Contentment, Satisfaction Matter as Much as Joy when Creating Your Personal Style
photo by Vasile Stancu
Your genuine style should bring you joy. I’ve had personal styling clients who also applied the idea of joy to cleaning and de-cluttering based on Marie Kondo’s advice that says don’t keep anything in your home that doesn’t bring you joy. That’s a nice fanciful idea if everybody’s idea of joy included style basics. However, having worked with a variety of clients over the last few years, I can safely say this is not a practical solution. Why?
Here’s some different scenarios based on my personal styling consultations –
A schoolteacher and a graphic designer have easy comfortable basic clothing that mix and match. However, they don’t bring them joy. They can take or leave them. What does bring them joy are fabulous shoes, handbags and interesting, conversation-starting jewelry. If either of these women kept only what brings them joy in their closet, they’d be walking around naked, exposed to the elements in fantastic shoes, handbags and jewelry.
An office manager and an entrepreneur love mixed prints, detailing on their clothing, as well as attention-getting accessories and shoes. These are the styles that bring them joy. However, combining just the ‘joy’ pieces in one outfit did not flatter or appeal to them. Both clients, though inspired by the joy principle of organizing felt at a loss. In a styling session with them, we discussed that basic tees, black pants or even their best-fitting jeans didn’t necessarily bring them joy. However, they were content to have them because it made their pieces of joy more wearable.
The joy concept is great for those who want to purge their hall closet quickly or de-clutter a room, but not always practical for those who want to express their best personal, genuine style to the fullest. So, before you clean out your closet, let’s talk. Clothing that brings a sense of contentment are just as important as the ones that bring joy. Combining both well brings satisfaction and who doesn’t want that?
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