My friend Tiggrr* took me out for a birthday treat for afternoon tea at Caudwell’s Mill at Rowsley, a Grade II listed historic roller flour mill. After indulging ourselves with huge slices of fat, sticky, chocolate gateau and a pot (or two) of steaming hot tea, we waddled off to the mill shop to buy some flour.
While Tiggrr was discussing the exact constituents of campagrain** flour with a member of staff, I noticed two little girls who were waiting with their Mum. The girls were about 5 or 6 and both were wearing hats to shield them from the glorious sunshine that we were having in good ol’ Blighty that April. As I write this, in January, it’s cold enough to freeze the wotsits off the proverbial monkey!
I complimented both girls on their hats and told them how I’d sent Neil off fishing with a hat that very morning after he’d refused to take any sun cream with him.
As they listened in absolute awe (or was it complete astonishment?), I related how I’d threatened him to within an inch of his life not to come home with a red nose again from sitting in the sun without a hat! They giggled at the very thought.
As we chatted, I realised that these two lovely little girls looked so very alike; they were definitely sisters and probably one was a year older than the other.
But there, the similarities ended.
Two sisters with two entirely different style personalities
The eldest had on a baseball cap and was dressed in dark denim dungarees and a striped blue T-shirt, with basketball boots and stripey socks to match her top.
The younger sister was completely different. She wore a light pink blouse with lace round the sleeves, dark pink trousers with dark pink braid around the pockets, and delicate pink pumps.
Even at that age, they were making quite definite statements about who they were – just by their choice of clothes.
The little girl in the baseball cap was so obviously a tomboy, a real Natural, whilst her sister was a Romantic (or perhaps we might call her an Ingenue?).
Their Mum told me that they had both chosen their own outfits for the day.
She also told me that she wasn’t relishing the thought of trying to get the little Natural into a dress for a family event at the weekend while her Romantic sister had already been grumbling about getting her pretty shoes dirty walking across the grass at the mill.
The 6-year-old tomboy just loved Tiggrr’s outfit – jeans, cream cami, and red denim jacket.
The little Romantic was much more interested in what I was wearing – rose pink peplum top, floaty purple wrap, and bright pink kitten heels.
Yes, you’ve guessed.
Tiggrr is a Natural Bright Spring and, just in case you’ve never read my stuff before, I am a Romantic Classic (with a soupcon of Dramatic for added effect) Cool Winter.
You see, children know instinctively what suits them.
We all know instinctively what suits us
It’s just that along the way, we’ve been distracted by daft comments from parents, siblings, and most likely from Great Aunt Ermentrude, especially when she’s been three sheets to the wind after a few too many large ones.
We get this stupid idea that we should copy what celebrities are wearing, or we get sidetracked into thinking that what our best friend’s big sister looked good in… the last one, in particular, is what drove me off course for a while, I’m afraid, especially during my late teenage years.
If we actually had the guts to leave the little Natural and the little Ingenue well alone to follow their own innate instincts, they’d do excessively well for themselves.
But no.
‘Society’ always has to stick its big nose in and muck up what would have worked very well all by itself.
Losing our way doesn’t have to be forever
Thank goodness there’s always a way back to the road well travelled.
That’s what a good image or colour consultant can do for her client – by showing her what really looks good, reminding her of what she instinctively always knew deep down about how she really wants to look
What an incredible gift we have to offer our clients
I hope you realise how utterly life-changing this gift of colour and style advice can be?
We can help our clients rediscover who they really are and how to dress to express that.
It’s never too late for our clients to get back on track.
And it’s never too late for you too…
If you’ve been considering using your love of colour and style to help others, then do the training or kick-start your business now.
Even if you don’t choose to train with me, life is too short to faff about!
Just flippin’ do it – now!
* Tiggrr and I have been friends ever since her now-40+-year-old son was a wee bairn. Tigger (from Winnie the Pooh) is her innate identity that she is rediscovering for herself after all this time!
** Campagrain – authentic French bread flour, a blend of 5 flours and 4 seeds, ideal for baguettes. Now, not a lot of people know that! I mix 100g campagrain with 300g of strong white flour and it makes fabulously soft bread.
Interested in professional colour, style, image training?
- For seasonal & tonal colour analysis, check out my Colour Analysis Training in a Box course
- Style, shape, scale, and style personality are all covered in my Personal Style Training course