Dressing Your Truth update

[darkemeralds]

On Tuesday I had the nicest compliment: a co-worker, a well-dressed young guy from India whose graceful manners make him a constant pleasure to work with, said, "I like your colors today. You have a very good dress sense."

(I was wearing a red skirt suit, a red-and-purple striped top, and purple tights. I mean, there were only two colors, but there was a lot of each of them. The compliment was, therefore, sort of surprising and deeply gratifying. Because I meant that outfit, but I'll admit it was eye-bending.)

Over the past several months my closet has become like a box of Crayolas.


Purple and yellow (aka fuck you, subtlety)

I've taken a "strict compliance" approach to Dressing Your Truth (because "strict" is generally a good descriptor for Type 4),


Sulfur and houndstooth--one of my few available prints and patterns to break up the huge color-blocks

and once I accepted the limitations on color¹, texture², design line³, and fabrication⁴, it's been amazing how brilliantly everything works together.


Apparently I like orange now

So yeah, nice outfits and all, but it's more than that, and there's a whole community of DYT-ers (mostly on Facebook) constantly trying to figure out and express what that "more" is.


Trenchant

For me, it's...

• bending "rules" of workplace, social milieu, city--even gender a little bit--to express something true about myself
• taking bits of style inspiration from across the Type 4 spectrum, from Adam Lambert to Anne Hathaway
• saying fuck you to age-based (and weight-based!) restrictions on clothes, hair and makeup
• feeling like it's okay to show myself to the world
• not being shocked to see a photograph of myself
• telegraphing clearly to the world what it can expect of me⁵

Accessories

Also? Packing for my next trip, whenever that might be, is going to be a breeze.


Waterproof

---

<sup>1. Black and white plus pure hues↩

2. Smooth--even shiny--firm and crisp.↩

3. Bold, straight, simple, clean, fitted↩

4. Structured, shaped, tailored ↩

5. Still, reflective, discriminating, demanding, logical, bold, and don't hug me, okay? So, basically, a Vulcan in really saturated colors.↩</sup>

Comments

[lamentables]

\colours/

You look exceptionally kick-ass in that last one!

[ranunculus]

I really like the choices you are making. It seems to me that a "real" person is emerging, firmly stating who she is - and I really like that! I'll bet people are relating very differently to you these days.

[ruric]

I love the colour palette and it really suits you.

That last picture is so very secret agent I-will-fuck-your-shit-up-if-you-mess-with-me awesome!

Now that I can reclaim my life a little I'm going to read up on DYT and last this spring will overhaul my wardrobe (once it's warm enough to tackle time spent in the attic) *G*

[kis]

Looking good! Glad you're having so much fun with it.

[hunningham]

Great. I went off to read more about drssing-your-truth and found your pinterest page - the type3 pictures are amazing and I've already fallen in love with a pair of boots - it might even be true love.

[pinesandmaples]

You do look crisp and put together.

[shezan]

I know who you make me think of! Andrée Putnam. Look her pictures up = your style.

[panisdead]

Whoooo, you look great! I'm glad you're having so much fun as well. (Granted, it's probably hard not to have fun when you look that awesome).

Coming back to comment on this, because my parents are visiting and my mom totally picked the DYT book out of my bookcase and was GLUED to it all afternoon. I didn't give it to her! This is not a point in time where I would do such a thing! But her randomly choosing it is, like, the best possible outcome.

[tehomet]

Awesome! You look fantastic. Especially love the attitude in the last shot with the blue coat - very Mrs Peel body language. :)

I think it's a form of artistic expression, too. Letting it flow. Artistically.