Realizing I may be inviting trouble if the concepts are a tad incomplete, I just want to push myself to get the whole bundle out there. This week, if at all possible. Today – my thoughts on the TJ individual.
TJ = Traditional & Refined. There just is no J word which comes even close to describing what I mean: appropriate, tasteful, and somewhat formal.
It seems to me, in many ways, a woman of this style type would have the easiest time shopping and find loads of good deals at department store sales. When time is tight, why not shop online? 20% off at Macy’s Holiday Preview Sale with the code GIFT at macys.com! Offer valid 11/13-11/17
I believe this is a common-ish designation among us in this discussion, so I hope to hear from a few of you. What are some typical TJ strategies and pitfalls?
Just took the test again. Came up with ESTJ. Seems like I’ve seen this before. 😀 I am an extreme pragmatist. When I view styles, the first thing I think about is whether anything about it will be likely to impede me. Don’t want flapping extra fabric anywhere. Don’t want shifting fabric, either in the way of a pashmina (which could also restrict arm movement) or in the sense of tucked shirts slipping their moorings or shifting against a top layer. Am in the process of considering letting go of any beautiful shirts that don’t lend themselves to being worn outside the bottom piece or would require a top piece in cool weather or are too hot to be worn alone in hot, muggy weather.
Have an awful time deciding on a suitable purse shape/style. Not crazy about the crossing guard look of cross body bags – though wear them a lot. Hate shoulder bags shifting off shoulder or causing me to keep an unnatural posture to keep them in place. Don’t want to always have to carry something in my hand. Am considering the look and feel of a shoulder bag with short enough straps to wear shoved behind me. I like to look like I’m on the way somewhere. Always arriving or passing through.
I like to blend in inoffensively enough but at the same time to stand out. I don’t like being noticed for my clothes – oohhh, where did you get that? Let me see what you’re wearing! – and yet I do get noticed/known for them. I still like your idea of focusing on the face and I find that when getting dressed, the top part is the most important to me. OTOH, I may begin with a bottom piece since comfort and function is so important and I want to be unimpeded. If I haven’t worn an item for a long while, I find that I assume that I should get rid of it because it’s expressly uncomfortable. When I try it on again, I find that I am most often wrong.
I probably wear texture and pattern within a piece in lieu of jewelry or scarves. I have both and add them if absolutely necessary but prefer to think of the texture or pattern as the accessory. Don’t like moving parts. 😀
The feel of my clothing is important also in a sensual way. It’s a major consideration how something feels when I touch it throughout the day. I prefer raw silks, leather, silky feeling tweeds. I don’t like slippery feeling pieces. I also like clothing to move with my body and is probably why I wear my knit pieces the most. I don’t wear jersey, though. I love double knit. It keeps a structural (reliable) shape and is still unrestricting and is not capable of sagging or flopping about.
I want the shapes of my clothing to be traditional and not provoke puzzlement in the onlooker. Whatever I’m wearing, I want it to be easily summed up by an uninterested in fashion observer in one or two words: jacket, pants, shirt, flowers, checks, bright color.
I don’t want my footwear to restrict my movement. I don’t want skirts so long that I have to carry laundry back up two flights of stairs and also hold my skirt up. I don’t want my skirt’s lining to rip when I attempt to climb into a friend’s van.
I do shop first by color but ultimately I think of my style as Portrait Style. I want my complexion to light up and I love it when I can flip collars up or have a dramatic enough collar that it sets off my face. I like my shoes to be grounding and somewhat emphatic – strapped or tied down, laced up, chunkier heels – but am aware that both men and women tend to check out shoes and I don’t want anything to hold their attention too long. I had a pair of those Marant knockoff short cowboy boots in an indigo. Very comfortable and I loved them but the first time I wore them a little girl tugged at her mother’s hand and exclaimed over how the lady had cowgirl boots. I eventually couldn’t get over this poseur feeling and passed them along to a friend.
Don’t know where this fits in but I don’t like the look of overly bandbox fresh. Too new looking clothing. At the same time, I don’t like overt distressing. I don’t want to look like I’ve worn out my clothes a long time ago. And even though I’m so pragmatic, the worst garment in the world for me would be a utility style jacket in a dun color that is so common now. I hate these above all else.
I also don’t wear the ubiquitous jean jacket. I don’t like a look where one garment is supposed to contradict the other garment: jean jacket with floaty dress, floaty dress with combat boots. I don’t really want to wear glitzy clothes in the daytime, either. Sequined tee, etc. Lace pencil skirt – can’t figure out a logical reason why I would be choosing to wear that. It’s not like it’s ventilated since you have to have it lined or wear an underlayer.
In paring down my closet, I tend to think of specific uses for an item. If something fulfills a function (and this includes aesthetically), then why do I want other category items that are less good in my eyes? Whenever I have a grand success like this, it is instinctual to want additional ones in other colors but I manage to restrain myself because I do think I will opt to choose one over the others.
Thank you so much for weighing in on this; it is really helpful to me! Alot of what you said if pretty similar to me, which makes sense since we share the E and the J. But alot of it also helps to confirm that I am at least somewhat going the right direction with my hypotheses 😉