Style analysis- how it could help you declutter Part 2
During my House of Colour Colour Analysis class with Emilie West, she introduced us to the concept of having a ‘style personality’. These are the outfits you wear when you feel most ‘you’. She showed us a board with eight different types of personalities- and none of us are confined to just one type! We were intrigued and decided to book a style class.
My style journey
I’ve always been interested in wearing things which felt unique to me rather than just following fashion. As a teenager I had a favourite charity shop tux jacket I wore with jeans. I also love a biker jacket (and if anyone were to describe my dressed up look, it might probably be ‘rock chick’. But after bringing up three children, then setting up my own business in my late forties, I avoided clothes shopping, often buying two of something and sticking to jeans and t-shirts for a daytime look. Essentially, my daytime clothes bored me (the same goes with menu-planning – but that’s a whole other blog!)
The Style Analysis experience
Firstly Emilie looked at our body shape to establish where we were on the ‘curvy’ or ‘sharp straight’ continuum. That helps establish which styles of clothing will fit best. She talked with us about finding clothes which don’t just fit well, they feel authentically ‘us’. Imagine Nicole Kidman dressed in a boxy black tux and black vinyl heels with studs. Or imagine Grace Jones wearing a floral lacy dress. It just wouldn’t work would it? There would be a disconnect between what you see, and what you get. That’s what this Style Analysis session is all about- the story you tell everyone with your clothes.
It turned out that my look was ‘Dramatic’ (tempered by ‘Natural’) which surprised me. Grace Jones is a Dramatic, as is Mary Portas- and I just didn’t see myself as that attention-seeking! But when I thought about it, I realised that when I dressed to go out I felt more ‘me’. Although I’m definitely no artist, there’s a creative, quirky side to me that I hadn’t been showing.
Decluttering after style analysis
Since the style class, I haven’t decluttered all my basics- but I have dressed them up with more dramatic accessories. (See pic above). Any new clothes I am buying now must have that ‘shimmy’ factor to win a place in my wardrobe. Favourite purchases are a fab red faux suede biker jacket and a pair of faux crocodile boots. I really love wearing both. In other words, since buying more dramatic/natural clothes, I just feel more me!
Top tips for decluttering your own wardrobe:
- Consider making a one-off investment by booking a House of Colour Style class.
- When decluttering, recruit an honest (but kind) friend to give you feedback on fit and style – or book a session with me!
- Group in categories eg. trousers/ tops and tackle one category at a time.
- Try things on. Yes, especially the things you haven’t worn in ages- there’s a reason…
- Ask yourself my favourite question- would you buy this item again RIGHT NOW? If not, let it go.
- Review your wardrobe for duplicates (multiple black t-shirts?) and make a note of any gaps.
- If things need fixing/ dry cleaning- take them out and do it! Leaving them in your wardrobe means you’ll never wear them.
