Style Roots With Ellie-Jean Royden {Body & Style}

In this episode of the Style POV podcast, host Gabriella Arruda welcomes Ellie-Jean Royden of Body and Style to discuss the process of developing an authentic personal style through the concept of 'style roots.' Ellie explains how her system works with Kibbe and Kitchener's frameworks and how it helps individuals find cohesive and personalized styles by identifying three primary style roots. The conversation covers topics such as integrating trends with personal style roots, understanding one's personality and preferences, and the role of body types and color seasons in style decisions. They also discuss Ellie Jean's upcoming book 'How to Dress Your Best,' which further explores these concepts. The episode is filled with practical advice on building a wardrobe that feels genuinely you, navigating style challenges, and embracing personal evolution.

Full Show Notes Ep 18

More About Ellie-Jean:

Get her book here! { How to Dress Your Best}

Instagram @elliejeanroyden

Ellie Jean Royden Youtube

Body & Style Tiktok

+

Join The Style POV Newsletter for exclusive updates and content

Follow me❤️

podcast → https://www.stylepovpodcast.com
 facebook group→ https://www.facebook.com/groups/gabriellearruda
 instagram→ https://www.instagram.com/gabriellearrudadesign/
 tiktok → https://www.tiktok.com/@gabriellearrudadesign?
 pinterest → https://www.pinterest.com/gabriellearrudadesign/
 blog → https://gabriellearruda.com/
 email →  gabrielle@gabriellearruda.com

Disclaimer: The Style POV Podcast content is for general informational purposes only and should not be considered professional advice. The views expressed by hosts and guests are their own. Gabrielle Arruda is not liable for any errors or omissions, and listeners use the information at their own risk.

Transcript

Gabrielle: [00:00:00] Hi, everyone. I am Gabriella Arruda, the host of the Style POV podcast, and I am here to help you hone your fashion instincts, find your authentic style POV, and find strength through style. And today, I am super excited to welcome Ellie Jean Royden of Body and Style. And you can find her at Ellie Jean Royden on Instagram and YouTube or on Body and Style on TikTok.

Gabrielle: I'm so excited to have you, Ellie Jean. Welcome. Anything you'd like to add? 

Ellie-Jean: Yeah, thank you so much for having me. Just that I'm really excited to be coming on this podcast. I think it's such an amazing project. 

Gabrielle: I am so excited. I think today we're going to be deep diving into your style roots system, which I know my listeners and readers are a big fan of.

Gabrielle: And I think it would be cool to discuss like, how does like Kibbe and Kitchener play into that? Cause I know we both have experience with those systems and how they helped you, how this. the style root system helped you evolve your own style and how it changed your style consultants and content creator business.

Gabrielle: But first I'd like to go broad and discuss, how do you define authentic [00:01:00] personal style or how would you approach authentic personal style?

Ellie-Jean: Oh, that is such a good question. I think the way I view this is very different to a lot of mainstream media where the idea is just dress what you like, whatever whim you have, whatever thing is currently occurring to you when you go into a store, whatever thing takes your fancy, buy that because that's probably going to work.

Ellie-Jean: I don't really agree with that approach. I think that authentic style takes a little bit more digging and understanding who you are underneath and externally as well. I think to an extent, I think that there's Finding a marrying between those two ideas of what you look like on the outside and who you feel like on the inside.

Ellie-Jean: I think that takes a bit of work and it takes a bit of working out. But I think through that process of investigating yourself, you'll eventually come to a style that feels a lot more authentic. I know with myself over the years, I've been through so many different aesthetics and tried so many different things.

Ellie-Jean: And I now can tell the [00:02:00] difference between, I like that because that objectively seems cool. And that's something I actively. One in my wardrobe and I think that's quite an important distinction to get to. 

Gabrielle: Oh, yeah, definitely I think that it's so hard to be able to parse between Finding authentic pieces that resonate with you on a long term scale because you know You can look at something and be like I'm so interested in that seems so exciting like this new trend I'm so into it And then six months later, you're going to be like, why did I ever like that?

Gabrielle: And it's really that like self identity work that helps you be able to look at something and be like, no, this is something I'm like, intrinsically drawn to. What inspired you to create the style roots ? Tell us a little bit about your process. 

Ellie-Jean: Yeah. So I was working with the Kibbe system for a while and I was learning about that and working through that with customers, viewers, and through that, I went, okay.

Ellie-Jean: People are finding that the vibe that they're getting from this isn't resonating with them. 

Gabrielle: Like the [00:03:00] star image.

Ellie-Jean: Yeah, like I get lots of people say natural, saying I don't resonate with the stereotype of the natural type. I don't feel like bohemian clothing works me, which is not what it means to be a natural at all.

Ellie-Jean: This is the kind of feedback that I was getting from people. And I was like, okay something to this. There are these different kind of. Overall vibes, aesthetics, and I originally started calling them style priorities and it was very different. It was things like feminine classic, elegant, and just using keywords.

Ellie-Jean: And through that, I discovered that there are these elements underneath all different aesthetics, which pulls them together. Like cottagecore, for instance, is a certain kind of delicate femininity, but so is Parisian style. And I feel that. If you were drawn to one, it doesn't mean you necessarily have to not do the other aesthetic because the roots underneath are very similar and you might like elements from both and that allows for a certain flexibility whilst also being cohesive with your style.

Ellie-Jean: So it took a little bit of work, I think it took [00:04:00] months and months of thinking it through, but that was the conclusion that I came to. 

Gabrielle: Yeah, it's like a guiding principle where you're looking at those. I love that word roots because like you're not just looking at the surface. You're really digging down into what these things can mean in a broad sense.

Gabrielle: And then the application or recipe is really up to the person to say, do I like the delicateness of this or where do I like delicate to show up? Or do I like the Parisian influence of this? So it's really like digging down into those styles. How do you think that it evolved your style consultations, too?

Gabrielle: Because when you're talking about Kibbe and Kitchner, there's an image identity or stereotypes associated with each one. Do you think that people found it freeing to be able to be like, this is what I'm choosing for myself? And there's like less like dissonance between Oh gosh I'm a natural in face.

Gabrielle: So I have to have earthy earthiness in my style. 

Ellie-Jean: Yeah, absolutely. I think that it gives more choice. And I think a lot of people coming into What I call style systems and all of that kind of learning. I've also started calling it [00:05:00] Kibbe plus. So it's Kibbe body types plus Kitchener and all these other things.

Gabrielle: I think there's a lot of them these days. 

Ellie-Jean: Yeah, there is. There's so much going on within this little world. I honestly feel like someone should make a degree on it. There's so much to cover. But I feel that when you come into that. It can be so confusing and it can be so conflicting and no one really knows which direction to go in.

Ellie-Jean: And I wanted to be more clear that you do have a choice in this. You do have a choice which direction you go in. And that's not to say that you can just decide to be a romantic. You can't. But You can choose to work with the silhouettes of your body and have elements of things that you like and I didn't think it had to be so binary of you can dress in what suits you or you can dress in what you like.

Ellie-Jean: I don't think that has to be the case. So I think through working With people, I learned how to incorporate Star Roots with Kibbe because I'd have a lot of questions like, okay, I know what my body type looks like, I know what body type I am, but how do I mix it? And it took a lot of, I didn't just immediately have the answer to that question, it took a lot of working [00:06:00] with people, creating outfits with people and doing it myself to come up with frameworks to help teach that.

Ellie-Jean: I do think it's really nice to have a system where it is about you, not just what you look like. And to bridge that gap between where anything you like and fit in this really restricted idea of style. And actually they can be sitting in the middle. 

Gabrielle: I think it's interesting too, because I think style systems like popped up on like the zeitgeist because we were all so tired of Constant trends and constantly trying things that weren't working for us, you know So we were like trying these baggy jeans and we're like this doesn't work on me Like let me just try something else.

Gabrielle: So style systems like gave us a framework for okay Now I understand what i'm looking at what I should be seeking but there was that Personalization that we felt that was missing and I think your style roots really Fills that gap where it feels like you have more control than you do and more influence because it's not just you have blunt bones.

Gabrielle: So your archetype is free spirit chic. So how [00:07:00] does someone decide on their wardrobe or start building out a wardrobe using their style roots? 

Ellie-Jean: So I think first of all, deciding on your three star style takes a bit of time. It takes a lot of self investigation, but me myself I've, gone through different style root categories as I try and get closer and closer to what I think represents who I am.

Ellie-Jean: I think you need to get the personality thing sorted before you get your star roots because they're so interlinked of, okay, I'm feminine, but what In what way do I like to feel feminine? Do I like to feel like I walk into the room and everyone's looking at me and I feel super sultry and I feel super sexy and I've that's how I want to feel.

Ellie-Jean: For me, I couldn't be less interested. I want to feel really modest. I want to feel that I look cute. I want to feel that I look delicate and making that distinction took time as well. So it's and people say, why would, how you like to dress? interact with your personality. I feel that who you are underneath does somewhat dictate your taste.

Ellie-Jean: If you're quite a sweet, [00:08:00] innocent person, you're going to be quite drawn to quaint things around your house. For instance, you might like vintage little bits and pieces. It does affect what you appreciate in the world externally. So yeah, you've got to figure out. Who I am, what do I like, and then you can translate that into style.

Ellie-Jean: But once you've got that down, once you've got your three style roots down, I feel like it's just saying no to a lot of stuff, to be honest. It's just really looking at each piece and, Oh, actually, I don't see the flower here. I don't see the delicate here. Or at least I can't see how I could make this delicate.

Ellie-Jean: For instance, I have a couple of leopard print things in my wardrobe, which are not typically flower. They're not very delicate. Delicate, they're a lot more like bold and loud, but I know how I would style them in a way that makes sense for me. And I could see a way to pull that in a way that feels like a fun experiment, but still ultimately grounded in me.

Ellie-Jean: So I think you need to just say no to a lot of things that you think are cool for someone, but not necessarily for you. And through that process, you'll end up with a wardrobe for the things you like. [00:09:00] I also just generally would suggest buying more bottoms. Everyone focuses on tops, having skirts and trousers.

Ellie-Jean: A variety of things that opens up your wardrobe so much more. So if you can get a couple of basics on the bottom half that feel more aligned to your roots, it's going to open up so much more of your wardrobe. 

Gabrielle: Yeah, I think that sometimes we don't realize that our personal preferences seep into all aspects of our lives.

Gabrielle: When you look at your house, you look at, the things you're drawn to, the media, the music, it's all kind of an interplay. To a certain degree. And I think those can be like lots of clues, but that personal style is personal. So it would reflect your personality. Do you think that as you're progressing through something like style roots, that, that exploration phase, 'cause I know you mentioned that you were originally Mountain at one point and then you were no, that's like more of who I thought I should be is that correct?

Speaker 2: Yeah, that's right. So yeah, I've played with mountain before, I've played with fire before, sun before, and I think it's really easy to look at the [00:10:00] aesthetics of certain style roots. Like with fire, I really like a lot of Parisian styles. And a lot of very feminine Parisian styles have that element of fitted silhouettes or certain luxurious elements.

Speaker 2: And I realized that I like other things about those Parisian styles other than that. And that's not actually how I like to feel, for instance. Mountain, I do come back to sun. I do come back to, I have little plays, but what I've decided is that you've got to view those other roots you're interested in through your three roots.

Speaker 2: So I sometimes do to feel playful and creative because I guess that is something that I am, but I'm not that every day. I don't feel like that person every day. Whereas I always feel like quite an understated, delicate, feminine, rural girl, rural is one of my keywords, but for me, that's how I channel it.

Speaker 2: So those, I always want to show up. And sometimes I can dress in a fun print if I want to, as long as it's got those other elements to it. 

Speaker: I think that a lot of the systems can be. People can feel it first very educational and then a little [00:11:00] restricting. And I'm not sure if that was the I don't think that's the intention behind them, but that's what they've turned into.

Speaker: And I think it can be hard when you're like I'm this, but I'm interested in this. How do I merge them? So it was interesting when you talked about how you were saying like, I have leopard, it's not traditionally , my roots, but. This is how I use it. This is the framework that I can use to tweak it.

Speaker: So it allows you a lot more freedom. Would you say that rule breaking is intrinsically easier with the style roots because you have that like strong foundation? So going into other roots isn't as taboo? Because it's an interest. And can you talk a little bit about the timeframe of testing these things?

Speaker: Cause I think so many people study systems and then you get new input and you're like, oh my gosh, I see this in a completely new way. Like I speak from personal experience when I say, sometimes new style input can like completely change how you view it. So I'd love to hear your thoughts on both of those things.

Speaker 2: Oh, for sure. I think that in terms [00:12:00] of timeframes for all systems. I mean it's personal to an extent, but I completely agree with what you just said about getting new information. I call it getting new evidence. So for example, with my packages, it is all online, it's all virtual, so obviously there are challenges to that.

Speaker 2: And sometimes let's say you don't get a picture that's taken at quite the right angle, but you haven't picked up on it. And then someone says that doesn't feel quite right. I'll say, okay can you send me another picture in a completely different way? And we'll see what the disconnect is.

Speaker 2: And then, you get that picture and you realize that they've taken it, actually they haven't taken it in the sunshine or they haven't taken it there. And I see that as getting new evidence and it doesn't necessarily mean You were wrong the first time around. It just means that your scope of information is larger.

Speaker 2: And I feel like that works with Kibbe as well. So many people know the first two style icons of each Kibbe type, for instance. A lot of people know Marilyn Monroe for Romantic or Audrey Hepburn for Gamine. And there is so much range in the Verified Celebrities list. And you have to look at each individual one to get fully understand Kibbe's idea.

Speaker 2: You can't ever [00:13:00] fully understand Kibbe's idea of each one, but to at least get a better understanding of how he sees each one in the range of each one. So yeah, I agree. New information creates new learning always. 

Gabrielle: So do you think that if someone is on a style journey and they've honed their Kibbe or their Kitchener and now they're at the point where they're like, okay.

Gabrielle: I'm understanding what works on my body, but I'm not feeling personally connected to this. Do you think that like style roots is a great next step? Or do you think that it benefits people to learn at first? What order would you say it's most beneficial 

Speaker 2: for any style? Yeah, I think that's so interesting.

Speaker 2: Again, it's personal to the individual. It depends what you want to prioritize. I think personally. That would be a great point to come into your style roots when you know what works on you objectively and you know what makes you feel good when you look in the mirror. To at that point start investigating yourself makes a lot of sense to me.

Speaker 2: I do think, let's say you came into style roots first, that was your introduction to all of this, and you know what you like and you've [00:14:00] worked that out. I can see why somehow there would be disconnect there when you do look in the mirror because you need the other systems to know what works on you objectively.

Speaker 2: So it depends on your goal. They're definitely not, one system doesn't replace another. They hold completely different things., if you want to know who you are and have more of yourself being represented, I think it works really well.

Speaker 2: Whereas let's say you're an actress and you And all you want to do with your style is let, your image be the focus. You might not even necessarily need style roots to reflect your personality because a lot of actresses don't even share their personality very much with the world. So it depends what you're trying to share with the people you're trying to share your style with ultimately. 

Speaker: How do you think that people deal with it? Because yeah, we go through different phases of life and personality. Sometimes we're more afraid to show ourselves or we're not really sure who we are. And then other times we start to grow into ourselves and we feel more comfortable expressing that.

Speaker: It can be different ages for different people or different life experiences. How do you think [00:15:00] that the style roots can help you express who you are and is it common for your style roots to change from let's say, when you're 20 versus when you're 30? Is there any interplay between that? 

Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that's a really interesting question. I get lots of questions about change. I see it in two ways. From my perspective, finding your style roots is about finding your identity. Yourself across time. So who were you at 18 and who are you now and where are the connections? Like I feel as we age, we shed a lot of layers rather than actively changing the absolute core of who we are.

Speaker 2: We get closer to it. So I feel very similar about style roots, but I'm not going to tell anyone how they should use the style roots. I think, when I was younger, I could potentially argue that I was more bold, potentially. But I feel that came from wanting to make a statement because I wanted people to think of me a certain way, rather than that necessarily being who I am underneath.

Speaker 2: That's how I see it, but if you want to see it [00:16:00] as, oh, I'm actually feeling more mountain this year, I'm actually feeling that professional side of myself is more who I am now than who I used to be. I am not here to tell you otherwise. I think, we all know ourselves the best at the end of the day.

Gabrielle: When I've gotten older and studied the systems and felt more inclined to just be like this is who I am and I'm going to embrace some of my more natural traits and I'm not going to try to put on like the mask of who I think I should be or who people expect me to be.

Gabrielle: I feel more in touch with my fashion choices, but it can be hard because it's hard to parse out am I being influenced to like this by media by like the trends or is this something that's innate to me? So how do trends typically work with your style roots? Is there a way to if you're interested in a particular trend that seems to go against your roots, how would you approach it to be more aligned with your roots?

Ellie-Jean: Yeah, I feel like I'm just going to come briefly back to that last conversation. Yeah. The reason I try to [00:17:00] encourage not changing your style roots too much is things like throughout the year you might want to dress more like playful in spring and then try and use the sun style root to represent that and then more like you want to feel more autumnal in autumn and so people think their style roots would change to earth but actually all of that needs to be channeled through your style roots so okay you want to wear more browns This season and you want to wear more tweed that's absolutely fine But do it in a way let's say you had fire do it in a way that feels luxurious in a way that feels sexy And you'll show up, you know just the same and I feel like that applies to what you're saying about trends here I feel that some of them are a no and i'd say it's a no if you can't In any way, connect it to any one of your style roots.

Ellie-Jean: If you can't in any way explain why you like it, it might be that you objectively like it. You have an appreciation for art, essentially, which is what a lot of clothing is, but it doesn't necessarily mean it's something you're going to want to wear and also try it. Like I always recommend shopping in person wherever possible, because [00:18:00] then you can try clothes on and then you can feel the difference.

Ellie-Jean: How you feel about it without bringing it home and then having to deal with returning it and not being bothered and then it just sits in your wardrobe forever. I feel that when you go out and try clothes on in the shops you get to touch things, you get to put them next to your body and it's much more of an experience and you get a much bigger clue into what it'll look like on you and in your world.

Ellie-Jean: So yeah, I think try it if it doesn't work for any of your roots. Maybe leave it, but if you can see it connecting to one of your roots and then finding something you could pair it with that brings in another root and that makes sense in that outfit, give it a go. 

Gabrielle: When you were talking about how sometimes people want to dress like more browns in fall and, might go brighter in spring.

Gabrielle: It's funny because I feel like we all see that. But in reality, I don't actually see that playing out. I see a texture change and like a fabric weight change, but I don't know if it's just my location or, but like we, I think we also have to remember that like the fashion industry is an industry and they're telling us these shifts because they do want to encourage us to [00:19:00] purchase new things and they're creating this trend cycle so that we feel comfortable.

Gabrielle: Compelled to consume, so when you start to figure out style systems You know like even color analysis or any of the pillars like you end up feeling okay with saying no So I think all this data gives you the okay to say yes It's fall and I'm gonna change textures from light airy cottons to beautiful wovens and heavy knits But I don't need to go earthy or rust or you know Because that's not my color palette or that's not my style That doesn't relate to me.

Gabrielle: And I think we get caught up in the fact that we have to do that. Like that we have to fit the mood of the season. And sometimes it's better to just dig deep and be like, is this like really what I want to do? Or would this texture suffice? , I loved your video where you talked about adjusting the your seasonal color palettes to your style roots and how like it has the same effect without breaking your palette or without, going out that and I think that's like a common thing is people feel very constrained to the [00:20:00] stereotype of their palette and every palette has these beautiful, like neutrals and darks and lights and brights.

Gabrielle: So being a bright spring, it's not just I get tropical jello colors like I get a range of colors. So how do you think like when someone is exploring a seasonal shift? What would your advice be for them to integrate their roots authentically? So if they have flower, let's say, and they're very delicate and lightweight and they're shifting into winter what would be your advice for something like that?

Ellie-Jean: Yeah, it's so interesting. I first of all, I completely agree with everything you just said. With my own wardrobe, I have my entire wardrobe out all year and I don't restrict certain items to this is a winter item and this is a summer item, but obviously you need, warmer textures in winter and cooler textures in summer physically for literal physical reasons, but I try to keep the silhouettes largely the same and obviously in winter just adding layers because I think your style should be more inherent than that.

Ellie-Jean: But I do get caught up in, [00:21:00] oh, I love autumn and I want to dress more autumnal and get excited about that. So like you were saying with my color season, I would dress in cooler Browns and I would dress In certain like off whites and and grays and bring those tones in and prioritize that.

Ellie-Jean: I also think like with style roots, you can, I see that your three is a triangle. So sometimes I might lean a little bit more flower. Sometimes I might want to lean a little bit more earth. Sometimes I want to lean a little bit more mushroom. And a lot of people ask me surely there'd be loads of combinations because I feel that I'm more flower than I am earth.

Ellie-Jean: I feel that I'm more flower than I am earth. But some days I might just want that earth to take. priority, depending on how I feel. So I like that flexibility in that. I've forgotten what the end of your question was. I've taken myself on it. No, 

Gabrielle: I love it. I so we're going to just go on a tangent.

Gabrielle: We're going to, we're going to roll with it. When, so how would you suggest someone who is flower and they want to, integrate into that winter season, but they're like, but I'm so delicate, I like this delicate light. woman [00:22:00] in a prairie field, this like very youthful delicateness.

Gabrielle: Like how do I translate into the heavy textures or things that feel maybe disconnected from me? 

Ellie-Jean: Absolutely. I think obviously it's a bit of a learning curve. Even I struggle with that sometimes. I think Try and think about the silhouettes you love in summer, and how you can replicate it in winter, rather than thinking about what everyone else is wearing in winter.

Ellie-Jean: So for instance, if you like wearing mini skirts you can still wear mini skirts in winter, you just need them in a slightly heavier fabric like tweed or wool or something, and pair it with, Some tights, and then you can wear a delicate shoe, just the same as you would in summer, or what's an elongated version, for example, I really like cowboy boots in the winter, that's my Earth style route coming through, I love a pair of cowboy boots, and in summer I want to capture the that vibe, but I don't want to wear a pair of boots.

Ellie-Jean: So I might wear something similarly Western or usually I swap that out for a pair of espadrilles because I like to have a bit of earth on my feet. So I wear like something a little bit earthy and a little bit natural there. So I like to see [00:23:00] how I wear things in the season I feel more confident and then what the winter version of that would be rather than reinventing the wheel.

Ellie-Jean: Just return to what you love and if you like little camisoles, what is it about the camisoles you own that you love? Is it that they have little bits of embroidery on? Is it that they have elements of lace? Okay, could you translate that to a lace blouse with long sleeves and it'll keep the vibe?

Ellie-Jean: Without being something completely different. 

Gabrielle: Yeah, I think that it's so important to really for me, I love telling people to take daily outfit photos and examine what you're really resonating with and what the pieces are saying, what are the adjectives that you might apply to those things, and dissecting your what root system, too, you're using in them.

Gabrielle: What, this outfit I loved, I felt great in, it worked for my lifestyle. What roots does it have? So you don't like to apply any fixed percentages to the roots, right? Like you like to have it be a little bit more malleable. Is there a reason for that? Do you just find [00:24:00] that allows more creativity while still staying true to yourself?

Ellie-Jean: I feel that ultimately we are flexible creatures. And I think that I know myself being someone who I consider somewhat creative. I get drawn in all different directions as I and I want to try new things all the time. And so I don't like to pin myself. down to the most dominant thing in my outfit must be a girly thing.

Ellie-Jean: Because I think it's too hard, to be honest. I just think it's too hard. I do acknowledge that I, my style roots do have orders, ultimately. I do feel that I'm flower first, mushroom second, and earth last, ultimately. But converting that into an outfit is far too much maths when you're trying to get ready in the morning.

Gabrielle: Yeah, we don't want to micromanage our choices either, eventually we do want it to be like instinctual where we're like, okay I'm drawn to this and I understand why I'm drawn to it. I feel like sometimes we just need to understand the why's behind our choices too because there's so much media and we, as we're all like very multifaceted people.

Gabrielle: So we [00:25:00] all, are drawn to this or drawn to that or interested in this. And when you understand the why's, you can say, this is why I'm drawn to this. This is how I could apply it, but, or this is why I know I'm not gonna go down this avenue for myself at my style at this time. Yeah. 

Ellie-Jean: , sorry, I'm just gonna cut in there. I love that because when I look back at my outfits from the past, I feel that you're absolutely right. That learning your whys learning, the systems, learning the theories, you have agency in looking at your style and it is so empowering because suddenly you can go, there's nothing wrong with me.

Ellie-Jean: It's just, I can see in this outfit, I'm wearing a really heavy tweed trouser with a really heavy knit and I'm layering that up with something and that's too much for my body type and it feels overwhelming against me and I hate that. Knowing that is so much better than, oh, why do I feel so, overwhelmed in that outfit.

Ellie-Jean: Why do I feel that looks terrible on me? Why do I look terrible in that? You can get rid of that entire thinking and you can just go, Oh, those [00:26:00] aren't for me.

Gabrielle: Yes, absolutely. It's also like a knowledge gap, right? Like you start here and then you learn the stuff. Systems and all of a sudden you're here and your knowledge, you filled that knowledge.

Gabrielle: So you have to be like gentle with yourself because when you look back, you're going to be like, I hate everything. This is horrible. And you can get down on yourself when really you have to think about it. No, you just have new knowledge here. And in six months, you'll probably have even more knowledge and you're going to look back.

Gabrielle: So it's we have to be gentler with ourselves when we're doing this process, because there's always going to be wins. There's always going to be things that you're like, eh, that one was maybe meh and figuring out those whys or understanding the roots of those choices is I think so empowering because, we get a lot of media that says we're the problem, fix this, fix that, do this, and it can be really empowering to be like, no, I understand why this works for me.

Gabrielle: I understand why I used to dress this way. Now, I know, style systems are really big right now as we've discussed and we've both enjoyed talking about like Kibbe and Kitchener and all the other options. [00:27:00] Do you think that style roots can be directly related to a Kibbe or a Kitchener essence?

Gabrielle: Or do you think that it has its own standalone, that you could be a flamboyant natural and be flower mushroom or whatever? whatever the case may be. 

Ellie-Jean: Yes, I see them as completely separate, but I have had a couple of people say to me, I like to use flower to represent, say, my soft gamine body type. When I'm thinking about in the morning, like if I go with that, it helps me achieve what I'm trying to achieve with my body type or my essence or whatever.

Ellie-Jean: And I think that's perfectly fine. I think that's not the way I've written about it in the past and it's not the way I personally see it. And I don't think that. If you are a soft gamine, you have to dress flower and so on, but I do see that it could be a helpful tool for achieving that in your style if you want to. 

Gabrielle: I think, yeah, if it resonates, then that connection could be helpful to visualize the end experience, but it's interesting to hear that they're [00:28:00] not correlated and that they have their own standalone qualities. Yeah. How would you say that like the style roots really helped you progress your own style journey?

Gabrielle: Because, as creators who have shared their style journeys online, it can be an interesting experience when you get new style input and you have to explain, here's what I know now, here's what I thought before, 

Ellie-Jean: yeah, absolutely. Sharing anything on the internet can be a wild ride. For me, when I was younger, before I knew about any of these style systems, I knew that I liked to dress different. And that's about as far as I had got. I knew that I didn't want to dress following trends 

Ellie-Jean: I knew I didn't want to dress sporty and what I perceived at the time was like lazy dressing. I don't necessarily now. Like I say, a lot of sporty styles is actually really cool and I can now get an appreciation for that certain style. But at the time I knew that wasn't me, ultimately. That was as far as I got.

Ellie-Jean: And then when I actually discovered colour seasons first I actually discovered [00:29:00] Merriam colour seasons first. So I knew that I was cool and soft. And that was absolutely mind blowing to me. That changed so much of my understanding of myself. Going, oh my god, okay, so muted colors. Oh, I think she actually uses cool and muted, not soft, sorry.

Ellie-Jean: But yeah, muted colors. That's what works for me. That's why I feel so overwhelmed in red. That's why red makes me feel silly and childish. That was absolutely mind blowing. And I think it was that made me look at the pieces I'm buying more carefully. Then I discovered Kibbe and various interpretations of Kibbe, joined Strictly Kibbe, which was so exciting.

Ellie-Jean: I can remember waiting for, I think I waited something like a month to be accepted into the group. And it was the most exciting day of my life. I've never been more thrilled in all of my life. I remember that day. I remember being in the kitchen and just being like, ah, I'm in. So that was a great day and I'm not in it now, but I had a great time while I was there.

Ellie-Jean: And and then through that, obviously I discovered essences and so on. And I [00:30:00] think, that time of my life was very much, okay, let's figure out what works for me. And then discovering my style roots. Luckily for me, my style roots were do intersect quite well with how I see my features. I see a lot of classic in me, and obviously mushroom reflects a lot of that.

Ellie-Jean: I see a lot of yin in me, and flower reflects a lot of that. So I've had quite an easy ride in that sense. I would say, I guess you can see a conflict in that I don't have particularly a lot of natural. I do a little bit in my jawline, Basically my only like natural feature. So I get overwhelmed in messiness a lot.

Ellie-Jean: So that's been really helpful for me for crafting any kind of earthiness I have in my style. I know that it has to be really minimal. It has to be really pared back and it makes a big impact when I do that because I don't need a lot for it to create that effect. I would say it's just fun.

Ellie-Jean: Every new thing I learn. Is a new experiment to go on. Currently I'm on an experiment looking at vintage style. I love like forties, fifties and learning more about like old [00:31:00] Hollywood stuff and learning how to do my hair. And it's been a real wake up call for me. I'm looking at, Oh, thank you. I'm looking at a lot of soft gamine creators and, That works really well with vintage styles and it reminds me how much I'm not gamine because every time I put on like a bow or every time I put on like an extra belt, I'm like, whoa, I feel like a child.

Ellie-Jean: I feel ridiculous. And that's been such a good reminder for me to pair it back. 

Gabrielle: Yeah. It's fun when you can start somewhere and confirm something because it gives you a direction, right? This is what I talk about with the four style pillars is like rooting something that's true to you and and that this can be like a grounding framework that you can rely upon and what I love about the style roots is because some of the other systems you need outside verification 

Gabrielle: it's really tricky to get that verification. And I had a similar experience to you cause I just got certified in psy art color analysis and we found me to be a bright spring, which was like the last thing that I ever expected to be full disclosure. Yeah it's [00:32:00] it's shown me in a new light, like my style, because I have this like verified information of okay, I'm warm and bright.

Gabrielle: This is not what I expected. I thought I was like the poster child for cool tone skin. And, so once you have that like basis, it makes decision making easier and it makes saying like people saying, like saying no to things easier. Do you think that when you've honed those things down, And you started to progress that it becomes easier to say no, that the shopping experience changes.

Gabrielle: Cause for me, when I found my color season and I started shopping for it, like I had to readjust my relationship with clothes, because when I would go to the store, what I was immediately drawn to prior to being a bright spring, I was like, oh wait. No, like I'm not doing the muted, dusty blues anymore.

Gabrielle: Like I gotta shift my vision. So do you think there's like a time period where people , build a relationship with their style roots? 

Ellie-Jean: Yeah, I think with style, with any of the style [00:33:00] systems, it can be so easy to be like, yep, I'm Off I go, I'm gonna get a new wardrobe and I think that's always a no.

Ellie-Jean: I always suggest to anyone who works with me to start with the wardrobe you currently have. First of all, experiment with what you own before you buy anything else. And until you feel very confident with the things you own, what doesn't work, what does work, and creating outfit silhouettes with already been drawn to, because I think there is a good sign in your own wardrobe of what you're drawn to.

Ellie-Jean: And with your style roots, especially, there's likely to be elements of your style roots in there because you were drawn to them once. So it makes sense that it just could be that the full picture isn't coming together. So yeah, definitely always start with your wardrobe and until you really understand every piece in your wardrobe and you understand how to make that work or why it doesn't work.

Ellie-Jean: Don't move into the shops. 

Gabrielle: Do you think that a good exercise in finding your style roots would be to go to your wardrobe and pull pieces out and try to determine their what style roots they exhibit? Or is it more important on how you [00:34:00] put everything together? Like the full outfit.

Ellie-Jean: That is interesting. Both, definitely. I think that had I looked at my own wardrobe when I started all of this, I wouldn't necessarily have got a good, accurate reading of my style roots, because we buy a lot of things we think other people are gonna or we buy a lot of things that are trendy, or think before you've been on a journey, there's gonna be a lot of what I would call like a wild card.

Gabrielle: Remnants. 

Ellie-Jean: Yeah, exactly. So I don't think you can look at every single piece you own, but I think really analyzing, do I really love this? Take those pieces aside and then you can analyze them and get a better understanding of those. That for sure. I also agree with how you put things together.

Ellie-Jean: I think that an entire look can tell you a lot of information, a lot more than one piece of clothing. People always ask me that actually. They're like, I really like animal print. What style roots do I have? You can't do that. It's too specific. I like animal print, but it doesn't particularly say much about my style roots and it could mean a myriad of things.

Ellie-Jean: It could [00:35:00] mean you're really eclectic and creative. It could mean that you like edgy and dangerous styles. It could mean that you like sensual, exotic kind of styles. 

Gabrielle: Animal print is pretty varied, 

Ellie-Jean: it is. It could even mean you like classic, timeless things. Cause leopard print has been used for decades.

Ellie-Jean: So I, I think that you can't do it from one individual like motif or one item, but bringing a collection of ideas together. Also looking at the inspiration you like, creating Pinterest boards, I always recommend creating mood boards generally. And then don't leave it there, then re investigate your mood board.

Ellie-Jean: So you've pinned a load of stuff. Then going in and seeing the patterns. I think patterns is a good way to frame it, not like individual pictures, but what comes up again and again. 

Gabrielle: Yeah, I like to talk about that too with like daily outfit photos is sort out the ones that the outfits you love, what are the connection points between them?

Gabrielle: Is it that they all have Flower style root. Is it all that they had that delicateness or maybe you thought you were flower, but then your favorite outfits all have that like kind of stone [00:36:00] aspect like athleisure casual relaxed, so it's like you have to have the data and you can.

Gabrielle: Choose all your style roots or determine any of these style systems. But then when you actually look at what you wear and how you apply it that's data. That's what we should be paying attention to too. What are our personal patterns?

Gabrielle: Because then you also know how to adjust the pattern, right? , like for you, okay, I can do animal print in this way. But if I go this, It leans to fire or it leans to, too dramatic for me and I feel overwhelmed. I think it's great to just get a baseline and then the customization happens.

Gabrielle: And honestly, when you figure out your style roots, just like with any system, I think it's all that customization process can be difficult, because you're learning to trust those fashion instincts. You're learning to rely on your information and say, okay. I like leopard print here. I don't like it here and that takes reflection.

Gabrielle: It does. What's your advice if you're in a style rut or you're just not feeling great about your style?

Ellie-Jean: Yeah. So [00:37:00] I get this a lot when I have One on one styling sessions with people, especially from mothers.

Ellie-Jean: I get a lot of working from home mums who live in their leggings, and they just don't know how to expand. And I would just say challenge your assumptions would be my general advice to anybody. So I get a lot of people who say, I can only wear leggings because I have to be on the floor a lot and, there's lots of pain and messy food and I have to go and kneel on the grass and, I can only wear leggings for that.

Ellie-Jean: Is that true? Do you really only have to wear leggings for that? Or can you actually wear a pretty dress but it's gonna have a tiny little bit of a stain on in future? Is that the end of the world, actually? Or is it better to show up with the entire outfit feeling more you and feeling more yourself when you're with your children and feeling more human?

Ellie-Jean: I would say that's a sacrifice worth making to have a little bit of dirt on your skirt or to have, a tomato pasta stain somewhere or I don't think that is actually the end of the world. , outside of Instagram, clothes are there to serve us and our lifestyles. And I don't think you can just save things that work on [00:38:00] you and things you love, for the right event because that right event might not come around. If you have children, you're probably never going to have a day where there's no mess. It's not gonna happen. So can't wait for that day. You've got to just embrace your lifestyle as it is and Wear a pair of jeans and wear a skirt and wear a dress and be okay with life happening around that.

Gabrielle: Yeah, I think it's about also accepting failures in that process, too, because like when you're going from a different life stage, when you're going from not having kids to having kids, you get so overwhelmed and you have this narrowing of what you believe you can wear and it gets so ingrained in you.

Gabrielle: So you think, I can't wear jeans because of X, Y, and Z. I'm a mom now. I'm on the floor. I can't wear jeans. They just don't work. But you haven't done enough exploration into finding the right jeans, the right weight, the right style. I went through that. I was like, oh, my jeans are uncomfortable. Then I like shifted the fabric weight, shifted the size, and all of a sudden I'm wearing jeans all the time with no problem.

Gabrielle: But. There was a lot of failures in between [00:39:00] getting the right pieces. So I think we have to accept that, if you're wearing that dress and it gets a tomato stain on it, that's fine. That's not a failure. But if you were uncomfortable all day and you were constantly like adjusting your straps.

Gabrielle: Okay, then take note. Like I can't wear a dress that doesn't have a higher neckline because I can't have it, like I can't be flashing people or something, 

Ellie-Jean: I love the idea of embracing failures in, in your style. I think that failure is a part of life and I have so many no's.

Ellie-Jean: I'm wearing an outfit today that I know is a no. I'm never wearing this ever again. And that's fine. No one's seeing me. No one's looking at me. It's even if they were, it really doesn't matter. We're all human and you have to try things to go outside of your comfort zone in order to learn.

Gabrielle: Yeah. And it's just like paying attention to that. Okay. For me, like even with Kibbe and then having a different essence blend than I had originally anticipated. It's like finding the connections, it's finding, okay, this is why I liked this at this point in my life.

Gabrielle: Now [00:40:00] I'm trying to shift into a new Identity. How are these two things connected? How can I reflect myself? Where do I feel comfortable? Where do I need to draw the line? So it's like circling all the way back. It really is that identity work And respecting your own opinion enough. Oh, this is another question.

Gabrielle: I wanted to ask you Crowdsourcing. I have a very complicated relationship with crowdsourcing because, as creators, I've always been like, Oh, what do you guys think about this? And then you get an influx of commenters being very passionately, you are this and that can be like a really weird.

Gabrielle: experience because you're like I didn't think of myself as this and now I'm getting this new information. How would you say the style roots combats that kind of process? Because essentially you're choosing it for yourself. And is there ever a point where you should ask for people's opinion on style roots? 

Ellie-Jean: Oh, All great questions. First of all, completely agree especially being a creator, the [00:41:00] crowdsourcing thing. I've gone back and forth on my colour seasons several times Not because, I feel that I need a draping session. I don't particularly, but just because I'm getting new information all the time, especially with growing my hair out.

Ellie-Jean: I haven't had my hair not dyed since I was 13. So using pictures of me when I was 12, as people seem obsessed with doing for some reason, it's not necessarily where I'm at right now. And and not where my features are and not how everything's coming together. And so I go back and forth on it because.

Ellie-Jean: It's a journey, it's an experiment. And not once have I ever claimed to be an expert in any of this. I'm just a girl who's learning along with everybody else and sharing that, learning with others, and sharing that journey with others. And so sometimes, you question, which can be complicated. Oh yeah.

Ellie-Jean: Oh yeah. Is that complicated? For sure. And especially when you're getting comments every day from, as you say, people saying. You are this, you are that, and I can't believe you don't know this. And, it's supposed to be fun and empowering and exciting. When it comes to style roots I definitely think [00:42:00] it's an inward thing.

Ellie-Jean: You can do it on your own. It's a service I offer to help people from like my perspective on what their style roots would be. But you by no means would actually have to use me. I just speed up the process a little bit and still I can only do it based on the information you give me. You know your life history much better than I ever can in through a session.

Ellie-Jean: So I definitely agree with that. Taking charge yourself and coming to terms with that personally. I think, asking your friends what they think of you and who you are and your personality and how they see you. Always an interesting experiment. 

Gabrielle: Yeah. I, in my own journey and what I've seen in like my groups and stuff, I think that there is benefit to asking targeted questions.

Gabrielle: About a specific element of an outfit. I don't think it's great to just post a photo and be like, what season am I? What essence am I? Cause if we went off of that, I would be completely natural essence and I would be muted and based on Andrea Flamers. [00:43:00] Essence blend. I'm ingenue romantic gamine. So no dominant natural, and I'm a bright spring 

Gabrielle: so it's if I had gone down that path, maybe I would have liked the results, but that would have been such a confusing journey. So I think it's better to be like, how does this color react with my personal style roots of mushroom? Do we feel like this is too bold for mushroom, or I'm not using this color correctly?

Gabrielle: Like, when you ask a targeted question, people can give you an honest opinion, but they're not telling you who you are. I think we need to be careful about asking strangers on the internet. to tell us who we are, 

Ellie-Jean: yeah, I do. I agree. And I like the, one of the cultures in the Kibbe Facebook groups that once someone's settled, you don't argue with them all the time.

Ellie-Jean: They've come to, they've come to their decisions, but out.

Gabrielle: Absolutely. I also have some reader questions or listener questions that I would like to go over if you're open to that. Absolutely. The first one is, are there any correlations [00:44:00] between your body matrix system and style roots?

Gabrielle: Could one potentially dictate the other? What's the interplay, or are they completely separately determined?

Ellie-Jean: Yeah, we haven't talked much about body matrix, but body matrix is essentially stripping a lot of body things down away from, you Vibes, so away from the idea that, you know, because you have blunt features, you dress earthy.

Ellie-Jean: Pre spirit chic, yeah. Yeah, and obviously that doesn't have to be the case, there is, that is the implication. And it's taking all of that away and focusing completely on your lines. It's like focusing completely on your shapes. And obviously when pairing that with style roots, let's say you're going to use just those two systems.

Ellie-Jean: It means that you have an idea of what looks good on your body and the details that you know you're going to love and you feel excited about as you've got making you shine. What you love. And those two elements come together.

Ellie-Jean: So they don't, they definitely don't dictate one another. They deal with kind of separate things. 

Gabrielle: So it's like a Venn diagram of these are the [00:45:00] elements that work for my body shape. These are my roots that I'm personally drawn to that I resonate with. And we're trying to find where they meet in the middle and what that looks like.

Gabrielle: Now, follow up question on my own thought process on this. If two people had the same body matrix and the same style roots, do you think you would see a similarity in how they dress or would there be so much customization on what root they're leaning into, et cetera, or how they exhibit color, et cetera?

Ellie-Jean: It's the first time I'm thinking about this. It would depend those people do with that information. Let's say you use just those two systems. They would dress the same. It's very similar if they had the same style roots and the same body matrix. I think you could dress them the same and it resonate.

Ellie-Jean: But obviously people have personal tastes. People have things that they like outside of their style roots. And like you say, once you start pulling in other systems, like for one person, it might be really important that they [00:46:00] have their best colors and that's even more important to them than their body type.

Ellie-Jean: And. Yeah. their style roots, in which case their styles can look very different. 

Gabrielle: So do you think there's crossover, since we're talking about multiple systems, one of the questions was, do you see a lot of crossover, so if someone has a Kitchener essence of, this person said RDC, and then their Fire Mountain Mushroom, is there like direct correlation often, or is that not as common?

Ellie-Jean: Yeah, that's such an interesting question. I think as we've talked about, For most of, the time we've been chatting. I do see them as dealing with separate things. I don't see style roots at all as being involved in like your face type, like that wouldn't affect your style roots. But with the resulting aesthetics, there are definitely similarities.

Ellie-Jean: Like with the result at the end, in terms of the clothing you'd buy, there are similarities. And we've talked about this a bit on my sub stack, but like romantic can translate [00:47:00] to fire. It can translate to flower, stone. There, there are elements of for stone. There are elements of gamine.

Ellie-Jean: There are elements of natural in stone. There are sun, sun most obviously translates to gamine, but it also can translate to dramatic. I can use them to explain the other but they, and they, can look similar at the end, but they don't translate quite so directly. They're 

Gabrielle: not causal.

Gabrielle: They may be correlated to some degree, but not, they're not like, if you have romantic essence, it doesn't mean that you for sure have fire root. Absolutely. Another reader question is how much of it is supposed to be preference based versus personality, essence, body type to base?

Ellie-Jean: I feel like I've dealt with the body type features element with that. Personality and preference, I see them very interlinked. I feel that a lot of your preferences are going to be interlinked with your personality. Depends what we mean by preference and what we like. I go into a shop and I like almost everything.

Ellie-Jean: That I see I have appreciation for all different kinds of [00:48:00] styles and like, when I was making my Style Roots combination Pinterest board, every single one, I'm like, Oh, these are so gorgeous. These are so beautiful. I love these because I'm just that kind of person. I appreciate so many different kinds of fashion, but that doesn't mean that they're me and they belong in my wardrobe.

Ellie-Jean: It depends how important. Being cohesive is to you as well. For me, having a cohesive wardrobe is important because I don't have an endless budget and I can't buy a new thing every week, and so I need to be able to choose things I feel are going to go together and going to represent me really well in my style.

Ellie-Jean: If you had a bigger budget or you don't mind looking so eclectic then, you could go with your whims a little bit more But generally I see preference and personality really interlinked Like I said before if you consider yourself quite a sporty active person That's gonna be reflected in your clothing not just because of your lifestyle But because those are the things you value I really do connect to values if it's what you love and what you value They'll come together 

Gabrielle: Yeah, I think that's an interesting point, too, because I think as we grow into ourselves [00:49:00] and evolve as people, we feel more connected to saying this is me, and I know it's me so then that preference would also translate into your personality, and you feel more comfortable showing that to the world, and I think there are certain phases in our lives where Maybe we use clothes more as armor or as more of a way to fit in with people where then that might that disconnect might Show up and then it's not really a style system.

Gabrielle: That's gonna fix it, right? it's like time and giving yourself some grace and kind of identifying like how you want to show up in the world because we're Decades of time to figure this out. So the next question is it possible to have a fourth kind of aspirational style root? So the person said, I've completed the exercise, determined my style roots and the adjectives relate back to fire mountain mushroom.

Gabrielle: But when I was looking at your Pinterest boards fire mountain sun really spoke to me. And she said that she's not really in the experimental, fun part of her [00:50:00] wardrobe, but she's drawn to it. So how would you advise? 

Ellie-Jean: Interesting. If this was one of my clients, I would probably say, do you actually have mushroom and mountain?

Ellie-Jean: Because often those words can relate to one another and you're probably one or the other, especially if you're feeling like a strong pull towards sun cause sun also has connections with mountain as well. So like exaggerated styles. That could be a sun thing, it could also be a mountain thing, and same with mushroom and mountain, if you liked tailored like professional styles, that could indicate mountain or mushroom.

Ellie-Jean: So I would first of all investigate mountain and mushroom together, I would see do you actually have both, or is one kind of aesthetically a consequence of the other. 

Ellie-Jean: And a lot of those, when you look at them on Pinterest happen to also be minimal and neutral. Or is it that you really value minimalism and neutrality in your outfits cause it sounds like that might not be that important to you. So that would be my first question if it was a client, but let's say All of that is true.

Ellie-Jean: You absolutely value minimalism. You absolutely value moderation and [00:51:00] balance. You want to look structured and you want to feel a little bit sensual and you want to feel luxurious. Let's say that's you. But also sometimes you like bold, crazy styles. Like I said earlier, you've just got to channel that through your three roots.

Ellie-Jean: So you want to dress sun, but you like neutral styles. So maybe rather than dressing, in bright colours, you might. Change your lines. You might have a slightly unusual textures paired together. So that you still have that mushroom element But also you're playing with something creative today.

Gabrielle: Yeah now this is interesting because this person Felt very strongly that fire and mountain what were in their blend Would you recommend if they're sure on those two kind of playing with those two first? Or do you think it really has you have to start with all three? 

Ellie-Jean: I think that three is the ideal place to end up because I feel that four is too confusing when you're looking at items of clothing and you're looking at an outfit.

Ellie-Jean: It's not that you can't have four style roots. It's just that working with four style roots is too hard [00:52:00] for most people. Yeah. And it's really hard to decide. It is! It's too hard to have a cohesive wardrobe, it's too hard to put an outfit together with four style roots, it's just too hard for the brain.

Ellie-Jean: And on the other hand, with 2, I feel that 2 is probably a really good place to start if you're trying to like, explore introducing personality into your style. 2 is beginner level, but adding that third style route in just makes your style that little bit more unique. It just means you have a more interesting spin.

Ellie-Jean: I feel that when you've got two Style roots, it can fall a little bit flat. So let's say you had flower and mushroom and those are your new style roots. That's like a delicate, simple style and that. is fine, but it's not that interesting. So I feel like having that third just adds something a little bit dimensional, something a little bit more intriguing into your look.

Ellie-Jean: So I wouldn't say that third is even necessary, but I feel like that's the ideal end point.

Gabrielle: Yeah. So there may be an exploration phase of I know these two are my [00:53:00] home base. These ones are for sure in there. But what are the touches that I need? Is it going to be a little bit mushroom? Is it going to be a little bit sun?

Gabrielle: And kind of digging into that process. The next question was, How do style roots evolve throughout the decades of a person's life? Obviously we change as we grow, and we see ourselves with new input and, new style data, right? 

Ellie-Jean: Yeah. I do like to see style roots as peeling back the onion until you get to like your core self in the middle that's gonna stay with you through decades.

Ellie-Jean: Like when I look back to my 18 year old self, yes, my style was different. And yes, I was different, but I can still see traces of who I am there that are going to stick through. And the idea is to pick things in your wardrobe that are going to last for 10 years. That, from a sustainability perspective, especially you want things that are going to stick with you for a long time and not be so influenced by the little changes in yourself and the world but go to a [00:54:00] deeper level of what, Always feels good to you.

Ellie-Jean: A thing that I often like to think about when picking my clothes is would I feel comfortable in this item if I was with my friends, if I was with my family, if I was with my boyfriend, and then also would I feel comfortable in this outfit if I was at a club or at a family dinner, could I still feel, even though I'd be different to everybody else there, would I still feel ultimately pretty good?

Ellie-Jean: Obviously as you get older, a lot of people want to dress more modestly, so do that, dress more modestly and let your style roots come through in the details. And I don't feel that just because you're older you have to stop wearing like, flowers for instance, I don't think that's true.

Gabrielle: I just thought of this based on what you were saying. I wonder if and you can tell me if this is totally off. I wonder if this would be an interesting exploration because you were talking about the different worlds that you have, like going out to dinner, a fancy dinner with your boyfriend, with your friends.

Gabrielle: Would it be interesting to look at your wardrobe or even create little Pinterest boards [00:55:00] on your style roots and try to create an outfit for each of those scenarios and see like how connected they are. And if mushroom is really creeping in there. Or if you only use mushroom for, business, casual outfits, and then you can really see here are all these outfits that I would wear to all of these events.

Gabrielle: What do they have in common? What are they saying? Because sometimes we look at the micro so much, we think is this ruffle too small? Is it too dainty? Instead of zooming out and being like, that ruffle is so inconsequential when you put it on a large dress, this shape dress with this color, so what are your thoughts on that? Yes. 

Ellie-Jean: I think that's absolutely spot on. That is absolutely what I would recommend. I think you've absolutely nailed it. I think that, yeah, I think I get a lot of customers that say things like I dress more mountain at work. Yes. You dress more professional and obviously at work, but how are you different to everyone else at work?

Ellie-Jean: Who are you at work that the people around you at work are not? How are you going to [00:56:00] represent yourself when you're at work? Do you also want to feel professional and competent and smart? When you're in a room with your friends, is that how you'd like to be perceived? Or does that feel off to you?

Ellie-Jean: Because when you're with your friends, you're actually like a really fun person. And when you go to work, you wish you didn't have to dress so professional all the time. Yeah. I think that's quite a good way to look at it. 

Gabrielle: Now I the next question deals with something that I talk about, which is like though, when you're building outfits, there's like kind of four pillars.

Gabrielle: So you have like style lines, your overall shape. Color and then the details, textures, et cetera. Do you think that the style roots would then be at the center and then different roots might show up differently in those areas? Or do you think there's not a connection there? Are, how important are silhouettes?

Gabrielle: to individual style roots. How important are specific textures to certain style roots? 

Ellie-Jean: Yeah, I definitely see style roots largely affecting textures and patterns, so largely the details of an [00:57:00] outfit. And, but obviously it can affect silhouette as well. So let's say, Do you like flower? Puff sleeves, it's such a flowery thing. So that might be how that shows up. But if you were doing, let's say puff sleeves doesn't work for your body type. But puff sleeves is a flower thing. You have two options. Either you can have that be the only thing in your outfit which goes against your body type and your best lines, or you can ignore it altogether and just say, okay, that's a flower thing, but that's not for me.

Ellie-Jean: , but I like to split different systems to different elements. It's interesting your four pillars of style because I think that's been very instinctual for me.

Ellie-Jean: I like that you've set that up as a framework. Like I like to have colors deal with color seasons. Lots of people, for instance, might want to dress in more Style roots colors, for instance,, I think you either have to channel that through your color season and wear like a deep pink, but let's say there are no pinks that look good on you and your season, which I don't think exists, but pink, let's say you would like a true spring and pinks are a little bit harder for you to find.

Ellie-Jean: You can just not wear pink and wear probably [00:58:00] any color in your season. Season and have the silhouettes and the like patterns be more flowery and it would probably do a good job. 

Gabrielle: I like that explanation next question talks about that in terms of percentages.

Gabrielle: So they said in Is there a percentage of an outfit piece, like a top, bottom, purse, shoes, jewelry, that you should keep in mind when splitting your roots within an outfit? And I think we discussed this a little bit, but I'd love to hear your perspective on if you think that your first style root is mushroom, should you be prioritizing that a little bit more?

Gabrielle: Within most of your outfits, should you look for mushroom to be the dominant characteristic in your top your pant and your purse? Let's say and then like subsequent details be more within Sun or stone or whatever it may be. 

Ellie-Jean: I think if an outfit is feeling off and Something doesn't feel quite you, it might be a good thing to think about.

Ellie-Jean: [00:59:00] If you're looking at an outfit and you just don't feel right about it, it could be that you've got those percentages a little bit wrong for you. On the other hand, I wouldn't worry about it too much. Like I said, I think the math is too much on a Monday morning. I think going with your style roots, focusing as well when you're buying the piece rather than like when you're putting the outfit together can sometimes help as well.

Ellie-Jean: Kind of doing the heavy lifting in the buying process sometimes makes it a little bit easier when putting the outfits together. I feel like putting your outfits together should feel relatively easy. It shouldn't be an equation every single day. You don't want it to feel like hard work. Think about.

Gabrielle: Yeah. I think that sometimes we micro in too much. We learn about the systems, we gain all this knowledge. It's all illuminating and new information. And then we're like, Oh my gosh is this ruffle really gonna throw off my whole outfit? Try it on give it some time, like marinate with this new information and see how it's working with you.

Gabrielle: Yeah. Okay. This has been such a wonderful conversation. I've so enjoyed hearing [01:00:00] about it. I love your style roots. I think it gives people so much freedom and really a connection point between their style and that is really important. hard to develop, but with your system, it feels so much more attainable.

Gabrielle: And like you have a lot of autonomy over how you present the world. I also know that you have a book coming out. So I would love to hear a little bit more about that if you're allowed to share. 

Ellie-Jean: Yeah, absolutely. Thank you. I'm also I've loved coming on the podcast. It's been such a pleasure to meet you because I know you're so beloved in these communities and I get comments all the time like, oh, you should check out Gabrielle Arruda

Ellie-Jean: I know about Gabrielle Arruda 

Gabrielle: likewise. I was like, ah, she's awesome. Ellie-Jean. Perfect. 

Ellie-Jean: So I get those comments all the time you're so beloved in the community and I know our audiences like Intersect a lot and yeah, it's honestly a pleasure to talk with you Yes, I have a book coming out in september.

Ellie-Jean: It's available to pre order now. It's called how to dress your best and It deep dives into a lot of style roots, [01:01:00] it breaks down the body matrix in a lot more depth and it takes you through finding what you love to wear, finding what works on you, and then curating a wardrobe and putting an outfit together.

Ellie-Jean: It's been so much fun to make, it's got loads of beautiful illustrations and pictures, so if you just want a beautiful book to look at, this will honestly do the job. 

Gabrielle: We will make sure that's in the show notes because I think it's so wonderful to have that like resource, to put on your bookshelf or read on your Kindle and look at it and be like, this is my resource.

Gabrielle: This is what I'm going to come back to when I'm confused. This is the thing that I can go back and reread that chapter and kind of reacquaint myself, because we consume so much information. So it's nice to have that like grounding point. I am so excited to read it. I'm definitely going to buy it.

Gabrielle: Thank you again so much for coming on. It was an honor to have you. 

Ellie-Jean: Thank you so much for inviting me. It's been a pleasure 

Gabrielle: All right until next time guys.