Style is INSTANT LANGUAGE. Whether we like it or not, studies have shown that 93% of what we communicate is non-verbal, which includes body language, tonality and our appearance. We can see this broken down even further in the chart below.
Only 7% of the words actually coming out of our mouth are "speaking" about what we are saying. The other 93% is your external body language and the tonality of your voice. Your body language includes things like your facial expressions, your posture, your level of grooming, your eye contact and the clothes you are wearing on your body. These are the things that another person subconsciously uses to decide if you are credible and trustworthy, particularly if your words and your body language are not in congruence.
When you break the 55% body language piece down even further, this is where we learn that clothing and grooming account for 95% of that body language piece of the pie. With snap decisions about someone's character being formed quicker than ever, it makes sense that what we wear is so key.
In addition to this, based upon how we dress we shift our body language, we stand taller and feel better about ourselves when we dress well.
So, when you get dressed, don't you think it would be of the utmost importance that the style of clothing you wear is also in congruence with your values, beliefs, and who you are? YES! This is where personal style develop comes in.
There is no cookie-cutter approach to defining a personal style. We are all so incredibly unique. Think about your life experience and how any single choice that you made in the past could have changed the entire trajectory of your life. Even further, there are individual characteristics to a person that are unique to you. As an example, every single person has a different fingerprint pattern. Each one of us has a unique pattern on our tongue. Iris detection can be used to detect with high accuracy if you are YOU. Even the way you speak and your gait when you walk are unique to YOU.
So, while in this particular post, I am going to be talking a bit about each of the 6 style personalities when it comes to clothing, please understand that determining your true style personality is quite a bit more nuanced (and something I work with my Clients on to co-create).
Yin and Yang
As I mentioned, I am going to give brief descriptions of what each style personality is. Each of us has 2 dominant style personalities: one masculine and one feminine. It's true! Regardless of our gender, our styles live in a world of both the Yin and Yang. This is what I refer to as your "Style Code". The feminine and masculine have two very differing energies and sometimes our dominant one is surprising. This image below demonstrates the difference in the Yin and the Yang, energetically.
We flow in life between our Yin and Yang on the daily and our style reflects a blend of both. Sometimes we are more Yin (feminine) and sometimes we are more Yang (masculine). There are also style personalities that are balanced.
What ARE the Personality Styles
I am going to briefly tell you about each of the Yin and Yang styles. This will be an extremely simplified explanation because there is so much more that goes into them. However, as you read about these simplified explanations, think about which speak to you and where you think you fall, keeping in-mind that we have one Yin and one Yang and that as these are archetypes, you will likely find yourself drawn to more than two!
Yang
Yang is the Masculine energy. It is linked to more left-brained thinking and things like logic, facts, language, power, science, and mathematics. When we think of these styles we think of angles, straight lines, and geometric shapes.
1. Dramatic: This is the most masculine of all of the style personalities. You crave attention and love to live a fast-paced life. You are quite confident and speak with authority. Your body has a lot of angle and you are likely tall. When you are putting together an outfit, you prefer heavy fabrics, high contrast, and a sleekness. Quality is of the essence and you tend towards wearing all-black. You also love a good geometric print or a skin print. Money is no object to you. If you see something you want that speaks to you, you will buy it.
An example of a Dramatic Style Personality is Kiera Knightly. In the below picture, you can see that the metallic in her dress has movement and draws attention. It's one color and quite clean aside from that.
2. Elegant: This style personality has the 2nd most amount of masculine energy. You have a lot of poise, but you are approachable. You are very logical and straightforward when you speak and have a sophisticated air about you. Physically, you are a presence and you love being active (sky-diving, anyone?). You are likely tall and have an imposing stature. When you are putting together an outfit, you appreciate quality and prefer neutrals over bold color. Comfort and movement are important to you, but you love luxurious fabrics and sequins for dressier occasions. You are not frivolous, but will spend money on quality things that make sense for your life.
A great example of an Elegant is Cate Blanchett. As you can see in the image below, her "look" has a bit of a "Downtown Abbey" feel to it, which speaks to the Elegant perfectly.
3.
Natural: This style personality carries the least amount of masculine energy and is considered a balanced type. The natural has a very "girl or guy next door" look to them. There is a lot of symmetry to their body with slightly more angle than curve. Very approachable and very casual, you make everyone comfortable in your presence. You are a great friend and you have a lot of creativity and energy. When putting together an outfit, it MUST be comfortable. You love a good sweater and a nice pair of joggers. You may often go sans makeup and your hair style has to be low fuss. You are most likely of average height.
A beautiful example of a Natural is Jennifer Aniston. Even in this recent Red Carpet image, you can see her dress is quite simple as is her hair. She always wears her makeup to look natural.
Yin
Yin is the Feminine energy. It is linked to more right-brained thinking and things such as intuition, imagination, movement, emotion, nurturing, expressiveness, and visualization. When we think of Yin styling, it's more influenced by curved lines, softness, and rounded shapes.
1. Romantic: This is the style personality with the MOST feminine energy. A Romantic is all about the senses. She loves to nurture and take care of people, but also loves to be taken care of. She loves being in love. Manicures and massages are not negotiable in her life. Having friends and family in her home is such a joy to a Romantic. You have a lot of curve and roundness to your body and love to show off those gorgeous curves. When you get dressed, you loves sparkle, glam, sequins and you may prefer to dress in a fit and flare dress that shows off your voluptuous body. You are likely of an average height.
When you think of a Romantic, the image of Kim Kardashian comes to mind. She is a master of showing off her curvaceous body and loves to dress in a glam way (and always in heels)! In the image below, she's highlighting her curves and wearing a metallic fabric to draw that attention. Even the extremely smokey eye speaks to a true Romantic.
2. Creative: This style personality has the next most feminine energy. Our Creative dressers love wearing layers. You are very intuitive to others emotions and may be a bit absent-minded. Self-expression in your dressing is the most important for you. You love flowing styles and layers of jingly-jangly jewelry. You are likely quite petite and have a smaller frame with curve more than likely in your hips. When getting dressed, you may love to put on a bohemian style dress with lots of texture, some chunky boots, a ton of layered necklaces and bracelets and a hat to top it all off.
When it comes to our Creative style personality, there is no better example than Sarah Jessica Parker. While the image below is a bit more tame as it is a Red Carpet look, you can see the Creative come out with the flounce on the sleeves of her dress and the billowy bubble hem on the bottom of the gown.
3. Classic: This is the Yin personality with the LEAST amount of feminine energy. Like our Natural personality on the Yang side of things, the Classic is considered a more balanced style personality. Opposite of the Natural, our Classic, while symmetrical, has more curve than angle. A Classic style personality is very elegant and poised and often friends will ask her why she's so dressed up and she will say "I'm not". She never leaves the house without looking put-together. A Classic carries herself in a very proper way and is very calm, cool, and collected. She is likely of an average height and build. When a classic puts together an outfit, it will be tailored and coordinated and she will likely not want to wear anything too extreme.
A "classic" example of a Classic is Reese Witherspoon. In the Red Carpet image below, you can see there is nothing too loud about her dress and her shoes, of course, match her dress. Matching is important to a Classic.
It's all so intriguing, isn't it? I absolutely love diving deep into style codes with my clients because when you blend it all with identifying your body type and lifestyle, it allows for a curation of a truly individual and personalized style.
One thing to keep in mind as I mentioned earlier is that these are all archetypes, which means we will never fit perfectly into one style personality. In addition to this, with both the Yin AND the Yang at-play, it's fun to see which elements of an outfit showcase the style code of a person.
I'm curious...what do you think YOUR Yin and Yang are? Comment below.
Until next time. Stylishly Yours,
citations: unboundgrowth.com; London Image Institute; Image and Grooming; Inc. article
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