I'm Back and Dressing My Truth

I have been MIA for 9 months now, which is some sort of record.  Not sure how yet, but I would like to get back on here and record my experiences.  I keep thinking that will happen, but life keeps interfering. Most of the last 9 months have been full of angst and stress and experiences that aren't really bloggable without probably violating someone else's privacy, so I guess I may have to write a real old fashioned journal somewhere else, but then summer came!  And life got good again.  So, I have a million things to talk about that are not private to anyone :)  Except me, and I don't keep secrets about myself too well.  Do I have secrets about myself?  Hmmm... I will have to think about that one.

So I will start with the last thing I put on here and work backward.  On the sidebar I posted an ad.  Crazy.  Not something I would normally do, but this will explain a fun part of what I have been up to lately.  Mostly I have posted here and emailed and all to help assuage my guilt for telling a bunch of people how to do this DressingYourTruth stuff for free. Ok, so most of them speak Spanish and would never have invested in this anyways, so I guess I'm not a criminal.  If you are interested in investing in this kind of thing, you will know where to go.  Of course if you use counter espionage tactics on me, I will probably squeal, but here's what this is all about.  

This starts out like one of those fun personality tests- you know, either you are red because you are motivated by power,or white because you are motivated by peace... or you are concrete sequential in your way of seeing things, or you are abstract sequential and so forth.  So, I am definitely blue-green and abstract random.  But, this system of categorizing people breaks you into groups by your energy type.  There are four types of energy- the first group is the type that generates ideas, the second gathers information, the third type is all about action, and the fourth group is reflective or analytical, which brings us back to doing things again, but better. obviously, we all do all these things but we lead with one energy type.  The idea is that if we understand and honor our types, we will be in better balance and do all these things better. K- so this is fun, but then the whole thing behind this "club" is that there are elements of style that match up with your type and if you dress your type, you will better represent who you are and not only will you look your best but people will respond better to you because they will get who you are better.

Hmm, so curiosity kind of sucked me in and I decided to try this.  Guess what?  It worked!  No, I do not look like a supermodel now, but I feel more coordinated.  Even while I am still a clutz, this is true.  My outsides do match my insides better and I feel more comfortable in my own skin.  I was always pretty comfortable with myself, but I always felt like I looked funny.  Actually, I still do, but now I get why!  And I LIKE how I'm funny looking :)

K- so here's the deal- this is a racket to make money for the founder, but then again, how else could she make a living off teaching this?  The company is relatively new, so they are just starting to grow but there is a lot of good you can get out of this.  If you join you have access to classes and meetings, etc for life and guides to help you.  It certainly doesn't seem like it is worth all that money, but when they drop the crazy price to suck you in, if it drops below $100 then I feel it's worth it.  And probably barely covers all their costs for running this service, so, hey!  Whether or not it's worth it to you depends on how strapped you are for cash and how much help you need getting dressed in the morning.  If you won't end up getting evicted from your home or have to give up braces for your child or you know, all the much more pressing things in life, I think it is worth it. I do think there is room for improvement in the presentation at times but the principles themselves really work.

SO, how is this any different from "What Not to Wear"?  I used to watch that show, BACK when I had cable and time to watch TV and it did help me see some things such as what is in fashion, how to combine things well and to see yourself in 365 degrees and notice things that just don't work or do work on you.  I learned about what works for different body types and such, and if the person was similar to me in any way I could pick up some good tips, but the guys on the show even said you just have to try on a lot of stuff to see what works.  I don't have the stamina for that.  Shopping overstimulates and overwhelms me in too many ways.  I don't really need another way to waste more time either. (My wardrobe has always been over 50% hand me downs because of this.)  The one thing that did bug me about that show is that at times, it was so unrealistic, like the mother to babies and toddlers that went home with a $300 cashmere sweater that she loved enough to wear every day. Except, I don't know about you, but would you wear a $300 cashmere sweater anywhere near your sticky, burpy babies?  In other words, there is a lot to glean from shows like this but a lot to weed out too. Get real.  What I like about this DYT system is you are given a set of principles to help you know what kinds of colors, fabrics, lines, patterns, and textures will work for you.  There is a little bit of help on body type and fit, but the focus isn't on that.  With the elements they focus on teaching you, you can find what works best for you and your type or how to combine elements from you secondary type in with those elements, to make a wardrobe that is more uniquely you.  You can be as in or out of fashion as you want to be, and still look nice.  Whatever fashions come and go, you will know how to sort out what works for you quickly and make better wardrobe choices.  Once you learn the basic concepts well you learn to listen to your instincts more and you end up doing yourself more justice. So far, I have found this has pretty much been true and helpful. I did use my instincts in a lot of ways.  Now I know why some outfits just never worked for me and before I didn't get why.      

Here's how it was worth it to me.  A friend introduced me to this right when I was noticing that my work clothes were getting pretty raggy and I probably really needed to update my wardrobe in general.  So the whole personality stuff is what I found really fun and then the ideas of dressing based on that really interested me so I tried it.  This is what happened.  I was able to walk into a thrift shop with a half hour break from work and pick out 25 sweaters and blouses to try on in my size in just 5 minutes.  Then I did have to try them on super fast, factory style to be able to have time to check out, but the scary thing was, almost everything looked really great on me!  Even though I was in a thrift shop I had to narrow it down so I picked what worked the most with what I already had and left with a handful items I am really happy with that work with several things in my wardrobe and look great on me.  Each item was about $3. Sweet!  Normally, I HATE shopping.  Nothing fits or works on me and the prices don't either usually.  I can't stand all the wading through things and then trying to make up my mind.  This course helped me know how to streamline the whole process into something fun that worked for me. Is it always that wonderful to shop?  No, I don't always find great deals, but I don't waste time if there's nothing there for me.  Shopping is WAY less stressful.          

The next thing that worked for me was this- you really look nicer when you look more like yourself, when you are bringing out your natural beauty and honoring it.  So, you really do get nice compliments on your looks.  Even if you're funny looking like me!  Hopefully you always have gotten compliments, but instead of hearing I like that outfit, or I like the color of that top, I have regularly heard things like "You look so great!  You look radiant!  You look happy!  You look better than ever! Your whole outfit looks so good on you! You look so cute! Did you know even your gray hairs shine? " (OK, now go take the free course at dressingyourtruth.com and see if you can pick out which type I am, and which secondary type.)

My husband has really loved my new choices and is especially thrilled that I wear the jewelry that he buys me and I used to forget to wear.  I had tried all kinds of things to remind myself to think of putting on jewelry but it just never happened.   I felt guilty that he gives me stuff I never wear, but now that I see the purpose behind jewelry-to bring out who I am in my dress, it's easy to remember it somehow.  Luckily, he picked out things that really fit me :).  This has also got me making some jewelry with stuff I bought from my jewelry making neighbor when she left to go on a mission.  Fun, fun!  Less unfinished projects!   So, the other nice benefit of all this is I have more fun getting ready in the morning and I am dressing nicer and more femininely.  It sort of is a get in touch with your femininity thing.

What has been even nicer for me than the compliments is that I am simply taken into consideration more at work.  I used to wear things that made me sort of disappear and blend into the woodwork. Now I feel like I am being treated more like a professional and I am consulted more on what is needed.  So, shazam, what you wear can actually be helpful.  Of course, you may assume this is all attitude.  In part, it has to be because it has to come from within you-that is the idea of the whole system- you are bringing to the outside what you have on the inside.  It's easier to show that if what you wear matches up.  For the first time in my life I see a point to getting dressed besides just covering up.  For most of my life I have pretty much ignored this aspect of life as much as possible so now I have this new bonding thing with all my girlie girl buddies. Ya, it's sort of been like a mini version of the Miss Congeniality movies. Ha ha!

The other thing I like is that this system teaches a lot of tricks to makeover clothes and shop on a shoestring and swap with others who have things that don't work for them but work for you and vice versa.  They do also have a small online store and shop locally (the local shop sells stuff on consignment as well) you can check out.  The gently used stuff is better priced than the in stock online stuff obviously.  It seems to be growing so it might be an even better resource over time.

One last fun thing is that you really do get some insights into your personality and gifts as well as everyone else's around you.  I discovered that one of my gifts is being able to cheer people up.  I used to feel guilty I didn't do more things for others and this course helped me see that I am doing something, the thing I do best.  Not that I'll stop trying to do more active things for others, but now I know what I lead with and I can appreciate who I am and not feel guilty about it anymore.  Warm fuzzies.

SO, here is where I should show you my before and after pictures.  Except I'm the type of person that has a hard time finishing things, so guess what?  To be continued.... (don't despair, I got the before, and this week I can easily do the after.  I did work clothes so I have to get dressed for work to take the last picture) Come back soon now, ya hear?