See, the main idea behind this system is that the fashion world has failed us as women because it promotes the law that beauty is reserved only for superficial airbrushed 15-year-old girls in magazines (or aging celebrity women with millions of dollars to spend on plastic surgery). Therefore, 99% of women fail at fashion (even the same 15-year-olds when they aren't airbrushed!). What Carol has discovered is that there are four main elements in the universe: air, water, fire, earth. (I know it sounds New-Agey, but the Periodic Table comes from this ancient idea.) Anyways, Carol has observed that these four elements translate into the motivations behind every person's personality: Air = bright/animated, water = subtle/soft, fire = rich/dynamic, and earth = bold/striking. In other words, you have all four of these "energies" in you, but you lead with one and usually have a secondary. (The closest system of human study that I have to compare this to is The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman, that teaches that every person has all five love languages, but that each person is dominant in one and usually has a secondary.)
All that to say, once you realize your true dominant "energy" (I say "true" because a lot of us have tried to be something that we aren't), you learn to develop your outer expression of that through your own personal form of beauty. It's not a system of "Glamour Shots" where women are made to look like garish versions of Marilyn Monroe. It's not a system that "drapes" you in color or seeks to figure out what "season" you are. Those systems are only limited to your outer appearance. What sets this system apart is that it is so holistic. It really seeks to eliminate all the frustration that comes from not feeling beautiful enough in today's society, and from having a closet full of clothes, but nothing to wear. It gives you more confidence because you aren't trying to be or look like something you're not. This puts everyone at ease--yourself and others around you. It really works.
I realize that what I'm saying is probably very confusing if you haven't already looked into this yourself. I have pages of information in my head that I wish I could say here, but I know that you won't be drawn to read a blog of pages and pages of information, so I'm trying to summarize. Let me just show you some pictures of mine and a video of Carol and her daughter, Anne, and see if you can get a better idea of what I'm talking about.
I am a "Type 4." Type 4 women are bold and striking. We are constantly trying to perfect things, often smile with our mouths closed, are introverted unless super comfortable, tend to make decisions based solely on logic, and many other distinctions. Because this is my dominant energy, I look best in black and white, parallel lines, pure hues, elongated rectangles and ovals, and high-shine silver. (There are other factors as well, but those are some of the main ones.)
First of all, I am going to show you a series of pictures from some of my former blog posts. I am using pictures of myself BEFORE learning about "Dressing Your Truth," so that you can hopefully see with unadulterated evidence that I'm not making this stuff up.
So, for this first set of pictures, which one makes me look the most proportionate? Which one makes me look fatter? Both dresses are the same length, but in which picture are your eyes really drawn to the shortness of the dress?
I look much more proportionate in the black and white dress. In the pink dress, I look about ten pounds heavier and the dress looks about two inches shorter. The bow on the pink dress really shortens my body, whereas the black and white dress compliments me. Notice too, that it's hard to look at my face in the pink picture, but in the black and white picture you look me right in the eyes. Now let me tell you that I had a REALLY hard time setting up the pink dress picture. The picture you see above is the best one out of about 10 (I remember taking this picture and how frustrating it was. See how I have my arms at my sides? I was really self-conscious and trying to hide my hips.) The picture of me in the black dress is the first picture I took of that dress! One more point: when I posted these dresses on Facebook, I got all kinds of comments about the black dress and nearly none on the pink one! You all noticed it too!
Okay, in this next set, which picture is the easiest to look me in the eyes? I'm not really standing all that different in either, but one looks better. These pictures were taken within minutes of each other with no touch ups in between.
In the left-hand picture, your eyes kind of go all over the place. You see four flowers and a bunch of lines and leaves. That is because my face isn't able to support all that animation. By putting on the pure green sweater, I actually help to simplify the look and your eyes go straight to my face and that top flower. This dress is actually not a Type 4 piece at all, but the pure green sweater is and that's why I look more supported in the right-hand picture. (Notice too how my waist and face look fuller on the left. I know my face is slightly cocked on the right, but not much.)
Okay, these two might be harder to tell, but they were taken on the same day and about the same time of day. In which one does my face blend into my neck?
Obviously, I didn't really care about my hair or makeup here and was just trying to take a picture in a hurry. Even though I'm standing weirder in the left-hand picture, I look better in that one. The green compliments me, whereas the khaki washes me out. In the right-hand picture, you would almost rather look at my skirt than my face. Incidentally, like the pictures aforementioned, I got far more Facebook compliments on the green dress and the green dress was the easier picture to take. The picture of the khaki outfit was the best out of at least seven or eight. Be glad you didn't see the ones that didn't make it! I looked TERRIBLE!!! (And I wondered why!)
Okay in these two, I will just tell you that I look really awful on the left. I look tired. That is the effect that grey has on me. (It's a similar effect if a Type 1-3 wears black.) The reason I have put these two pictures together is because I HATE pictures of myself from the back; however, I really prefer the picture on the right than the left. Type 4's look good in black, but especially shiny black. Incidentally, I tried setting up the same angled back shot with the grey pants. It looked terrible and I didn't post it. I always wondered why I looked so much better in the black pants. . .
In both of the above pictures there are some big problems. In the left-hand picture, I was so self-conscious of how I looked, that I felt I needed to hold that big book in front of me. In the right-hand picture, notice how the drooping jewelry makes me look old and kind of masculine. I have a really thin neck, but it looks wide with those earrings and that very long necklace.
Neither of these pictures is quite right either because I'm wearing two versions of grey, but I definitely look better on the left. That is because the colors are more contrasted on the left, whereas they are more blended on the right. Type 4's look best in higher contrasts and evenly spaced parallel lines.
I just look orange in this one. The design lines are cute, but. . .I look like an oompa loompa.
This one should be a no brainer.
Do you even notice my hips on the left? No! It's like magic. I look proportionate. The picture on the right has all kinds of problems which I was trying to fix by putting my hands on my hips. Remember that little "trick" they put in magazines about a year ago that said if you stand like a Kardashian with your hands on your hips, you will look thinner? Yeah. . .So why do I look so much better on the left with my hands at my sides?! The picture on the left is the only picture in this post that I took after learning about "Dressing Your Truth," and you can definitely tell that I have my act together, finally! Also--big shocker--this is the first picture I took with this look!
So, after reading all of this you may still be thinking, "She doesn't really look that bad in any of the photos. She's being too hard on herself." (Or maybe you think I look gross in all of them! Haha.) Just remember what I said about feeling like I had to contort my body to hide flaws and how many pictures I had to take until I was somewhat satisfied with the "bad" pictures. Think about how wearing certain things makes you feel less confident and uncomfortable. Think of what that does to your brain all day. Wouldn't it be nice not to have to worry about that?
All right, so what does this mean for you? Does this mean you should dress in black and white and pure hues too? Not unless you are a Type 4. You need to learn your type first. Watch this video to see two girls wearing fashionable Type 4 colors, except one is a Type 1 and one is a Type 2. Watch their one minute transformations and see how just by changing their colors, hair, and jewelry they looks much better!
(If you don't see the embedded video, click here.)
Let me end this with one paraphrase from Carol Tuttle.
In the world of self improvement, exercise and eating healthy are choices you have to CHOOSE to make; however, you have NO choice about whether or not to wear clothes, so you might as well start right now looking awesome every day!
www.dressingyourtruth.com
(I'm not making money from this and have no ties nor affiliation with Carol Tuttle.)
The End!
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