Interesting question, Suz! UWP is something I'm attracted to and definitely try to work elements of it into my style. But since I really do try to incorporate UWP into my real life outfits, I think my true "shadow style" would have to be steampunk! I had so much fun with my Wild West saloon girl costume for the holiday party, which had a steampunk flavor. I'm a big fan of Audi in Fashions for Nerds and wish I could incorporate steampunk into my style without it looking like a costume on me! I think I need a tutorial from Steph (mrseccentric)!

Suz, what an interesting thread!

And I laughed outright at Sarah's examples of the no-can-do boho looks, because they're right up my street (well, mutatis mutandis, given figure-flattery considerations)!

On the other hand, my shadow #1 are sporty casual --- everything from beach-bleached denim cutoffs and breezy white shirt through the actual sportswear-inspired styling now current to English country equestrian and corduroy club looks. And yes, I've bought pieces of all of those, and not managed to figure out how to wear them in any coherent, non-costume context! I feel rather imposter-ish in them.

The other shadow, the penumbra more than the umbra, is urban fashionista or UWP or something along those lines --- edgy urban, fairly avant garde rather than simply fashion-forward. I say penumbra because I've actually happily and somewhat confidently (for a veteran of self-doubt and body insecurity) executed elements of this in the past, and I keep wanting to try and try again, thinking I'll get it right again. But I'm not sure if that's practical, because --- speaking to Mochi's point now --- my body has changed and even more, my face and hair! It's hard to do that look these days minus creative make-up and hair colour.

Unfortunately, I have too many shadow styles to know which to 'choose' As cocolion listed I want all of these:

POC (loving a pop of color)
Boho element
Rock n Roll element
UWP element
Sporty element

...interestingly enough, I think it has been learning to ignore my leanings to the shadow styles which have allowed me to finally cozy up to my main style. I 'want' one of these but what I really feel me in is 'modern classic"

Maybe when I am more comfortable in my main style, I can pick a shadow?

I'm a bit with Jayne here because I feel like my style consciousness is still very much in the mold.

I have always been a fan of grunge and skate style with a feminine hint, but never known really how to pull it off or how to do it. I like the casualness, carelessness and dark undertone (remember CK's heroin/drug look from the 90's?). though I'm not sure if loose, hanging jeans, fitting t-shirts and sneakers are my apple body shapes best friends. And the smokey eye look, combined with a unhealthy, exhausted look is way beyond my lifestyle. Actually, this might be a nuance of boho, or am I wrong? I think maybe ManidipaM wrote about this in another thread

I also like the super polished, high maintenance look (a bit of chanel and mad men) which is way out of my lifestyle, too.

The last style I really like is the super healthy, fresh and natural look.

Great thread!

@CocoLion: thanks for posting the link to Angies thread about coolness!!! Really interesting and helpful

This was a very interesting read. I started out thinking I don't have a shadow style but think the problem may be that I have many of them and perhaps no one style that is me but a whole bunch of competing styles.

I love the glamour looks of the 50s. When I did formal more often, I loved to wear a floor length silk gown. I thought that was it. Then as reading through the responses I realized that I also gravitate to the menswear inspired look and always have. I like the neutral color palette and the simple clean lines. I read further and also want to be the classic - Grace Kelly comes to mind.

Quite a hodge podge. The one that I don't gravitate towards is boho which in itself is interesting.

These are two of my faves from years gone by.

It took me a few days to settle on one, but I think my shadow style is ultra tailored, stiff and pristine. Impeccable make up just seems to highlight any irregularities in my face. Crisp, fitted clothes are instantly wrinkled, or pulling in the wrong way. Super coiffed hair is falling and flying away within minutes. I need soft, flexible, livable, playful.

Hi Suz --

So glad you started this thread; it has been a fun and interesting read!

As you know Una and I were very taken with the "Shadow Side" term you coined in my thread; while I may have been exploring the concept the last few years you absolutely DO get full credit for the evocative phrase!

My Persnickety Bohemian side is definitely my emerging-from-the-shadow one. Three cheers for uptight boho or boho luxe, even if I am struggling to execute it!

Like HeleninCanada, I too though of Jungian psychology but couldn't remember a damn thing. So, via that hotbed of scholarly thought, Wikipedia:

the shadow or "shadow aspect" is a part of the unconscious mind consisting of repressed weaknesses, shortcomings, and instincts. "Everyone carries a shadow," Jung wrote, "and the less it is embodied in the individual's conscious life, the blacker and denser it is."

Jung also believed that "in spite of its function as a reservoir for human darkness—or perhaps because of this—the shadow is the seat of creativity."; so that for some, it may be, 'the dark side of his being, his sinister shadow...represents the true spirit of life as against the arid scholar'."

All the answers and the above make me think we could use some "support threads" for everyone's style shadow sides. Could be fun, right?

[Using your polar opposite definition it's Sporty All-Natural. A look I admire on others a great deal but have no desire to pull off (and somehow can't even manage when I'm doing active things, ha).]

I'd have to say 'refined boho' I have always loved the boho look, yet feel kind of odd, yet kinda 'at home' when I try to mix elements of it into my bland style....dont know if Im finally starting to break out of the years-long deep rut Ive been in, or just fooling myself?

Dramatic has always appealed to me. That is so not me. I am more the casual sport type!

I have no idea what my shadow style is, the more I read everyone else's responses the more confused I get...hmmm gonna have to think about it for awhile.....

Vix, this is precisely what I was seeking! Wikipedia is a godsend. This distills the whole concept - thank you. You are so right that support threads about our "shadows" would be highly entertaining as well as enlightening!

How fascinating that the "shadow aspect" should be integrated to fulful our creative potential. Wow - interesting. My shadow would be the Executive type - so I'm interpreting this to mean I need to become more focused and money-smart, and style-wise to become more aware of great tailoring and polished details everyday!) Good things.

Loving this thread!

Without overthinking this, I'd say my "shadow style" is definitely boho. I love the look, but can't get it to work for me.

Oh, how I love the images some of you have attached here! Thank you! Coming back in a little while to try to respond properly but just wanted to say thanks, and also thanks to Vix for the wikipedia knowledge.

What an interesting thread! I guess my "Shadow Style" would be androgynous, tough, cool rocker chic. I could never ever wear this look and would feel totally awkward, but I love it on others. I don't think that my actual style reflects this at all.

SOOOO interesting, everyone.

Going back to Jung's actual definition of the "shadow" and thinking about repressed sides of ourselves...I am not so sure the boho is repressed in me. So maybe boho is more my "fantasy" style than my shadow style. And my definition is completely wonky!

The repressed side would seem more like what you wouldn't be caught DEAD wearing.

For me, that would be overtly sexy clothes—anything super tight, super high heeled, bust and bum enhancing to the max (I would NEED the max, or no one would even notice mine, heh heh), anything super bombshell, I guess. Having said all this, do I secretly admire this look on others? Um...no. Unless it is done in a ladylike way as per Goldenpig. I just don't aspire to it. But maybe that shows how much I truly need it? Hmmm. Carole, I share your confusion, and I'm the one who started this crazy thread! Maybe I should have used another term besides "shadow" to describe the less acknowledged but desired style. Perhaps "shadow" is best suited to the style that one represses and tries to avoid at all costs.

Astrid, Meredith, Traci, Jyoti, Amy, Ana - I can understand your choices. They make absolute sense. Thanks for those links to the Lucky definitions!!

Ruth, biscuit mom, high five. More boho wannabes. There are a lot of us.

Helen, I am having some fun picturing you getting all done up like an Executrix!

Vix, thank you, again! It is your thinking on this that got me going. I admire your ability to blend your various style personnae into a coherent whole. That is something we can all aspire to!

But Harmonica and Jayne, I hear you on not being fixed yet in any one style; I don't think I've settled yet, either. (Story of my life, or what?) But I DO think YLF is helping me get closer.

Dianthus, you are GORGEOUS in your gowns, and that 30s Hollywood glamour looks made for you. That's no shadow, lady. Those are your wings!

ManidiaM, you're another one whose shadows make perfect sense to me. Of course you would be attracted on some level to those crisp, English looks. (The history of colonized countries being what it is, I share some of that yen with you!) And for you it would be stronger because the climate you live in makes it much harder to pull off—so that much more desirable. I think you COULD incorporate more UWP but it would also be very difficult. The floaty and flowing simply work better than the tough when the temperature is 100 degrees in the shade!

Natalie, Steampunk is perfect as your shadow style. And your outfit is fab!

I had to think long and hard about this. It would be minimalist avant garde, basically what Tilda Swinton wears.
For it to look good you need perfect expensive fabrication and tailoring.

Very interesting, Anna. I think the quick answer, for you, might have been something like "super frilly feminine." This is a deeper answer.

Sighing per the "perfect expensive fabrication and tailoring." I could go for some of that...

Suz, I don't believe for one second that no one would, ahem, "notice" your attributes if you ever did the Bombshell look!

Ah, the term "shadow" has been interpreted in different ways in this thread. If we agree to take it as an absolutely undesired and rejected style, a style we wouldn't be caught dead wearing, well - I'd DEFINITELY share the Super-Bombshell-Look-Avoidance with you, Suz! Skintight clothing, stilletos, cleavage, belly-baring tops, etc...SO not me, and I actually have a viscerally negative reaction to it when I view it in shops or even on others. The few (misguided) times I have worn something ultra bombshell-like had left me feeling VERY self-conscious and uncomfortable. So I learned early on - not my style AT ALL! Does this mean I need to work on my sexy side? Oh dear. Jungians step in, please.

Refined ladylike, then, would be the style I'm ATTRACTED to rather than that being my "shadow style" - even though I don't aspire to it in my daily dress, and know I would feel a little vulnerable and restricted in it. I SO admire it on others, though - many here on YLF! New term, then? Dusk Figure? LOL.

I loved this idea when you coined the term!

My true style, or at least what I aspire to, is UWP-tomboy-military-post-apocalyptic- rockstar-androgynous-hipster with a touch of self-deprecating humor.

Depending on how you define it, shadow style would be:

Polished Bombshell, if meaning the opposite of my true style.

Cowgirl Bohemian, if meaning my repressed understudy style.

my shadow style wears chanel suits or other skirt suits, high heels is perfectly coiffed at all times, an old rolex family heirloom and a 1 carat vintage wedding ring. Oh and her kids are perfectly behaved, never throw tantrums, she is Julia Child in the kitchen an looks smokin' hot naked.

I better start paying attention to my shadow.. in the hope that I find Aladdin's genie and his magic lamp...

I really don't know. I never came up with a name for my style, but the anti-me is like Effie Trinket. Or Miss Umbrage. Or the man-repeller. I don't like fussy.

I guess I do wish I could dress up more. My life is very casual. It would be fun to do up the dog more often.

IK, I know what you mean. It WOULD be fun to dress up more. That might be one of my "shadows" too. High five to you and Dianthus.

Also, you're right. You are not fussy looking at all. So that sort of prissiness might be a shadow.

Sona, if you get your kids to behave perfectly can I come over and borrow some of whatever you have?

Una, once again with your gift for the apt phrase you have perfectly nailed it! Amazing. I could visualize each of these shadows just from the names, and could see exactly what you mean.

Helen, oh dear, you and I may need to take the "how to be sexy looking" class together, holding our noses all the way! At least we'd have fun doing it.

I think I may start a new thread about the different interpretations of "shadow." But not tonight. I'm putting this baby to bed.

Hi again Suz --

I hope you do start that other thread!

Just wanted to say I think your original interpretation remains one that rings true for me -- a style one is attracted to *for oneself* and at a fairly deep level longs to pull off, but "can't seem to make work."

I even think one could argue it ties in well with Jungian notions of the shadow (or at least Wiki-Jung-Interpretation...I'm with HeleninCanada -- where are our scholars?).

This overlaps a bit with Helen's .02, but work with me here:

Since self-preservation is one of our primary instincts, perhaps if we don't express that shadow style we risk "extinguishing" our true self. Exploring it despite fears and discomfort around what the style represents to ourself and/or others yields a more integrated self.

Don't let the dark side scare ya, ha!

I know for me it's been hard to own my boho luxe/uptight boho leanings due to many factors -- the takes I've developed on modern classic stuff feel right but safer.

Happy to say that these days when I wear my Persnickety Bohemian items I revel in them -- even if they do require some trial-and-error!

Beautiful, Vix! I think Boho Luxe is absolutely perfect for you! Elegant but free-spirited. I can't imagine why embracing that has been difficult. Perhaps in the right environment (as in your gorgeous pool-side retreat here) it emerges more naturally! As I explore these looks, I realize I often aspire to this as well. I hadn't been able to put a stamp on it, but I absolutely LOVE the mix it provides. So perhaps that is the ideal integration of two extremes - radical freedom (flowy, relaxed) and status/material accomplishments (expensive fabrications, impeccable fit, designer influences, "polite society".) Inspiring!

Helen --

Glad my inner/outer contortions have helped you articulate more about your own inclinations!

For some reason I associate boho luxe with Ms Joplin's voice singing, "Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose" -- perhaps because I am often sliding back and forth along the continuum of what's socially expected/conventional/prudent.

So for me it seems to be the mix of flowy/relaxed with "enough power to do my own thing and to unapologetically indulge my love of 'vanilla-level decadence'" vs signaling a certain status.

[Which leads into the whole power/money nexus, which is where I think a few less boho items would help contribute to my gaining greater financial power/freedom, which is generally so depressing I start thinking about my next feel-good boho luxe experience or purchase!]

And yes, I definitely think it's easier for that side of my personality to emerge in settings like the poolside one, ha!

For better or worse, though, my life is less about (saved for, short) trips to settings that make my Persnickety Bohemian side happy and more about a few weekend hours spent at a summer festivals.

Where it can be a bit dangerous to wear turquoise silk maxidresses for reasons other than what one might think....

Vix, not only are you an insightful thinker, you are HYSTERICAL! Love that you've inadvertently co-ordinated your summer festival ensemble (hints of stunning boho luxe right there!) with the port-a-potty. Hilarious! High/low aspects of life in one shot.

To solve the cunundrum of destination vs. true style, lean more toward your boho style when festival-ing! You are right that your fab silk maxidress may get a little dusty when dancing in the sun with the sweat-drenched crowds!

P.S. Janis Joplin's quote is brilliant! So true. Tragic she met such a terrible end, though.

You guys! This has been such a fun read; thanks for starting the thread, Suz.
I watched this develop over the weekend but I was so completely brain-dead that I couldn't figure out my overt style, much less my shadow style.

Helen and Vix, I have loved reading your back and forth. You are insightful and I am enjoying your very dry sense of humor, Vix. I'm nodding and reading along with everyone and I can see so much of myself in many of your comments, but I'm still so unsure. The outfit I'm wearing today could totally be described as Una's *Cowgirl Bohemian* repressed understudy, lol!

Anyway Suz, I just wanted to come back and log in a comment anyhow since you brought up such a great topic. I'm sure I'll be referring to it in the days ahead! I've really been mulling it over.

I have followed this thread, but haven't added anything, because I wasn't sure...I think I have a whole shadow team of styles :).

There's the minimalist avant garde a la Tilda Swinton, just as Anna mentions, and then there is the OTT, super dramatic bold waaay out there, body-surrendering (beyond waist surrendering) style a la Rei Kawakubo for Comme des Garcons (below, fall RTW--it's not about this particular garment, just the idea of throwing off most conventions for something much bolder and on the edge). Then there is the androgynous rock and roll chic, a la Patti Smith. So many styles!

I think Suz must be off buying a fringed leather vest or Sophia Loren shoes depending on how she decided to answer her own question.

And yet we keep getting more great answers....

[Helen and Claire, glad I could give you a laugh. Like boho, my sense of humor is an acquired taste.]