David Zyla on Building a Wardrobe

There was a David Zyla chat in one of the Zyla groups I belong to and I want to share some of my takeaways from his time with us...

The first thing I did after my appointment with him was to go through everything in my closet & find all the matches I could to my Gamine Autumn color palette. Once I did that, I grouped those clothes together on the longest side of my closet.

In addition to that, he suggests trying on the clothes in different color combinations to see how they look on us and to determine what the level of contrast is between them. I hadn't done that but I have been wearing them since then and have noticed the difference when I wear something that is a perfect match. I think the contrast level is low-medium, depending on which colors I combine.

I think his message is that that needs to become the standard. Our best colors "clear the skin and light us up", he said, and I think by implication, once we have experienced that by trying them on or wearing them, it will become easier to know what impact any potential addition to our closets needs to have on us.

But what about the near-misses? The clothes in our closets that we think are close enough? I had a whole section full of them, too!

He suggests evaluating them by that same standard. Even if they are not a perfect match to our color palettes, they should have just as positive an impact on the way we look. If they don't, they're not good enough.

So after the chat, I went back through my closet and re-examined everything I had collected in my Zyla section. I re-matched them and I held them under my face in front of the mirror in my room.

I have to admit that I had chosen some pieces that really were not even second-best in light of this new standard! So they got moved to the back of the closet with my other rejects.

And then I decided to rearrange my Gamine Autumn section.

I put the "wow" colors in front, my Energy and Romantic and Pastel colors. Then I grouped the Bases behind them. What that means, practically, is orange and green in one section followed by mostly browns and grays in the next.

Eventually, I will have more variety but I am taking this wardrobe overhaul slowly to match my budget. :)

The most important takeaway for me was not to rush in trying to create this new wardrobe. He says to expect it to take time. So it's important not to settle for anything that is a less-than-perfect match to your palette. It's better to wait.

I'm not good at waiting, but I would rather do that than have a closet full of clothes that don't light me up! Right?

For a more complete write-up of the chat, join the Zyla Insanity group on Facebook.