Jill Chivers of 16 Style Types and I have been asked about how often should you be re-evaluating and updating your style recipe and your colour palette? So we sat down and had a chat about these topics in this video.
Reassessing Your Style Recipe
The options are up to you - but here are some strategies that work for others:
Every season, or at least once a year - take some time to reassess if your style recipe is still resonating with you and assisting you in making the best selection when shopping.
Are Your Words the Best Words?
If the words in your recipe are OK but you are not madly in love with them - maybe think about using the strategy that I use - be open to new words - keep your brain on the lookout for better words than the ones you're currently using. When reading a book, watching a TV show, having a conversation - wherever words are used in your life, think about capturing words that say what you want to say in your style recipe. Often the topic of where I find words has nothing to do with style - it's the word that piques my interest.
What's the Reminder in Your Style Recipe?
Is your style recipe reminding you what you really need (and tend to forget about or overlook at times) rather than stating the obvious? For example - you may have included comfortable in your recipe - yet you naturally buy comfortable - so that's a given (in the way that Jill doesn't include animal print in her style recipe, she needs no reminding of that!). Instead, there is something that you need to remind yourself to look for - quirky or whatever it is that is meaningful for you. Of course, if you do want comfort and you keep purchasing clothing and shoes that aren't - then having this word in your style recipe is imperative!
Style recipes are not a set and forget thing - they are an everchanging, morphing reminder of where you are now and where you want to go with your style with any new purchases.
Taking a Look to the Future or Using The Past For Guidance
Style Types who have an N (for iNtuition) in their type code - will often have more of a vision of their future self and be looking for possibilities of the direction they want to head in.
Those with S (for Sensing) are great at the current experience and also looking back to what has worked in the past. For a Sensor - you may find it easier to look back at and review your style over recent time which will then guide you with the words that go into making your style recipe, of what's working for you right now.
A style recipe is something to help you make good decisions regarding your style and to help you create your most authentic style.
The Value of a Style Recipe
If you're more easily swayed by what friends or family think (and will wear clothes that aren't really you because your friend liked them on you), or find it hard to say no to a salesperson in a store because they've been helpful. A style recipe is a great way of giving you a solid rock to ensure before you buy.
Ask yourself every season:
- Is my style recipe still relevant?
- Is it still me today?
- Is it still who I want to be now?
- Is going to suit my vision of the future me?
- Is it going to help me achieve my future plans?
How Often Do You Reassess Your Colour Palette?
This is a simpler question in many ways as it's more obvious. My best advice is that it's worth reassessing every 5-10 years - depending on whether or not you feel the colours are still as flattering today as they were when you had your last colour analysis. (A colour analysis is part of my 7 Steps to Style program if you're looking for one).
Except - if you make a major hair colour change (such as I did going from brunette to blonde) which will change your colour palette (and may also change your contrast levels as well).
There are some general ageing stages in life that can help you decide if it's time for a new colour analysis:
But these are just guidelines - what is more important is to note how your colouring has changed - have you gone grey? If so how much - just a little or a lot? Not only do your hair pigments change, but so do your skin and eye pigments change in line with your hair colour changing, it's just not as obvious. Menopause can change a woman's skin which also is a good time to reassess colouring.
If you are dying your hair back to your "natural" colour (the colour you had at say 15 or 20 years of age) and you're now 50 - there is a good chance that this colour isn't as good for you as it once was - as your skin will have changed and you may find that the colour has become harsh against your skin.
If you decide to rock the silver and stop dying hair, then this is also a great time to get a new colour analysis.
If you feel like that you see the colour before you see your face - there should be a balance between the brightness of the colour and you - if you're always looking at the colour and it's hard to notice your face - then the colours are too bright and it's time to soften them down.
More often than not, small changes in colouring mean changes to your contrast and how you put your colours together, rather than needing a new colour palette.
Share With Us
We'd love to know how often you've changed or updated your style recipe? What has instigated this change?
What are the things that have changed with your colouring that have made you decide it's time for a reassessment?
Further Reading on When to Reassess
Tips for Building a Functional and Fabulous Wardrobe
Your Colouring and The Ageing Process
How to Manage the Transition from One Colour Palette or Season to Another
Understanding Colour Systems and Personal Colour Analysis
How Do You Know When You've Hit Your Happy Point On Your Style Journey?
8 Tips on Adapting Your Style as Your Rules Change
