Finding Your Clothing Personality

In a previous blog post I mentioned the body style or clothing personality.

 Since I had some ask about this, I thought it would be interesting to reexamine.  I did a post on this back in 2011.  Time for an update.

 Clothing personality is your natural, inborn tendency toward particular types of clothes.  It is based on your genetics and generally determined by your body shape.

  I also addressed this topic HERE and HERE 

 It is interesting that most of us innately know the type clothes that make us feel great about ourselves and those that make us feel "not quite right."

If this is true, then why do we continue making mistakes and never feeling sure about our clothing selections?  One reason may be that we have been influenced over time to accept certain colors and clothing styles that just aren't right for us.

Example:  Your mother or adult female role model may have been a Romantic and thought everyone should wear ruffles and lace and lots of flowers.  Although you may have hated this as a child, you have grown to accept that this is what you are supposed to wear.

Your childhood distaste may have been right!

When did this concept begin?

Back in the golden years of Hollywood we learned that one's beauty came from individuality.  Each of the famous ones from that era was known for her specific beauty, based on the combination of how her unique physical features were brought out and enhanced her unique personality.

Let me give you some examples of different celebrities who knew and dressed for their own particular clothing personality.

  Romantic Elizabeth Taylor

 

as seen in the formal from the 1951 To Catch a Thief  that was the most sought after prom dress of the decade.

Now imagine the Sporty Natural Diane Keaton in this billowing bosom-fitting style. Can we say ridiculous?

And on the other hand, can you honestly see Elizabeth Taylor in this tailored, rough textured outfit or the sloppy pants and tie that was so fitting for Diane Keaton as Annie Hall?  Never!  She was much too feminine and curvacious to hide behind this much clothing.

Now, imagine Petite  Classic Audrey Hepburn 

as seen here in the dramatic dress from Breakfast At Tiffany's,

 in

Romantic Marilyn Monroe's
white dress as seen below.  You certainly wouldn't see the curves and personality that Marilyn gave it.  In fact, it would have emphasized Hepburn's boyish shape instead of enhancing it.

What about dressing Marilyn a' la Breakfast at Tiffany's instead of this stunner from The Seven Year Itch?  Laughable?  I think so.  Wonder what JFK would have thought of that!  I can't see him or the audiences drooling over the matronly and heavy set appearance she would have had in that dress.

Now, try to picture the Classic Grace Kelly in any of the above outfits.  It just doesn't paint the same picture does it?

Hollywood knew what they were doing when they dressed these classic beauties according to their "specificness" or clothing personality.  It certainly launched careers and clothing trends, didn't it.

Are you beginning to get the idea of why dressing according to your own clothing personality is as important for your appearance as it was for these Hollywood beauties?

So, what are the different clothing personalities?

There are many different systems that are legitimate and I encourage you to search out some of these.  But because I need to keep things simple, I prefer to just use four types because they seem to cover all the bases and are easy to remember.  Most of us can easily relate to these and they also relate to the body shapes that we have already talked about.

Classic - the simple but elegant clothing style like Grace Kelly

Sporty Natural - the earthy clothing personality like Diane Keaton

Dramatic - the entrance making style like Audrey HepburnRomantic - the sexy clothing personality like Elizabeth Taylor and Marilyn Monroe

 

Next Monday I think I will break down each of these and discuss how to dress for each clothing personality.  In the meantime, you may want to take some quizzes to see what your style is.

There are many online quizzes but this is a simple and fun one and fairly accurate I think. 

Clothing Personality Tests

  In the meantime, do you dress according to your clothing personality or someone else's?  Good question!!!
Part 1 
Part 2 
Part 3 
Part 4