I recently had my 'colours' done by a fashion stylist. It's an interesting exercise that helps you to determine which colours suit you best when it comes to clothing and accessories. By the end of the process I had a well defined palette of colours to choose from.
As part of this process I also catalogued my wardrobe. I was pleased to find that most of the clothes I already owned fitted within the preferred colour scheme. Intuitively I had a sense of what suited me and what didn't. There are some colours I like better than others and there is a good reason for it.
However, there were a few items of my wardrobe that clearly stood out as being the wrong shades. With my new found knowledge I was happy to cull them immediately, regardless of how long I may have had them or how much I might have paid for them. I was happy to send a pile of good clothes to the Lifeline bin so that someone else would have use of them.
What was really powerful about the colour matching process, is that it also let me know which colours to avoid. I can now walk into a clothing store and immediately dismiss anything that's khaki, gold or brown. I can confidently buy black and white without fear that it's 'boring', instead knowing that it flatters my features. Having a clear vision of what will work makes the decision making process so much easier.
It's the same when we define the vision for our business. It's easy to think that it's something airy fairy and many people are inclined to believe that having a vision is a waste of time. But how much time do we waste trying on clothes that will never suit us, buying outfits that we'll never wear?
Having a clear vision makes all the day-to-day decisions much easier. To work, the vision must be well defined and meaningful. If you have a vision that isn't working, it may need to be more clearly defined. If you're caught up in all the day-to-day decision making without seeming to have time to think ahead, actually stepping back and clarifying your vision may be the first step you need to take to get things back on track.
When it's time to clarify your vision and better define your strategy, talk to Monique.
2 comments:
Definitely agree with you on the importance of clarity! Finding out what essentially works IS immensely empowering.
As someone who writes extensively about style, though, I'd like to play devil's advocate and suggest that sometimes "immediately dismiss[ing]" all alternative to that one clarity can also impede our thinking. For example, colors other than "you" colors aren't immediately accessible, but could it be an interesting challenge to successfully style something that wouldn't normally look good?
The reason I mention this is that we're all prone to dismissing some ideas without considering their potential. And while it's impossible to consciously address every possibility, it's worth keeping an open mind- after all, societal constructs of "what looks good" often limit our perception of unconventional beauty. Only through questioning and testing different approaches do we get closer to intuitively understanding our own visions :)
Thanks Tessa, you've made an excellent point. We shouldn't always accept the status quo. By the same token in our business we can't be all things to all people. We need to find that balance that works for us.
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