February 2017 archive

Everything’s Gone Green

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Since I’ve gone back to Dressing Your Truth, I’ve made a conscious effort to stop buying black and gray, even though the Dark Autumn palette has these colors. Instead of purchasing a wide variety of Dark Autumn/Type Three colors, though, I seem to just be buying everything in green/olive.

Olive, in my case, is the new black. Most of the stuff I’ve bought since I made that decision has been some kind of green/olive. Even just looking at the things I’ve mentioned in recent blog posts, you can see the pattern:

I recognized this pattern, and swore to myself that I would absolutely stop buying things in green or olive until I had rounded out my wardrobe with other colors. Then a few weeks ago, Boden emailed me, and I ended up buying this (in my defense, I had a coupon code):

Florence Jacket, Boden, $130.

Florence Jacket, Boden, $130.

Sometimes you just see an item and you can immediately picture all the ways you can use it in your wardrobe. That’s what happened to me with this jacket. It seemed like the kind of thing that could replace both a leather jacket and a denim jacket, something that can be worn for three seasons out of the year. The red piping just adds that little extra touch of design that makes it unique.

So, okay. I swear that was my last purchase of something green or olive for at least the next few months. Now, when I need something in a neutral–or something edging toward a neutral–I want to look for my browns, my dark reds, my peacock blues, my dark purples. There is so much more to my palette!

What color seems to dominate your wardrobe? Have you taken steps to rectify this?

Rethinking My Dressing Your Truth Secondary

While it’s not a system I’ve used consistently over my color and style journey–although I do feel they have upgraded in the style department recently–I figured out my Dressing Your Truth Energy Type relatively quickly. I’m a Type 3, active/reactive.

I’m an introvert in MBTI, though, and I figured that my secondary had to be an introverted Energy Type for this reason. So it was Type 2 or Type 4, and Type 4 was the obvious fit. A lot of my personality and behaviors are Type 4, although my movement is not.

But one thing I’ve seen as I’ve gone back to watching DYT videos is that facial features are super important to determining both your primary and your secondary Energy Type. And as much as I see Type 4 in my behavior, I don’t see it in my face at all. In addition to my Type 3 features (face shape, hairline, eyes, eyebrows, “lump-of-clay” nose), I have apple cheeks, fuller lips, and small, child-like hands. I had a real “a-ha” moment when I was looking at Carol Tuttle’s Facebook page and came across this post. I can see a lot of myself in this woman, and I have always felt like a bit of a fruad when I said I was a 3/4 because I just couldn’t see that 4 in my features.

Part of the purpose of your secondary is to work it into your style, and even while saying I was 3/4, I have definitely been dressing 3/1. When I buy things from the Type 3 store, I go for things that are more fun/animated and a little lighter in feel.

bag/earrings/shoes

Earrings from the DYT store.

For me, I suppose, considering myself 3/4 was more about how I act, versus what I would wear. I am interested to see if committing to dressing 3/1 will have an impact on my behavior or how I feel. I’m also curious whether it is possible to be an introvert in personality and be 3/1–it’s supposed to be the highest Energy combination.

I have been thinking about my introverted qualities, though, and as much as I like to sit at home and work on my projects, I actually do this in a pretty social way. I don’t just get wrapped up in a project–I have to talk about it with other people online. So maybe that’s my way of getting my Type 1 socializing in. And when I’m out with people, I do like to keep it fun and light. People are all different, and just because I don’t express my Type 1 secondary in the same way as another 3/1 doesn’t mean I’m not one.

Have you determined your secondary Energy Type? How do you see it expressed?