Discover your color palette and your style type.

Workout Clothes for Your Style Identity?

12/11/2017

Not all Style Identities lend themselves equally well to very practical clothes, such as workout clothes. Natural and Gamine may be the only two identities with obvious options in this area. How to solve this problem for yourself?

My advice is this: divide the category of "workout clothes" into two or three main aspects, and assign each aspect to one of your identities.

Fabric is a key aspect of workout clothing. You can assign that aspect to your Dramatic, your Natural, or your Gamine. Shiny spandex and Lycra can read as Dramatic or Gamine, tightly woven cottons can read as Gamine, and cotton in general can read as Natural.

(If you don't have any of these masculine essences, you'll just have to compromise a bit on this element.)

Color is another key aspect of your ensemble. That one can be assigned to any of your essences, so let's save it.

Silhouettes and lines can be a third aspect. In workout clothes, you can create a workable silhouette for Classic, Dramatic, Natural, or Gamine. A Classic workout silhouette will be modest and perfectly proportioned; a Dramatic silhouette will be long and narrow; A Gamine silhouette will be boxy and choppy; and a Natural silhouette will be relaxed and loose.

So color is left for your Ethereal, Ingenue, or Romantic essence. The good news is that these days, workout clothes are available in pretty much every color.

Ethereal use of color, a Gamine (broken-up) silhouette, and a sexy Romantic top.

Ingenue use of color, Natural top.

Romantically patterned yoga pants.

There are other ways to bring each of the three elements into a workout ensemble -- you could do an uber-sleek ponytail to bring in Dramatic, for example., or a large floral pattern to bring in Romantic.

You also might not give a dang what you look like when you're working out. :-) I don't always care. But it's a fun challenge to try to manifest our Style Identities, isn't it?

34 Comments

Lena

12/12/2017 03:54:40 am

This has nothing to do with this post (sorry,Rosetta!) , but I wonder how a woman whose style ID is Dramatic-Classic-Gamine-Ingenue would look like. Can anyone give me an example of a celebrity with that style ID? I'm trying to figure out a friends style-ID and I think she might be a dcgi. :)

12/12/2017 04:00:02 pm

I love this post. As I'm leaning into EC, I find myself struggling to come up with everyday clothes. I live in the western US, where wearing casual/laid back/workout gear *all the time* is the norm. I wear EC and I feel lovely - and often I'm super duper overdressed. I would LOVE to see more posts like this. I'm also curious about weekend/casual clothes for non-natural/gamines, dress-up clothes for non-romantic/classics, etc. Anyhow, thanks for the post! This is really useful advice.

12/16/2017 06:42:57 pm

Hi W.--I live in the western US too, but I'm lucky enough to have Natural in my style mix. I think you could make an everyday EC look work, though. One quality that Natural and Classic have in common is simplicity, and Ethereal could work with a hippie/boho look (also an acceptable fashion in the West), so you could wear a basic jeans and shirt ensemble in Classic cuts, then accessorize with Ethereal scarves, shawls, jewelry, or shoes.

1/17/2018 10:56:48 am

This is really good advice - and what I think I can lean into. Thanks!

Janelle

12/12/2017 06:04:46 pm

Love this! Though I have it pretty easy finding workout clothes as an ngi, I’ve always wondered how more feminine and formal blends could Pull off that look. Please keep posts like these coming!

Alex

12/15/2017 10:43:53 am

Could I ask an unrelated question? (Sorry!) I'm still trying to figure out which Winter I am. This scarf: https://www.anokhiusa.com/collections/15-x-72-rectangle-scarves/products/scarf-in-blue-sweeties looks really, really good on me (if you click on the image of the scarf you get a close-up - there's no direct link). Are those colors Dark Winter, True Winter, or Bright Winter? If I look great in that scarf, and in all the colors in that scarf, which Winter am I likely to be?

Thanks!!!

12/15/2017 11:08:58 am

Note: in that photo, the background color looks like optic white, but in the actual scarf it's more off-white. (I think...I sometimes have trouble telling the difference between optic white and off-white, which is one reason I'm having so much trouble figuring out which Winter I am. In general, white next to my skin makes my skin look pasty...but if it's contrasting with another color, it's okay and sometimes really good.) (I get sports bras in three packs that are white, grey, and black. If I'm getting dressed and put just the bra on, and look in the mirror - the white makes me recoil at how bad it is, the grey is kind of blah, and the black is amazing and makes my face just light up. But that's just white, grey, and black alone. WITH another color, white can be okay, and sometimes really good - though again, I can't always tell the difference between optic white and off-white.)

12/15/2017 11:12:22 am

(Three packs of one each - so one solid white, one solid grey, one solid black. It's amazing the difference among the three - white terrible, grey boring, black amazing. But again, that's just one single solid color - white with another color can be good.)

12/16/2017 02:20:55 am

My guess is Dark Winter--the overall color scheme seems deep and a little muted to me, rather than bright and slightly delicate (BW) or pure and stark (TW). The golden color introduces some warmth (earthy Autumn warmth, not sunny Spring warmth) and looks very close to examples Rachel has given elsewhere on this site of DW's elusive golden yellows.

12/16/2017 07:32:33 am

Thank you, KC! I hadn't thought of that about the golden yellow, but you're right, and that makes perfect sense. Thank you!

Katja

12/16/2017 10:19:58 am

Alex, when you look at yourself, what is the first thing you see?Is it brightness, coolness or darkness? If you can't decide, ask a friend.
You can also try to drape yourself in different winter colours. See how much brightness, coolness and depth you can handle.
And the last thing: Try gold and silver jewellery against your skin. Which metal suits you better?
As a Bright Winter or a Deep Winter you can wear both silver and gold. As a Cool Winter you should only wear silver.
I hope this will help! :)

12/16/2017 12:17:12 pm

Thank you, Katja!

I have trouble with the dominant-trait method of color analysis, because I don't really see anything as dominant: I'm not that dark, I'm not that cool, I'm not that bright. That would imply I'm a Soft...but Soft colors are disastrous on me.

When I was a teenager in the 1980s, my older sister got into color analysis. She was draped as a Summer (it was just four seasons then). She first assumed I must be a Summer, too, since at first glance she and I look a lot alike, but then when she realized I look better in gold than silver she thought maybe I'm a Spring. It never occurred to her that I might be a Winter, because my hair isn't that dark. Both my sister and I were blonde as young children and then our hair gradually darkened to light brown. My sister has olive skin and tans gorgeously in the summer. I have very pale skin that burns easily if I'm not careful (I do tan if I'm careful); I had a lot of freckles as a kid (and still freckle in the summer - though now in my forties my freckles are hard to distinguish from age spots *sigh*). My sister's eyes are a blue-green-grey, very soft and cool. My eyes are much darker, clearer, and warmer: a deep dark gold around the pupil, then a clear blue-green with flecks of gold and deep brown, and finally a rim around the iris that is a very deep dark green (and a strong contrast with the whites of my eyes). My eyes can read as green, brown, or hazel, depending on the light and what I'm wearing - but if I use an html color picker with a photo, the dark rim around my iris comes out not as dark green but as very dark brown - I've done this several times with different photos and it's always the same: dark brown that's almost black. My eyes also often look darker than they are because my pupils are unusually large (every eye doctor I've ever seen has commented on this); the golds and clear blue-greens in my eyes are only visible in very bright light; in most lights only the pupils and the dark rim of my iris are visible, making my eyes appear very dark.

When my sister got into color analysis, I assumed I was a Summer too. Then in my early twenties I was in a department store and there was a free color draping. I did it, and was draped as a Winter. I was wearing a very muted grey-blue-green shirt, and the analyst said, "That shirt is MUCH too muted for you" - and I could see she was right. But then she said, "Do you see how this fuschia is just perfect for you?" and I smiled and nodded politely but I was thinking, "No, it's not perfect, it's garish, and I wouldn't be caught dead in it." My style is very much Natural, and I don't like to wear bright colors. I spend a lot of time outdoors and am an avid bird-watcher, and for bird-watching it's best to wear camouflage-type colors - something that blends in with the surroundings - and that's what I prefer to do all the time: wear colors that aren't just harmonious with my face, but also with my environment. My favorite color is green and I tend to wear mostly greens, blues, and browns - colors that blend with the outdoor environments I love.

BUT...khaki is disastrous on me. Slate blue is disastrous on me. Sage green is disastrous on me. Anything too soft and muted makes me look like death warmed over (I don't want to scare the birds with bright colors but I don't want to scare them by looking dead, either! :)

And, while I don't think of myself as dark...I actually do read as pretty dark - my eyes, as above, read as dark. My hair is light brown and gets golden highlights in the sun, but the darkest shades in my hair are very dark (with an html color picker the darkest colors in my hair, like my eyes, come out a deep brown that is almost black). Black is really good on me; so is navy blue, royal blue, midnight blue, pine green, forest green, royal purple, deep plum, burgundy, deep coffee brown (I have new glasses frames that are coffee-colored and they're perfect - for my eyes, my hair, my skin, everything - it makes me think that maybe my core color or base color is actually coffee - that would seem odd since my skin is so light, but...coffee is like the unifying color in my life, the color that goes with every color that's good on me...black isn't great with navy blue or aubergine or forest green, but coffee is great with them all...)

I do worry that my fear/dislike of bright colors makes me biased. I was once shopping for a blouse for a job interview; I picked a dusty lavender, and the saleslady said, "That color is terrible on you" and had me try a bright turquoise. I said, "It's too bright" and she said, "No, it's perfect" and asked everyone else in the store and they all agreed it was perfect. I got it, wore it (with a black business suit, so very high contrast), and it did look good (and I got the job) - but it just felt too bright...

So, I find it really hard to tell. I think that I'm probably a Dark Winter, but...

12/16/2017 12:28:51 pm

I should note: while I like wearing very dark brown, I can't wear any golden browns. Muted colors make me look washed out, but orange and golden brown make me look sick.

Nancy

12/16/2017 01:41:17 pm

Hi, Alex! Maybe you only think you look bad in muted colors? Maybe you don't like them? Sometimes we get strange ideas...

12/16/2017 01:52:59 pm

Hi Nancy!

I actually really like muted colors - I have wondered if I'm actually a Soft Summer for that reason - but unfortunately they really, really do NOT flatter me. It's not just against my face: if I put grey-blue against my skin anywhere on my body, it just looks all wrong. It's too bad because I really LIKE grey-blue - I just can't wear it.

Whereas I do, objectively, look good in bright colors - I just don't like them.

*Sigh*

12/16/2017 01:36:39 pm

Have you considered Deep Autumn? A DA has depth and contrast and as a DA you can wear some Winter colours too. A DA can wear black and looks good in dark brown and aubergine. You wrote that your style is Natural and that could be an indication of Autumn.

12/16/2017 01:47:56 pm

I have considered Deep Autumn, because the cooler shades in the Deep Autumn palette are all great on me. But the warmer shades are beyond horrible. I did the at-home draping with the color cards from Rachel, and Deep Autumn makes me look sick. There's really only three possibilities: Deep Winter, True Winter, and Bright Winter - they were the only three that don't make me look unhealthy in some way...

12/16/2017 02:08:31 pm

It's interesting: some palettes that you see on line have these sliding-scales for hue, chroma, and value. You realize, looking at them, that the assumption is that everyone is extreme in at lesat one of the three dimensions. But is it possible to be in the middle on all three? I'm definitely on the cool side, definitely on the clear side, and definitely on the dark side - but I'm not extremely cool, extremely clear, or extremely dark.

12/16/2017 05:14:07 pm

Hi Alex. You definitely sound like a Dark Winter--the colors that flatter you are cool-neutral, and DW is the only winter that looks good in dark coffee and chocolate browns. And it is possible for DWs to have lighter hair, or at least hair that looks light on a DW--your hair might turn out to be quite dark if you transplanted it onto your Summer sister. I believe there's an example of a blonde DW somewhere on 12 Blueprints.

Depth is the most important requirement in the DW palette, but individual DWs can be surprisingly variable when it comes to the other two color dimensions, saturation and temperature. Other DWs who need a little extra mutedness have found it helpful to look at the Toasted Soft Winter palette in Lora Alexander's ColorBreeze system; maybe you should give that a look and see if it appeals to you.

12/16/2017 07:19:21 pm

Thank you, KC!

I think I am a Dark Winter - I just have a hard time believing it because I don't look like a DW at first glance. But DW colors really are best (and with Rachel's drape cards, the DW drapes are definitely best).

But - I think I am a DW.

Thank you so much, KC!

Thank you all so much - especially Rachel!

12/17/2017 03:35:02 am

Hi, Alex! Deep Winter is the deepest and darkest season of all. It doesn't sound like you are deep and dark enough. Maybe Kc is right, you could be a Soft Winter. Or a Spring?

Rachel

12/19/2017 03:34:00 pm

Most of the seasons are extreme only in one dimension. The Darks have very dark darks and very light lights, and the Lights have uniformly light colors, but every other season is somewhere in between very dark and very light. The Bright shave highly saturated colors, and the Softs have highly desaturated colors, but all of the other seasons are somewhere in the middle. Finally, True Spring and True Winter (and to a lesser extent, True Autumn and True Summer) represent extremes of warmth or coolness, but the other seasons are more moderate in temperature.

12/19/2017 11:26:46 pm

I hope Rachel doesn't mind if I add, since there seems to be some confusion on this point, that the above applies to the seasonal palettes themselves, not to what's readily apparent in a person's coloring. If we could diagnose someone's season just by looking at them, there would be no need for draping :). The palette that most flatters you is the palette that most flatters you. Rachel had a post about the limitations of the dominant-trait method (especially for women of color) a while ago, if anyone's interested.

12/20/2017 08:11:07 pm

Thank you, Rachel!

What do you do if you can't tell which dimension you're extreme in? I really have trouble telling. I think Dark Winter is the palette that flatters me most, but I do worry that maybe I'm just biased against bright colors (I like bright colors on other people, I just don't feel right wearing them myself - but other people keep telling me they're great on me). My skin seems to react so differently on different days, at different times of year.

12/21/2017 12:47:14 pm

Hi, Alex! Have you tried the home draping cards? A lot of women have found them very helpful:

https://www.truth-is-beauty.com/home-color-analysis.html

12/21/2017 07:27:34 pm

Alex, I think if you look at your best colors as a group and figure out which dimension they're extreme in by process of elimination, you'll have your answer. Black, dark coffee brown, navy, royal blue and purple, forest and pine green, burgundy . . . Are these colors extremely bright or extremely muted? No, they're medium-high in saturation. Are they extremely cool or warm? No, they're cool-neutral. Are they extremely deep? I would say so! They'll look just normal on you, but if you put samples of these colors on a plain white or neutral gray piece of paper, the first thing you'd notice would be how dark they are overall.

And if you don't like the brighter colors in your palette, you're under no obligation to wear them. You can pick and choose which options are best for you. You're actually pretty lucky in that regard--DW is the most muted Winter palette, and it has plenty of non-bright shades you can work with. You already listed several--as a fellow DW, may I also recommend charcoal, pewter, soft and brown blacks, and "chive," which is the DW version of olive green?

12/16/2017 07:01:15 pm

I think most of the activewear fabrics mentioned in this post could work for non-masculine style IDs--shiny, figure-hugging Lycra and Spandex could work for Romantics, plain cotton for Classics, and tightly-woven cotton for Ingenues. There are also many sheer workout shirts nowadays that could work well for Ethereals, or even Ingenues, if the shirt is more of a semi-transparent cotton instead of completely see-through. I've also seen workout pants with sheer panels--I saw one on the internet the other day that had a floral lace insert on the lower legs and would've been great for a Romantic.

Workout pants in general could work really well for the feminine style IDs, as long as they are soft and follow the feminine curves of the leg (they don't necessarily have to be skintight to do this). Romantics and Ingenues would want to look for workout pants that show the ankles, and Ethereals would want either long, narrow leggings or flared-leg yoga pants.

12/21/2017 04:06:26 am

Alex, it's difficult to help you when we don't know how you look like. I found something that might be helpful for you:

http://www.thechicfashionista.com/seasonal-color-analysis-2.html

12/21/2017 12:46:16 pm

I would be careful with quizzes like these. They're well-
intentioned, but the d"dominant trait" method identifying one's coloring doesn't work super well, because the color traits describe the palettes themselves, not necessarily the people who are flattered by those palettes. I have a blog post about it here... https://www.truth-is-beauty.com/blog/the-dominant-trait-method-of-personal-color-analysis

12/22/2017 01:31:08 pm

KC, I think you are right! I think I am a Dark Winter!

You mention "chive" which I've never heard of. I googled "chive color" and got several very different colors, but do you mean the Pantone "chive"? Near olive, but darker and richer and a little cooler than what you usually think of as olive? I recently found a sweater that color which - to my surprise - is really, really good on me!

Thank you so much, KC!!!

(And thank you for going to look at the scarf link - that was really kind of you - thank you!)

12/22/2017 01:33:22 pm

Hi Rachel! I have tried home draping, and find it very useful indeed - thank you! Dark Winter is definitely the best palette on me...I just have trouble believing my own eyes, tend to second-guess myself. But now I'm sure I'm a Dark Winter.

Thank you so much, Rachel!!!

Libby

1/19/2018 06:33:02 am

This is actually a big problem for me! I feel so utterly wrong in exercising clothes that it genuinely puts me off exercise :-(. I'm a petite true summer, ingenue/classic/(romantic) and I look frumpy and awful in jogging trousers, t-shirts etc. Skin-tight leggings and tops look way too sexy, loose-fitting looks sloppy and oversized even if the size is right. Neon colours are obviously dreadful on me, as is black, as is bright white, as is khaki! I usually wear a pink plain t-shirt and black jogging trousers which are more dark grey by now. And I look terrible and feel totally self-conscious and "not myself". Any ideas? As I'm primarily ingenue I often ask, "what would a little girl wear?" but I'm coming up blank for this as all the gym clothes for girls are just as skin tight. What did the Mallory Towers girls wear?? ;-)

CiCi

9/30/2020 08:47:29 pm

Libby, you asked this awhile ago, but I am a Romantic/Classic with a hint of Dramatic, and one style that works for me and may work for you is to always dress like I am going to a ballet barre class when I go for a run. Ballerinas are athletes who exude a classic femininity, which can be played more mature or more youthful.

So for me, I do wear leggings, but sometimes I will wear tank dress over them as a top, or even a running skirt. When it is cold I do indeed add leg warmers and an off the shoulder sweatshirt.

You could probably do similarly, but maybe de-emphasize the bust if it looks too Romantic.

Tennis outfits are also a classic and feminine athletic look that might work.

Catherine

1/23/2018 06:27:53 pm

Rachel, wondering what style essence you would attribute to ballet class attire - leotards, tights, legwarmers and little chiffon skirts and warm up sweaters. I would consider these workout clothes, although not really mainstream outside of dance classes I suppose. I think they have a somewhat ingenue feeling, because it makes me think of little girls in ballet recitals, and because a contrasting leotard gives a staccato effect- fitted yet modest? I would like to also add that there are yoga pants out there that have little ruched skirts (Melodia Designs, for one) that seem romantic to me. Again, not mainstream generally, but again popular with dancers. I wear them for general working out, with little socks with ribbons that tie around my ankles (from amazon). Practical and great for ingenue mixes, I think. This is a great article, thank you for your insights Rachel!

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Workout Clothes for Your Style Identity?

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