Adventurer (for practicality's sake)!
I don't know if you saw my hiking outfits but MrZ says I look like an Old Timey Safari Explorer in them, lol
Hmm yes, Spices are a good shout - I think that's why my gut reaction is that Tropical is OK but that 'Pure' Tropical may cause me to fall into the 'cool toned primary colours' trap (which are wonderful on parrots but can be a little overpowering on me) IYKWIM? I'm attaching a whisky ad I saw the other day lol - I wouldn't drink it but look at those colours!

@CarolS
Thank you for Erudite! But see the first paragraph of my reply to @Suz
I like how Temperate is both a play on the tropical weather but also an allusion to the middle path - clever!
Sunset is great for denoting warmth - just like @rachylou's Spices.
As for your own Moniker, I admire the way you can pull off Relaxed Menswear (like slouchy blazers) without looking 'stiff' - not the case for me! But I think we're similar in that you do wear saturated colours but they're not usually 'pure' ones. So maybe 'Burnished Relaxed Menswear' to denote that element of Polished without Severity?

@Jenni
Yes, you get it! Descriptive can be great in the moment, but not for future growth...
I get it lol don't worry, but see the last paragraph of my reply to @rachylou - it seems it's difficult to find a bird with all these colours but in warm tones... I've attached a Lovebird & a Flame colored Tanager below - maybe a Peacock & Phoenix too? Any bird lovers, feel free to weigh in lol!

@Joy
I feel your pain - it's either cool tones here OR very pale neutrals, both of which look terrible on me (see my fourth attachment below of a typical clothing shop front - many local HK brands use similar colours).
I think I mentioned Zara to you before right? It seems that the autumnal colours that I saw there last season are only JUST hitting western stores (I've seen some UK influencers wearing Zara pieces I bought back in September - which is a lifetime ago in the influencing world, lol!) I also walked past saffron yellow knitwear in COS, but don't know if it'll be available in the USA yet?

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Zaeobi

(website)

Veteran

To recap, these are the themes I'm seeing emerge from the discussion so far:
~ Earthy/ Spicy
~ (temperate/ sub) Tropical Sunset
~ Erudite/ Intelligent/ Analytical/ Logical
~ Ease/ Relaxed/ Temperate
~ Draped/ Burnished/ Satin/ Sheen

(Thanks for all the suggestions, Fabbers - keep 'em coming!)

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Ooh, Rachylou (as ever!) is onto something...

I, too, thought of spices, the warm ones, cinnamon and nutmeg and cardamom and cumin. And some erudite (yay, Carol!) adventure story....

I think a question to ask is whether or not imagining a "character" or persona will help you, or whether you do better simply with 3 descriptive style adjectives. Speaking for myself, I have done better with a persona -- (prince, garçon). The years when I could not come up with a persona that seemed to fit were the years when my style did not advance. That's not necessarily a bad thing. Maybe I was just comfortable with where I was and didn't need to move my style in any different direction. Even now, the differences are very subtle.

Anyway, my point is -- lots of people do best with the 3 adjectives. Others of us seem to really need that persona to get a grip on what the heck we are aiming for!

Suz

(website)

Veteran

We cross posted. You are right, of course -- academichic is too "librarian" for you -- but what I think I was trying to conjure in mentioning them was something to do with the blend of practicality or maybe refusal to be too uptight and precious about the clothes and --- hmmm, not sure I know how to say it, but almost a pride or a bravura attitude -- "I'm going to look and feel stylish regardless of the circumstances!" For them, it was an environment pretty much hostile to fashion. In your case, it's being in a foreign country, a (sometimes uncongenial) climate, having to shop in a place where it can be difficult to find your best colours or items that fit right, etc. That's a bit adventurous, too, just in itself.

I get why you wouldn't necessarily want the adjective "intelligent" in your descriptor -- that would feel weird to me, too. I think when you come up with them, your descriptive words (or your persona name) will convey that without actually having to say it.

Zaeobi

(website)

Veteran

@Suz
No worries, timezones are a weird thing - takes me a while to scroll up & down to make sure I'm responding to everyone individually too, especially in the morning lol!

I'm intrigued by this idea of a 'Persona' helping to drive your adjectives. Maybe a Spicy Tropical Adventurer, lol? But then I usually think of Adventurers as being dressed more utilitarian & not as curvy (or at least curve accommodating) as me - after all, I still like my skirts lol!

I've been thinking that I also like the word Mystical (rather than Mysterious) - I think there's a bit more 'Whimsy' in that version of mystique, but without losing some of the moodier colours of mystery...

So many words, so many concepts! Maybe I need a separate 'persona' for hot & cold weather?

Jenni NZ

Veteran

The reason I liked a persona was from another Fabber’s idea (might have been Jenava originally) of imagining the thing in your wardrobe and going “Would a Sassy Shoemaker’s Elf wear this?”
I am not sure if Suz uses her moniker similarly. But in the end it has often been love that makes me buy things, like the top I wore today that I bought at full price late 2020 with 50 wears since, and the very colourful one I bought in January on significant sale. ( No wears yet as a cooler weather top.) And otherwise I buy more boring essentials that I realise from tracking that I need, and those are not usually sassy!
So, I don’t know…

Jenni NZ

Veteran

I suppose though, for the two tops I mention, bought for love, they are both sassy…

Zaeobi

(website)

Veteran

@Jenni
That makes sense - would love to see your 'sassy' tops! What does that word mean to you though (ie. how do you determine if something is 'sassy' enough for you)?

At the end of the day, I imagine that any persona is about the whole look, right? So even if you're wearing a non sassy piece due to necessity, does it matter if the overall outfit still reads as sassy? If your accessories or other clothing bring in some of that sass instead, does it satisfy you or do you still feel like something's missing from the look?

Would love to hear how others use their Personas to inform their style decisions too!

Jenni NZ

Veteran

I went back and checked my old thread in response to a blog post of Angie’s called “Your Style Moniker for 2019” (sorry, on my phone can’t link) which you might be able to find. And it was actually Gryffin I got the idea from- Jenava was later actually, who had several style categories. Gryffin had called herself a P-POD which stood for a Professional Princess of Darkness, and that had helped her.
As far as the “sassy” goes, I think I just mostly know it when I see it! But not all my outfits are sassy. I hope they might all have a tiny hint of it but some days I’m just tired and the outfit may be more boring, you know?

Olive Green

Veteran

Just read a Cup of Jo article about French hair and makeup being quite relaxed. I think that may be your middle ground?
A bit messy and undone, but always chic.

Olive Green

Veteran

https://cupofjo.com/2023/02/28/paris-street-style/

Here you go.

Helena

Veteran

Inspired by the whole thread .. Spicy Logician?? Spicy encapsulating you colours, flair and energy, logician encapsulating your intelligence, practicality and slight undoneness (I e. You have bigger things to think about than catalogue-esque perfection) ???

Jaime

(website)

Veteran

Tropical owl ? If one might imagine a wise owl dressed in those gorgeous colors.

Anonymous

Vividly flowy luxurious!

Zaeobi

(website)

Veteran

@Jenni
I couldn't find a thread by that name but I think this is the one you mean right? (Also on my phone lol, so apologies if not):
https://youlookfab.com/welookf.....s-for-help
Fair enough re: 'sassy' - I think that's what I'm looking for (a word that I'll 'know when I see it', & also the handy shortcut of thinking 'What would a [insert moniker] wear?')

@Olive
Haha that's funny that people mistook the author for being French as soon as she stopped brushing her hair - that's me on a daily basis (only comb my curls wet), but so far no one thinks I'm French (the closest I've ever received was Spanish)
I do get the connotations you've mentioned though beyond French - maybe something like 'undone polish'? Artfully dishevelled? Or maybe just disheveled? Lol jk - sorta...

@Helena
Ooh I like putting it into Persona terms (with an adjective + title). But what does a Logician look like to you? If I ask myself 'What would a Spicy Logician wear?' (at the end of what I wrote to Jenni), I imagine they'd be a bit more buttoned up than I usually am? Hmm, maybe the Spicy Undone Logician? Lol!
Forget perfection, a lot of the time I'm not really thinking about anything particularly important - if you've ever seen the subreddit r/ShowerThoughts, that's my brain on most days haha

Zaeobi

(website)

Veteran

PS - Do any of these try-on photos help?

(I finally got round to doing some alterations & these are some of the quick snaps I took to assess fits. I have no idea where I'd wear any of these looks lol but thankfully my foot's starting to have more good days than bad now, so thought I'd celebrate a bit by playing around with my footwear too )

PPS - Can you believe this long sleeved top was marked as 'Khaki' online? Lol I can't decide if it's grey but it's definitely not green!

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