Have you discovered your Style Roots but something still feels off? Download the free Guide to Design Psychology to discover the link between Style Roots, design archetypes, and Jungian cognitive functions.
You know that feeling when you encounter a style, or other typing system and you can see yourself in every type? How am I supposed to be sure I’m seeing myself accurately and use the advice to get dressed? Today we’re talking about how to bridge that gap between what a system tells you and what actually feels authentic to you.
The Key to Confidence
The truth is, there’s no such thing as getting your style “wrong.” But there is such a thing as feeling uncertain, and uncertainty kills confidence faster than anything else.
I experienced this in my business a few years ago during COVID. I had to completely step away from following anyone talking about style on the internet. I was protecting myself from getting discouraged by thoughts like “everything I have to say is already being said better” and “if I’m going to share content, I need to look perfect.”
Here’s what happened when I stopped consuming everyone else’s style content: I developed my own strong philosophy and approach. Part of that approach includes the concept that what matters isn’t finding where you in someone’s system, it’s that you understand why something works for you.
Using Personality to Validate Your Style Roots
Let’s talk about Style Roots for a minute. Ellie Jean Royden created this system with eight nature-based style personalities. To help people understand her system better, I created a list of universal design archetypes – a custom blend drawing from Ellie’s work, Carla Mathis’s approach, and others.
• Your cognitive functions explain the psychology behind what you’re drawn to
• Ellie recommends using a personal blend of three Style Roots
• Understanding the connection to personality gives you permission to adopt the design archetype for yourself
I actually revised my own thinking about Introverted Thinking (Ti) while creating this analysis and guide. I had been too narrow in how I understood it and also conflated it with Introverted Feeling, the other subjective judging function. To discover your own personality type and cognitive functions, and get your Personality Style Blueprint, schedule a personality profiling session with me. Let’s chat!
How Your Aesthetic Preferences Complete the Picture
But here’s where most systems stop, and where my approach is different. Your personality explains the why, but your actual aesthetic preferences – what you love when you see it – those matter just as much.
• What images make you stop and stare?
• What textures do you want to touch?
• What colors make you feel alive?
These preferences aren’t separate from your personality – they’re expressions of it. But they’re your unique expressions.
When Body Harmony Confirms What Works
And then there’s your body. Not in terms of “hiding flaws” – we don’t do that here – but in terms of what creates visual harmony.
Which is a better reason to choose the shape of your pant leg: what everyone else is wearing, or the shape of your hip? Your body has its own logic, its own proportions that create harmony.
• Some people need more structure in their clothes to feel balanced
• Others need more fluidity
• Your body’s lines and proportions are part of your signature style equation
What someone loves, what they are like as a person, and what harmonizes with their body are not different things – they’re all facets of the same authentic self.
Style Roots, Design Archetypes, & Cognitive Functions
Using systems – Style Roots, Design Archetypes, Myers-Briggs, etc. – as a map to finding your true self is the most effective way to discover signature style.
When your cognitive functions align with your aesthetic preferences and both work with your body’s natural harmony, that’s when you get unshakeable confidence. You’re not following rules anymore – you understand the reasons.
The system becomes a starting point for self-discovery, not a box you have to fit into.
Here’s something simple you can do this week to integrate these principles into your wardrobe: Download my Guide to Design Psychology and find yourself in the center column – the design archetypes. Choose the three you relate to most and then see which style roots and personality types they align with.