Basic Wardrobe Development
I’ve been asked to re-post some thoughts about what basics are needed in order to get dressed. Clearly this is only one method, and sort of a minimalist one at that.
Step One: analyze your life by wardrobe “lifestyle segment”. That is, how many times per week do you need to get dressed into any given category of clothing? Basic lifestyle segments include social, business, casual, and leisure.
Step Two: decide what you like to wear for each segment. The concept of a “uniform template” may be helpful.
Step Three: calculate, based on your lifestyle and laundry cycle, how many of each item you need.
Step Four: shop your closet first!
Step Five: create a shopping (or sewing) list. Having at least one great outfit in each category you wear on a regular basis should be your first priority. For example, presently I have nothing I like to wear to church this time of year. That is my priority.
There you have it, Tina. Hope that helps!
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Fashion Magazines Make Great Gifts
Just in case you are not finished with your seasonal gift shopping: Shop It To Me holiday friends & family perk — $5 magazine subscriptions! The price of a latte. Choose from Cosmopolitan, Esquire, The Oprah Magazine, Marie Claire, Harper’s Bazaar, Food & Wine and more.
Shop It To Me is a free service that will send you email notifications when your favorite brands go on sale at your favorite online retailers! Subscribe at this link: Shop It To Me.
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Are You a Sensor or an Intuitive?
As long as I’m on a myers briggs roll, with my recent post about dressing as introvert or extravert, the next logical step is a stab at describing dressing as a Sensor or an iNtuitive. Again, this is brainstorming.
The diagnostic question for S or N: Are you interested in what is or what could be?
Revised list 12/18/2009 (still brainstorming)
The Sensor may:
- choose individual items
- place priority on accessories (details)
- wear black for a practical reason (slimming, goes with everything, etc)
- choose geometric or organic shapes
- feel restricted by a very rigid fabric
The Intuitive may:
- organize the wardrobe along some sort of theoretical system
- view the ensemble as a composition
- use black and/or white to create contrast and amplify another color, or really love black
- love abstract or stylized prints
- feel naked in a very drapy fabric
Now, for the stats: 65% of the population is assumed to be sensors, with 35% more intuitive. If my hypotheses here prove true, this (and the coming discussion about thinking vs feeling) explain why I feel so much pressure to wear stuff I don’t like. I am decidedly in the minority. But, I think, not among the readers of this blog. 
Input needed! Do you know, confidently, whether you are more of a sensor or an intuitive? Would you express that preference in any of the ways I’ve listed?
Brainstorm with me: What would you add to, or subtract from, the lists?
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Are You an Introvert or an Extravert?
Are you energized by time alone or by time with others? Is it possible to communicate that preference by your appearance? Consider this brainstorming, and brainstorm along with me, as I wasn’t able to find much in the way of concrete information on the topic.
Clues to introversion:
- colors: cool, neutrals, deep and/or muted shades (is that redundant?), monochromatic
- prints: bold or barely there
- fabrics: smooth
- hair: neat and tidy
- accessories: fewer, simple
Clues to extraversion:
- colors: warm, bright or light, used in combination
- prints: fun, lively
- fabrics: textured
- hair: lots of movement
- accessories: more, complex
Throw me some more ideas and I’ll add them to the lists.
Also, recently I have run across the idea in more than one place that, while they may not be outnumbered, our culture is biased against introverts. Do you agree?
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Landscapes in Watercolor
In addition to thinking madly about non-verbal communication through appearance, ushering for a musical, and getting ready for Christmas, I’ve also been continuing to learn to paint in watercolor. Recently I’ve completed these two landscapes:
If you like the one on the left, with the silo, you may want to visit the web-site of one of my instructors, where she is offering the original that we copied from for class. If you like the one on the right, you may want to subscribe to Sunset (1-year)
I did have a little bit of a set-back last week though: I discovered just how expensive it is to get a painting matted and framed. No wonder all these fabulous paintings sit in boxes and drawers in people’s basements! I’m already committed to taking class next quarter, but then I’m going to have to give serious thought to whether it makes sense to continue. Because I am not at all interested in simply producing boxes full of pretty paper!
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Establishing Credibility Visually
Lately I’ve been reading, researching, and meditating on alot of detail concerning appearance and perception. I admit it, alot of these thoughts initiate from comments to me; comments that show that they are unable to see my interior reality. (Perhaps this feeling that nobody gets me is indicative of a mid-life crisis? lol)
At any rate, while there is alot of information here on the blog already, there is still TONS I haven’t figured out. But I’m feeling ambitious, so I’m delving into researching the connection between certain visual elements and specific perceptions. Leave a comment if you have a clue. And I thought I’d begin with something relevant to career women, because I love them too!
Credibility: attitude toward a source of communication held at a particular time by a message receiver. It consists primarily of expertise, trustworthiness, and good will. (Dynamics of Persuasion)
Another source put it slightly differently: Expertise, Trustworthiness, Similarity, and Physical Attractiveness (I suppose the author of a textbook may find physical attractiveness to be too loaded a topic to address it).
Bernie Burson, Image Consultant, in her sidebar on Psychological Dressing, says:
When you receive your personal color palette, you learn that wearing your eye-related color makes you appear sincere and honest and wearing skin tones makes you seem friendly and approachable.
So, if credibility is a three-legged stool consisting of expertise, trustworthiness, and good will; wearing my recommended simple color palette (based on your own coloring) will get you two legs (and physical attractiveness as a bonus). Not enough. Establishing expertise, I suspect, is done through visual cues specific to the industry. Even if the industry is raising children.
What are the visual cues to expertise in your field?
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