Happy Friday morning to you all! I hope this week has treated you well, and that you're ready to go into the weekend! Join me for a topic I revisit every so often!
Over the past week and a half or so, I've been skimming and taking notes from this stack of style and color books. Some of them are quite legendary (hello David Kibbe), and some of them are more obscure volumes. I bought several of these books before I had my colors done through House of Colour (USA). I had not reread them since, so I was delighted to have "my style" smack me in the face when I read through them! I had been so confused about my colors that I couldn't have seen my style back then. There were too many moving parts, and I wasn't able to see my colors on myself. (Still can't, mostly. I see it in pictures, but not in the mirror every day.) Since color is the first step, I couldn't get past it to see my true style! Thankfully, I can see it now!
Each of these books has a winning part, or the best concept that comes from the authors. I took notes from the really good parts of the books and enjoyed revisiting them. I covered style first, and then looked again at color. David Zyla's Color Your Style has a completely different concept of color than the color consult company where I had my colors done. He's adamant that you can find your own colors. I just could not, even with study, figure out my coloring and season with his very well written instructions. Now I see them after knowing my season, but I didn't before. His book has helped me see what colors in my palette are pivotal to making impressions. Based partially on color theory and partially on experience of learning people, he's narrowed down the eight colors that communicate me (or the reader) to the world. I realized pretty quickly that these were colors in my summer palette, and that I could test that theory out using my closet. I'm especially enjoying the concepts of where to wear what color, and when. Coupled with the awesome color theory section of Fabulous You by Tori Hartman, I know that I should wear my version of teal for meeting new friends, duck egg, aqua, or sea green.
I'm enjoying each of the books individually again, but I'm also enjoying them synergistically. While David Zyla may call one color by a different name than David Kibbe or Tori Hartman, I work to use my summer palette to refine the colors I'm seeking. However, style is a little less subjective than color. I discovered that my style is a romantic, pretty easily. When I look through the descriptors, I saw myself, and I can't unsee it! I have rounded features, and a classic but rounded face. I'm short but not youthful looking, which rules out another style, gamine. I'm far too short and rounded to be a classic beauty, but my face has those characteristics. If I were to use the House of Colour system, I would probably be a "romantic classic". I'm pretty sure that's accurate for me. I won't go into too much detail about the exact pieces that means I need in my wardrobe, but after a good inventory, I have a lot of them already. Elevate Your Style encourages the reader to explore the clothing we already own by taking inventory well!
I've talked a lot about David Zyla and color, but I haven't touched on The Curated Closet by Anuschka Rees. Rees is very logical and the photos in the book are minimalistic wardrobes. She covers the difference between your actual life (and wardrobe) and your dream life (and wardrobe). This very much hits home for me, as my dream life would be sitting around on my velvet pillow. That's not reality, though, and I need clothing that pertains to other situations, like housework and outings! In fact, I would venture to say that I need a lot more day clothes than special occasion, and the author talks about percentages for different types of clothing. I love the way she covers outfit formulas as well, repeating something that works with similar pieces and shapes of clothing. For example, my "uniform" is a denim skirt and tee in one of my colors. After learning my style, I'll be working to make my whole outfit a little more congruent, matching top and bottom better. I made a quick pass through the Curated Closet book, but I have a feeling I'll be using it to put the nuts and bolts to my wardrobe. It's quite practical!
I hope you've enjoyed traipsing through these style and color books with me! I am by no means an expert, but by now I can point you to people who are! Join me over on Instagram for other life snippets (@stacyofquiltiferous) or on Pinterest for quilty and beauty inspiration (Quiltiferous)!
Stacy
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