Archive of ‘Services’ category

New Service: The Perfect Outfit

As I wrapped up my second month of doing The Subscription Service, I realized I had a gap of sorts in the services I was currently offering. When I came up with the idea of offering services, my first idea was to create three outfit Polyvores that would show you how your season and type dresses for various occasions. I found Hue & Stripe, which is a much better platform than Polyvore. I realized that getting to three outfits is a long process. I came up with The Complete Closet, and then The Subscription Service, which sends people things they can buy right at that moment.

But still, what I’ve found is that for more types, there’s that one situation that you have no idea how to dress for. It’s easy to figure out what to wear for a formal occasion if you’re a Soft Dramatic or a Theatrical Romantic, but harder to know what to wear to go to the store or meet up with friends. When you look at Pinterest boards for Flamboyant Gamine, it’s hard to see how you could make it work if you’re a lawyer and need to dress a certain way for court.

So my new service is called The Perfect Outfit. I’ll show you how to dress within your type and season for one kind of occasion. The end result will be something like this, a Polyvore I made to demonstrate how a Soft Dramatic who liked a more Natural look could dress to run errands:

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(Source)

Of course, it will be in the form of a Hue & Stripe closet, not a Polyvore. The cost for this service is $15, and can be ordered on my Services and Store page. If you have an y questions, you can comment below or email me at hello@stylesyntax.com.

What Happens with Services After August 1st?

As I mention on my Services and Store page, I have some special deals running until August 1st. So after August 1st, there will be some changes in what you get if you order.

1. The workbook will continue to include a trial of The Subscription Service and access to the future Facebook group. What will not be included, however, is a $10 discount if you decide to purchase the 6-month subscription to The Subscription Service.

2. The Subscription Service will no longer come with a pre-order of the workbook. I have also decided that since the focus of the Facebook group will be the exercises in the workbook, purchase of The Subscription Service will no longer include access to the Facebook group. I will offer a new combination of the workbook + The Subscription Service for $35 that will include the workbook, six months of The Subscription Service, and access to the Facebook group.

Also, I would like to clarify what The Subscription Service is versus what The Complete Closet is. The Subscription Service is meant for people who already have a handle on what their style looks like; they just want help finding exact items. When you sign up, I will send you a survey–and the more detailed your answers, the more the clothes and accessories I pick for you will match the image you have in your head. As you provide feedback on items I’ve selected, I’m able to refine your profile and pick out better and better things. The purpose is for you to see items that you can purchase right away, in your budget and in your size.

What I don’t do with The Subscription Service is engage in a back-and-forth with you as I pick out items. It is not like the three-outfit Polyvore service I originally imagined when I decided to start offering services on my site. If you want help fine-tuning or defining your personal style, The Complete Closet is the service that is meant for you. When I do The Complete Closet, it is a totally collaborative process, with lots of communication. It’s basically me doing what I outline in the workbook for you, with real clothes as examples and lots of input from you.

If you have any questions, you can comment below or email me at hello@stylesyntax.com.

Workbook Rough Draft: Done

I have finished the rough draft of the Workbook. It includes six chapters:

  • Your Type
  • Expressing Yourself in Your Style
  • The Three Levels of Dress
  • Using Your Color Palette
  • Wardrobe Rebuilding
  • Curating the Essentials

    The first two talk about how to use the information you have about yourself to come up with a unique style that expresses who you are. The rest of the chapters focus on how to use what you came up with for yourself in your real life.

    Each chapter has an accompanying exercise, so by the time you finish with the workbook, you’ll have a clear guide that will help you shop for and create a personal style going forward. You’ll also have access to an exclusive Facebook group for people who have purchased the workbook. You’ll be able to discuss the topics covered in the book and the exercises with other people who are working on them. And I’ll pop in to answer questions as well, of course.

    Right now, you can pre-order the workbook here. If you pre-order it before August 1st, you’ll also receive a free one-month trial of The Subscription Service (and if you sign up for The Subscription Service, the workbook is included with your purchase if you place your order by August 1st).

    I expect that it will be sent out by the end of August (PDF format, so you can print it out or do everything digitally without needing a special device or program). Then I will start work on my next project: a workbook for DIYing your type and season.

  • Workbook Preview

    I thought I’d share a little more about the format of the workbook, which I currently have available for pre-order and hope to have out by the end of the summer/early fall. Remember that if you order the workbook by August 1st, you’ll get a free trial of The Subscription Service, so if you have been curious about that, it’s a good opportunity to test it out and get a useful tool in addition to that.

    What makes the workbook different from other similar publications? It is specifically designed for people who already know their type and season and have an idea of what works for them, but need to take the next step in putting together a truly cohesive and original personal style.

    The workbook will explain and have exercises for many different aspects of creating a personal style, including:

  • combining type and season
  • self-expression
  • wardrobe planning
  • dressing for various occasions
  • capsule wardrobes and essential pieces
  • accessorizing


    Another important element of the workbook is that purchase of the workbook includes membership in a group only for people who have purchased either the workbook or one of my services. Obviously, I’ll be in the group all the time, answering questions anyone might have. And you’ll also be able to share your process with and get feedback from other people who are doing the same thing.

    If you follow me on Facebook, you may have already seen this, but here’s a partial screenshot of one of my examples for an exercise.

    exampleworkbook

    The workbook, for me, is really what Style Syntax is all about. You have the syntax already with your type and season; this workbook will help you develop the style part. And in addition, you’ll have created a practical guide for yourself that you can use when clothes shopping or when putting together an outfit.

    So anyway, I hope this post has helped you to understand what the workbook will contain. Also, don’t forget that a pre-order from now until August 1st will include a free month of The Subscription Service–if you order by July 7th, you’ll get it in July, and later than that you will get it in August.

  • The Workbook

    As I’ve said on my Services page, I’m currently working on a workbook. This is a workbook aimed at people who already know their Kibbe type and season, or whatever system of combination of systems they want to use. The goal of the workbook is to help people take what they know about what works for them, and translate it into a personal style that works with their real life.

    To me, this is the most important and most challenging part of any style system. Figuring out your type or getting typed by someone else is really only the first step. The real work begins when it’s time to take all these recommendations and you have to figure out how to put them together in a way that still expresses your individuality and personal taste. Kibbe briefly details how he’d help Shirley MacLaine do this, but this key section of the book is woefully short in comparison to how difficult and important this work is.

    With the workbook, I hope to fill this gap. It’s the same kind of work I do in The Complete Closet, but the DIY version. It takes you through creating an entire picture composed of a synthesis between your lines and your colors, figuring out what you actually need to wear on a regular basis and how to come up with outfits for different occasions, through putting a wardrobe together that expresses who you are.

    The price of the workbook also includes membership in a private Facebook group for people who either bought the workbook or have signed up for one of the services. (The group will open when the workbook is released.) You’ll be able to work through the workbook with others who are also doing it, and I’ll be there to answer questions and dispense advice.

    The Style Syntax Customization Workbook is now available for pre-order for $10. Until August 1st, anyone who signs up for either of the services will also receive the workbook for free when it is released. If you purchase the workbook before August 1st and later purchase one of the services, the price of the workbook will be refunded.

    More on The Subscription Service

    If you would like to start your subscription to The Subscription Service this month, you must sign up by June 7th. If you sign up after the 7th, your subscription will start in July. Also, if you sign up before August 1st, you will receive the workbook for free when it is released.

    I thought I’d explain each of the services I’m offering in a little more depth. This way, if you choose to sign up for either of them, you’ll understand exactly what you’re getting.

    Today I’m going to discuss The Subscription Service. As I said on the Services page, The Subscription Service includes three items a month picked out especially for you for six months. When you sign up, I have you fill out a service including questions on Kibbe type, season, lifestyle, budget, etc. Everything that I pick out will be things that you can realistically purchase at that moment.

    Every month on the 7th, I will send out an email to all subscribers asking what they want me to find for them. If you need a warm winter coat, I’ll find three options for you. If you need shoes to go with a certain dress, you can send me a picture of the dress and I’ll find the best options I can. If you want a dress, coat, and shoes, I’ll find one of each.

    Since I use Hue & Stripe for this service, I’m able to offer a lot more functionality than I would if I were sending these out by email or if I used Polyvore or Pinterest. Your closet is completely private, and you will be able to comment on the items to let me know what you like or don’t like. You can add photographs or links to items you already own or like to help me understand your personal style. And, of course, Hue & Stripe’s own system for searching for clothes makes it easier for me to find things that fit your budget, recommendations, and season.

    If you have any questions, you can comment or email me at hello@stylesyntax.com.

    Services Now Available

    I have finally officially launched my style consultation services. You can read all about them here. Currently, I’m offering two kinds of services: one is a subscription service, where I send three items a month to your Hue & Stripe closet, and the other is a full, one-on-one consultation where I find a lot of different clothing items and help you create a truly individual personal style using the information you already have, like type and season. Knowing what flatters you is just the beginning. The hard part is taking that and creating an image that is uniquely your own.

    In addition to these services, I’m currently writing a workbook that will help you to DIY this process. The workbook will also be sent to anyone who orders either of the services I mentioned above, and will include membership in a private Facebook group focusing on creating a personal style while using tools like Kibbe. (Anyone who purchases one of the services will also be invited to the group.)

    I’ve also rearranged the menu a bit. I’ve gotten rid of some menu items and added new ones, like “Start Here,” which contains what I consider to be my important posts. If the new way is more confusing, let me know.

    I’d also like to thank everyone who volunteered to be a beta tester and everyone who has answered my questions on Facebook about certain types and what they can wear. Also, if you’d like, you can like my page on Facebook, and I am still accepting Essence and Body Survey responses.

    Why I Won’t Be Offering Typing Services at This Time

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    (Source)

    As I prepare to launch a styling service (which I write more about soon, but I am really excited about), I’ve had some people suggest that I should get into the typing game. I’ve decided not to do it for now for several reasons.

    The first is that I feel that the market is saturated. Best Dressed and Guiding Lines both offer typing in their interpretations of Kibbe’s system. Truth Is Beauty offers a style evaluation quiz. Jane Rekas types people according to McJimsey’s system. 20 Types of Beauty is another option for a Kibbe-based system. And of course, Kibbe himself, John Kitchener, and David Zyla all work in their own systems. Plus there are many Caygill analysts out there.

    So anyway, what I’m saying is, there are a lot of people who can tell you what you are in their eyes.

    But when I think back to my own experience of discovering my Kibbe type, the experience itself of discovering myself is something that I value almost as highly as having a set of guidelines for dressing that is easy for me to follow. I think this has allowed me to understanding myself better than if someone had sat me down and told me that I was a Flamboyant Gamine, here’s why and here’s what you should wear. And even Kibbe himself has people who were typed by him and then felt like it wasn’t their true home.

    So instead of offering typing services, what I am planning to do is put together a thorough guide to each Kibbe type and the physical characteristics and variations within each. My hope is that these guides will enable you to simply look at the information I’ve compiled, look at yourself, and then have an “ah-ha!” moment. I have always wished that the Kibbe book provided more illustrations of what he’s talking about, and I hope to make up for that somewhat.

    In the coming weeks, I’ll be reorganizing some things around here, launching social media pages, and launching my paid services, but I think this is the project that will be one of the most valuable for you guys. 🙂

    As always, if you’d like to be alerted when I do launch my services, please email me at hello@stylesyntax.com.

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