May 2016 archive

Zyla Update: Goodbye Autumn, Hello Spring

The first exercise in the workbook is about how to combine your lines and your season. I thought that I could use Zyla to do it. I wrote about using Zyla to customize your Kibbe type, about how I was going to use Gamine Autumn to make Flamboyant Gamine more in line with what a Dark Autumn needs. Then I found that Gamine Autumn didn’t work and I just was either not shopping or not wearing what I bought, so I decided to try Mellow Autumn, which is a little more avant-garde and a lot less rustic.

But again, I was finding that it wasn’t working for me. I decided to put Zyla on the backburner for a while, and after discovering Fantastical Beauty, I realized that I needed sharpness, angularity, and lightness (in feeling, not color). I decided that I didn’t need Zyla at all anymore.

I think there’s some natural law where if Kibbe is easy for you, finding your place in Zyla will be impossible and vice versa. I just don’t really see myself in any of Zyla’s archetypes. They all seem either too girly or too mature for me. With Kibbe, Flamboyant Gamine got an immediate “this is everything I love in fashion and life” reaction, to the point that I didn’t think I could be FG, since no one could be so lucky as to get the type they want.

Zyla has been much harder. But there’s been a lot of people going to see him lately, and they come back with beautiful palettes. While I’ve long thought I’d go for Beauty Valued if I ever wanted to get my colors done professionally, now I’m thinking I might go for Zyla. I love his more minimal approach to a palette, where there may be other colors that look good, but these colors are magic for you, and can support you for specific purposes in your life.

I’ve come to realize that while I may be a Dark Autumn, I use the Dark Autumn palette more as a slightly toasted Spring palette. I try to focus my wardrobe on the brightest colors in the palette, and use the dark colors for things like pants and shoes. I don’t know if it’s my Image Identity or the fact that I’m so light appearing–Caygill people have told me I’d be some kind of muted Spring in that system–but the only things associated from autumn that I like are fur (leopard), leather, suede, and thick scarves.

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When I posted about my latest Zyla search, a lot of people brought up Tawny Spring for me. Tawny is too vintage-quirky for me. Mischievous is far too rustic. Early is too well-behaved. Buoyant seems the closest, but biker jackets are specifically called out in the book as a “no” for BS and the “too girly” problem rears its yang head. So after making a ton of collages for different Zyla types using his Pinterest, I decided to make a collage for me. I put things I own, things I want to own, places I could see myself living, art I like, a haircut I want, a celebrity whose style is an inspiration to me, and finally something from nature.

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When I posted it, it was pointed out to me that this was already a cohesive set of images. They share a certain color palette and particular visual features. I have created my own archetype, which I actually outlined how to do in my workbook anyway. I’m not sure where Zyla would put me, but I feel like unless it conformed to what I already see for myself, I would end up rejecting it. I think there’s a far higher chance of dissatisfaction with an analysis if you already have a clear vision of who and what you are.

So I don’t know. I love his palettes–but I want to be seen how I want to be seen. Keeping an open mind is difficult, and in the end, I suppose I just have to decide whether it’d be worth basically gambling with the cost of the analysis.