This week’s Style Mastery post will get you started on learning about your tastes so that you will find it easier to build your unique style – your unique presentation to the Universe. Let’s start with something visual…

Color
My favorite color is red. It has always been red. It may forever be red. But over time my preferences within that large family have oscillated from cherry red to fuchsia to maroon, burgundy and for a very short period of time a kind of orange red – and back again. Moreover, as I matured I found that I also adore purples, strong pinks, silver and black. As an experiment in variety and because I didn’t want to be predictable, I did, for a very short period of time when I was about 14 years old, decide to change my favorite color to yellow. I focused on the brilliant lemon yellow one finds in the giant chrysanthemums. It did indeed work, but after a few months I found that as lovely as that bright yellow was, I wanted to go back to red.

Most but not all have a favorite color. What is yours? Do you adore a number of similar colors or shades? If you’re ready, here’s a chance to really get to know your preferred color palette:

Favorite Color(s) for Points
2 points if you can recall choosing your favorite color.
Minus 1 point if you had to ask a parent (or older sibling).
2 points if you tried to get your parents to buy you all your clothes and shoes in your favorite color.
1 extra if you were successful more often that not.
2 points if you choose your favorite ice cream flavor (or candy) based on color rather than actual flavor.

Score 7 points: You are very invested in your favorite color and it is a strong influence on your choices. 5 – 6 points: You are highly aware of color in your life and environment. 3 – 4 points: Color has a role but it’s of secondary importance to other factors. 1-2 points: Either you like every color imaginable or none of this applies to you.

Texture
Because there are a number of blind people in my family, I am very aware of tactile perception. soft, smooth, plushy, bumpy, sticky, hard, rough; so many adjectives. Touch is an incredibly important sense! I love soft cottons and silks (and even rayon) against my skin and these natural fabrics exude a sensual luxury that man made fibers have yet to mimic perfectly. Nubby silks and linen have wonderfully crisp and tickly texture that I find invigorating and exciting. Similarly, when I paint in oils I invariably prefer palette knives to brushes because of the strong textures left by the heavy icing of paint they maneuver.

In my bead weaving work, I am fond of varying the sizes, shapes, and finishes of glass, crystal and stone beads and almost completely eschew plastics (with the rare exception of some vintage or antique plastics such as very old lucite and bakelite).

Do you find yourself always or never or occasionally considering how something feels against your skin? Has this changed much since you were a child?

Textural Responses for Points
2 points if you miss the over washed soft cotton sheets that your Mom still has in the closet and that are at least as old as you are.
2 points if you wash your new sheets at lest once before using them
Minus 1 point if you assume they’re soft just because they’re flannel!
2 points if you cut the tags out of your shirts and wash them before wearing them.
1 point if you can’t resist running you hands along the nap of velvet type fabrics even if someone else is wearing the article of clothing.

Score 7 points: You are a sensual person, aware of what feels good or interesting and you can’t resist touching things. 5 – 6 points: You are highly aware of texture in your environment. 3 – 4 points: Texture is only important if it is an annoyance but you don’t actually choose your purchases based on that factor. 1-2 points: Wool never makes you itch and you don’t care if you track mud into the house.

I look forward to reading your comments!

This entry was posted on Monday, June 28th, 2010 at 12:57 AM and is filed under Contemplation, Style Mastery Series. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.