What Do I Know?

I really like thinking about types/seasons/color systems--it has been something either in the back of my mind or on the forefront since I was age 25. Finding my true colors and what I should do with clothes, hair is back on my mind again. What to do? 

Back then we all read the book, Color Me Beautiful by Carole Jackson and thought about whether we were Springs, Summers, Autumns, Winters. Since I loved Autumn best and all of those colors, I secretly hoped I was an Autumn. But no, I had a draping at J.C.Penney by a CMB specialist and she said I was a spring. (But I think she tossed a coin between Summer and Spring.) I tried following the Spring palette but it was difficult. I had trouble finding those colors and I didn't really look good in the reds, and just looked tired. But maybe I just was tired!  (I had two more boys by the time my oldest was six-years-old--yes, four boys!) 

This is me, about age 29, exhausted, with two boys around 20 months apart. But I'm wearing a "spring" sweater  by Liz Claiborne. Spring? 

Years later around age 40 I was draped by a Beauticontrol expert and she thought I was a Winter. I was due for a makeover and needed new clothes. Around that time I lost my mother and had moved (and moved away from most of my support system) and was having a tough time. I really needed a "lift." 

Age 40 at the funeral of my mother. Winter? I did wear a lot of black for several years. 

So I went along and about the time all of my boys were taking off, and I was doing some writing, I thought it was time for another makeover. I turned 50 and was doing a lot of writing columns and articles. I was told I needed head shots for my writing. I had a stylist cut and color my now graying hair and came up with this next photo. 

Age 50, doing writing and speaking, working as an officer in my local writing chapter. Not winter. Not spring? Not my natural color. But…did it work? Maybe? 

I then got another online "draping" by a very competent color analyst and was now learning about a 12-season system (she started training for a 16-season system in the middle of that) that got even closer to "your season." I was about 53 at this time and knew I was "fading." She looked at many photos, and decided I was a Light Summer!

I felt like this didn't even look like me! Really? 

By this time I was frustrated with more than just the season--finding clothes and trying to adjust to all these changes in my life was overwhelming. I wasn't really ready to hear that I'd changed "that much." It was now hair, hair color, clothes, clothing "style" and that fading color in skin and eyes too. What to do? I had never been able to wear pink before and it really bugged me because that was the "signature" color of Light Summer! 

I went looking late one night for another system and I did read up on the Sci-Art system, but couldn't decide on my own. That's when I found a "type" system and when I'd viewed all of the videos, I decided on one type by personality and face features and tried to "be that." I finally got a confirmation from the founder--and wasn't sure I could live like that. I kept trying but at least this time I could follow a system that also encompassed color/style/jewelry/makeup/hair! That was something I was looking for--simple rules and style.

But I kept coming back over and over and it just really bugged me. I then joined a really great group, but recently, I was overwhelmed by all the choices. Who am I? How am I living? What looks best and how do I bring it all together??

See if any of these are "me!" Will the real Crystal stand up? 

LOL!! And it comes down to several things I've discovered:

• I have to love my hairstyle and the time it takes to do it. The color needs to suit me and my coloring now. 
• I have to feel like the style of clothes fit my lifestyle. (Usually casual or business casual.) 
• The jewelry must be stuff I love to wear (I know this one--silver pieces and they're usually "one of a kind" and distinctive and I like dangly earrings.)
• I want to look healthy and like "me" and good in everything I have.
• Things I wear should go with flip flops, sandals, boots or sporty shoes. I will wear heels for special events. 
• Must be comfortable clothes, but not sloppy. I prefer a little bit of tailoring, and no ruffles, but it's ok to have lace. Very little pattern--NO BIG FLOWERS. 
• I must be able to wear jeans, jean jackets,boots, my jewelry and bracelets and my wedding rings/Russian Orthodox cross ring.
• I want to have a palette of colors to take with me, the right makeup and especially lipsticks, so everything just goes together! 

Is this too much to ask? I know I'm headed into a new phase of life and I'd just like to do it gracefully. And I'm pretty sure--I haven't felt like things are going gracefully yet.

With most of the above list, I feel like Summer is the right road--but Light Summer? Cool Summer? Soft Summer? And am I totally off-base? I feel pretty much like a T2. T2/1? T2/3? T2/4? or do I need to go back to Spring and just lighten everything? 

I think I'm ready now (and haven't been for a full year!) to face everything. What is it? Light seems right, but I'm not sure if I am warm still, or need to cool it down. 

Just tell me. Sigh.  

Comparisons: Choose One!

Whenever I'm posed with a dilemma, I can't help but make comparisons. I look at this or that and compare and try to categorize it. 

So, that's what I've tried to do with this whole color/energy analysis in the last year. It has caused me to go round and round because I get such conflicting information. 

I'm down to these most days:

1. Am I Light Spring or Light Summer? Do I have a spring influence and am summer, or have a summer influence and am spring?
Am I 1/2 or 2/1?

Light Spring Blue or Light Summer Blue?

2. Am I Cool Summer or Soft Autumn? Am I soft? 
(Is that 2/4, 2/3?) 

3. Am I Bright Spring or Some Other Spring?
Really bright spring seems to overpower me and I don't really like the straighter lines. So, 1/4? 1/2? 1/3? Clear colors? 

4. Am I a 4/something? That would be winters and there are the combos 4/1, 4/2, 4/3. I don't think so, but doubt creeps in when I seem to test out in Type 4 personality things.

And what's really confusing is that I get good arguments for any of the above from various people. Who do you trust to really know you? To really give you a good opinion about your coloring? I've trusted each one and still get differing opinions. 

Or I get mamby-pamby, wishy-washy opinions of "well, how do you feel?" "what do you want to be?" "what are your problems with this type or that?" 

Just say it because I have trouble understanding what you're trying to say! I hate it when people beat around the bush. It drives me straight up the wall to have to try and read what you're saying to me. In fact it makes me ice-cold mad. 

Only two people ever told me that they thought "for sure" that I was a certain season/type. The first one said she thought (given as her professional opinion) that I'm a Light Summer. She indulged me with discussion about it, answered my million questions and still held to her opinion though she said if I wanted to try Light Spring or Cool Summer just to see, to go ahead. LOL. (She had a good point!) I keep coming back to that one because she really did take her time, looked at childhood photos, listened to everything. That would be type 2/1. 

This is what she sent to me to prove her point: Light Summer. Convincing, huh? 

The other person immediately said I was Type 2 with a secondary of 3. She also had good points. She wouldn't discuss it but simply said that I was using too much of my secondary, but probably for good reason. That actually made sense to me, too. But the colors didn't seem to jive with me.  

I can really see Light in me. I am so fair, I think I actually reflect back whatever color I'm wearing. I am translucent. I'm so fair, my eye doctor has said I'm light blonde clear through to the back of my eyes. So, here's the test--Light Summer (like one analyst said) or Light Spring (which does have some evidence.) I have had more than one person say she thinks I'm 1/2 and one person went so far as to say I'm 1/2/3/4! (Four being last!) 

I've been told to do a 30-day challenge. I did do it with T2 (summer colors, but mostly soft summer colors.) After awhile, I got overwhelmed with emotion. I'm probably a mood dresser. That means I go to my closet and pick things out according to my mood or the occasion. With a closet full of things that really do not follow a rhyme or reason, that gives a lot of credence to T1 and thus, T1/S2 Light Spring. 

I know I need to start with the hair. I found a file yesterday going over my hairstyle (and color) and I did get a hairstyle I liked at the time. Not sure I can find anyone who can do the color and finding the right color as I'm fading is tough for me, too. 

Thirty days to change. Shall I do 30 days of Light Summer and start with my hair? Or go warmer and do Light Spring?

Light Summer Red? Or Light Spring Red? 

Light Summer Green? Or Light Spring Green? 

Light Summer Colors? 30 Days of this? 

Can't decide. (Another point in favor of T1 or T2? Or both!) 

I did this hair from age 50-52

#1 Hairstyle. I like the length of this. 

#2 Hairstyle: This is like the style I had.

Hairstyle #3: This color is close to what it was  when I was younger. I think I've faded too much to maintain that color. 

Hairstyle #4: Let it grow! 

Hairstyle #5: Let it grow, but not so much. 

I just think if I could decide, I could move on and think about other things with greater intensity. Get one thing off my plate, get my wardrobe into shape and move freely about my business at hand! Is that too much to ask? Is it wrong to just want to feel confident of who I am, spend less time choosing clothes for the many activities I have? 

When You Get to Be My Age

When you get to be my age, some things become important and some things just aren't worth my kind of time. For example, I have this thing about shoes, but I don't like just any shoes. (I do have heels, but I've gotten where I just don't wear them.) They must be comfortable, and well, they must be comfortable. I do have some pride and will go for flash. Nothing too frumpy, though the second photo could border on frumpy. 

Yesterday afternoon, though temps were cool, I took inventory of my flip flops and some sandals and wore flip flops around the house. Here's what I came up with. 

Just got these this month. They caught my eye and matched an outfit I had in mind.

Wore these everyday on my trip to Florida this year. Will be wearing them a lot. Coral is a preferred color for me. 

Adore these Naots. Not only are they comfortable and easy to slip on, they have a bit of bling in gold gems and little flowers on brown leather. I would buy outfits just to go with these!

I have more but that's all for now. I have two pair of flip flops with jewels on them made by the Justin Boot company. Those are cool. If I can't wear sandals, I tend to go for my boots. I would have 10 pairs of boots if I could. That's for another shoe blog post. I do have a pair of tennies, but I don't really like wearing them. I would prefer to have a pedi when wearing sandals, but I just haven't had the time for it. I can't decide on the color of nail polish, either.

I did sort out a bunch of clothes into piles to deal with. The piles are:
1.My sweatshirts (obviously an important part of my wardrobe. 

2. clothes I have a tough time parting with because of expense or quality and needing something else to replace them, but they probably need to go. 

3. clothes I'm still deciding if the color suits me. I just don't know. 

I sort clothes I'm getting rid of in my big garden tub (because I don't usually like taking long soaking baths)

Here are yesterday's color photos, and I don't know if I am wearing the best color for me or not. Not sure how to categorize the color of this sweatshirt, either. It's comfortable and I like that it says "Mackinac Shoreline Division." I got it eight years ago on a golfing/wedding anniversary trip to upper Michigan. I fell in love with it immediately and had to have it. It's made by Big Cotton. It has a few bleach stains on the front and is frayed at the cuffs. Probably isn't flattering, but I didn't care. I had my hair up in a clip in back and wore a soft blush. I'm thinking of cutting my hair short because I really hate messing with it at this length. 

For this one I'm wearing a T1 lip color called Geranium (a pink)

This one is my very light T2 lip color called Dusty Rose (a rose--ha!)

I'm in a stretch where my husband (I'll refer to him as The Irate Overlord) is working early so we get up at 4 a.m. I hate that. I feel pretty much dragged out all day during these stretches. I ache all day. It's hard for me to feel too motivated. Thus me pulling out the Mackinac hoodie to just "be." 

I still go back and forth between T1 (spring) and T2 (summer) colors. I think it might come down to the neutrals. Light Summer goes into some spring colors so they can be flattering. Light Spring has some summery colors. Both palettes have some of the same colors. The hair for both can be light blonde--some gold highlights and some ash blonde if light enough. I don't know. 

These are sweatshirts I'm considering keeping

As far as my personality, I don't think I'm a T1/T2 or a T2/T1 most of the time. I'm a bit abrasive and can be hot-tempered sometimes, and both those types (T1 & T2) can be awfully nice. I don't think I'm that nice. So, then I begin to consider T2/T3 again. I do have a push, a drive and can be bossy. So, again, makes me consider eliminating both Light Summer and Light Spring. 

I keep headgear and necklaces on this rack I hung on my wall. What does that make me? I have edited some of them out and I tend to put like with like (gold with gold; silver with silver.)

This is my earring rack on my dresser. I have a lot of earrings I like but never wear.  Mostly because they're too fussy, but I just think they're pretty.I have a lot of costume jewelry, but tend to just wear the simple quality stuff.  

Stardate: Spring 2014 Where I Am Today

May 18, 2014

I suspect this will be only interesting to me, but it's a place to record my explorations into color/seasons topics, as well as personality and energy. About a year ago I started thinking about how much I had changed since turning (shhhhh!) 50. (I'm now 56.) I went on an exploration of color systems out in the internet universe and found Dressing Your Truth. It turned out to contribute a lot of confusion for me, but did get me to thinking about my true nature.I wanted to know who I really am, where I've been and how that will help me to get to another stage more gracefully. 

I will record the history of this journey in another blog post by years and likes, but I'm challenged to record daily "feelings" about my colors/personality in a journal, so I might as well do it here. My personality factors in because who doesn't dress according to how her/his personality dictates? I have always tended to be influenced by peers/husband and only occasionally do I make choices that are "me." I'd like to change that in this stage of my life. 

Today…I colored my platinum hair (also was colored as my original color was graying strawberry blonde) to a more golden hue, which is "like" my original color. I notice that lines and shadows disappeared and I glow more. I had thought for weeks that I had to be a summer of some sort, and to just get used to the fading color and all those shadows, wrinkles. However, wearing this spring-type color shirt, spring makeup and my hair more golden, I seem to have come alive. I'm not as icy in coloring as I perceived. Just like that.

In some ways I don't like it. I think I'm not acting my age. I want to go back to wearing black because suddenly no one takes me seriously. But I also know that I probably don't look that good in black unless you're far away from me. 

When this photo was taken, I didn't think I needed to lighten it up or remove under-eye bags. It's just "me." That probably says volumes. 

I want people to like me. That's the personality part of it. I am sensitive and a bit quiet, but do like people. I can have a "wicked" sense of humor, but tend to protect or be sensitive to others. 

This makes me think I'm a T1/T2. Or perhaps a T2/T1. That translates to Light Spring or Light Summer. 

It looks like that in this photo.