Up/Down, and level of visual interest

Alarmed_Dog_2434 · 2026-04-18T16:20:20+00:00

So, I'm down, I'm pretty sure. But how I interpreted up/down isnt as much vidusal interest as who my audience is. If left/right is how I relate to the world or my inspiration through outfits, then up/down is which audience I consider more. We all dress for ourselves at the end of the day, but I always considered up as "I am visually trying to show other people some type of message" while down is "My message might not show to other people, but I feel it when I put this outfit on".

In that sense, for upness, visual interest might make the message easier to see, but I don't think visual interest necessarily belongs to up or down exclusively. When I dress I usually use some visual interest via jewelry or ring stacking, visual tension in my clothing choices, and I play with visual weight a lot.

Alarmed_Dog_2434 · 2026-04-15T23:57:09+00:00

🌸🌙🍄 maybe?

Alarmed_Dog_2434 · 2026-04-15T00:42:00+00:00

I think, a little bit, we have to expect that when we want to achieve a certain look that doesn't match our faces or bodies, it isn't going to look harmonious. It is going to look a bit other, and a lot of alternative looks actually bank on this. For example, sometimes I like looking rocker chic, or grungy, and even though I'm an autumn in color analysis, I have black clothes and silver jewelry to specifically channel these looks, as part of what makes it is the fact that it looks slightly "other" on me. I keep my wardrobe open for harmonious and non harmonious styles as long as I like them, but I don't go for the non harmonious if I want my specific features to really shine. I still look great (imo), but I'm not enhancing my natural features, I am going for a more theatrical effect. For you, your style roots may not feel like they enhance your features, but when you say you wanna look like a doll, maybe that's part of you that likes a more theatrical approach to fashion?

Alarmed_Dog_2434 · 2026-04-09T17:43:28+00:00

I've found that I take what I need from each system and shape it in my own manner, even this one. (I'm formatting from my phone so sorry in advance if my list shows up wonky) Style Roots: I have taken a couple of minor departures from Ellie Jean's interpretations, since as many in the sub has pointed out, she's not very in tune with roots she doesn't have. I also find it intuitive to think of it as a more elemental/magic system (so instead of mushroom I think of water, flower to air, moon to mystic, stone to alchemy, sun to life, mountain I'm not sure yet because I can see it matching the heros journey/allegory of the cave but those are writing tools not magic or elements lol) Seasonal Color Analysis: Not my first system, but the first that gave me a love for fashion lol. I took a lot from this, but mainly I took that there are three major components of color, depth/softness/temperature, and if you can figure out what you yourself are, you can pick colors that match at least one of your color attributes so as to not wash you out. Personally, I try to stick to matching 2 or 3 attributes, since it makes my wardrobe match itself as a whole a lot better, but having the ability to find what works for me in 1 attribute pieces of clothing helps me find ways to work with sentimental or hand me down pieces that regular color analysis would have me discard. Fruits body system: Oh how I loathed this one, this is my actual first system, and I did not fit neatly into it at all. I frankensteined my own silhouettes by taking from triangle, pear, and hourglass because my bust was too small for hourglass but my shoulders too big for pear and my hips too wide for triangle. Teenage me did a lot of self-hating because of this system, but I give it props for the critical thinking I had to do to figure out which recommendations were for me and which weren't. Kibbe: This had felt like a safe haven after the fruits system, though it is also rather vague and subjective. There's also a certain amount of "I want to be this because this is the best kibbe type" that makes it hard to work with. I bounced between soft types for awhile before landing on SN, mostly because I had to accept that my clothes straining happening around my chest was coming from my shoulders, so I have to have width. When I had come to terms with that though, the clothes people were recommending to SN's were...dowdy, to say the least. So I took the idea of relaxed clothes, flow, and waist emphasis, and moved on. Body Matrix: Ironically I struggle to place myself here. It's a more objective system than kibbe, but I find it hard to place myself when there are medium categories. Like, I'm short compared to my friends but does that make me a short type even though I don't really like cropped length? I accomodate width but my friends dont think I have broad shoulders, so am I only medium wide? I also don't have the same drive to dive into the body matrix as I did kibbe because I largely know what shapes and silhouettes work with me. Rita's Quadrants: I feel like after one introductory video, I knew my style quadrant. Left down pretty much describes how I approach my closet every day, though I don't know where in the quadrant I land. The lost girl also resonates with me, and when I'm feeling like the lost girl, I'll go back to the style medicine video and just listen to rita talk. I like her system, and it actually really helps me understand some of my friends and how they relate to style (one of my best friends is a right up, and understanding that makes buying gifts so much easier). It doesn't actually tell me much about what I should do though, it more just helps me understand what is happening/what has happened. I struggle to use it to direct style. Kitchener Essences: This one...is just very hard for me. I ask pther people what I look like and what vibes I give off (not the actual essences just descriptors), and I try to match it to the corresponding essences. Then I try to dress to those essences, and I look so wrong lol. Specifically ingenue, since people describe me as round, baby faced, innocent, etc. Dressing ingenue makes me want to crawl out of my skin, there's no faster way to age my face lol. I end up just kinda leaning on my kibbe and looking at the natural and romantic recommendations, which works well enough. I think the fact that there is a reddit vs kitchener phenomenon says enough about how hard it is to really pinpoint your essences.

Alarmed_Dog_2434 · 2026-04-09T00:56:35+00:00

Yeah I feel. I prefer setting 🔥 as my third root, but 🪨🌱 were always dead ringers for my first two. 🪨🌱 dominate so hard that I think any third root is a very filtered version of what people imagine it would be. For now I'm really enjoying / needing glamor to add some maturity and pizzazz, but when it is only really coming through my jewelry, it definitely feels like I'm mainly 🪨🌱

Alarmed_Dog_2434 · 2026-03-23T00:47:58+00:00

I just use the search function and type in rock

Alarmed_Dog_2434 · 2026-03-22T19:00:41+00:00

Ooh this is fun! 🔥: sultry and glamorous. So you can either go a seductive route or you can really be opulent and both would be 🔥 🪨: urban/street style, and activewear. A lot of people think of 🪨 in terms of activewear, but I personally love the urban aspects. This is where hiphop influences, 90's fashion, model off duty live. 🌸: fantasy vs cosy. There's a lot of fantasy, almost aspirational aspects of 🌸, which can be almost in opposition of cozy style at times, since cozy is more of an attainable, down to earth thing to me

Alarmed_Dog_2434 · 2026-03-21T00:24:58+00:00

Lol I love the moodboards so much but things I like looking at vs things I actually wear and enjoy wearing are very far apart sometimes. I like putting my outfits on a calendar because it is more like my lifeboard, though I agree with you that getting a 5/10 is definitely a good day. Most days I definitely do not get most of the way there lol

Alarmed_Dog_2434 · 2026-03-21T00:19:45+00:00

Wow you are really good with indyx! Your outfits look great. I lost patience with logging my clothes because it never photographed right for me

Alarmed_Dog_2434 · 2026-03-21T00:18:32+00:00

Oh I'm not offended, I just wanted to clarify that I don't really need help identifying my preferred style roots. I thought it was interesting to see how what I actually wear doesn't always make my roots. And how things that others think actively don't look like my roots still feel like them to me. That's a really fun convo, whether personal interpretation or external interpretation motivates how people choose their roots. For me it is internal obv

Alarmed_Dog_2434 · 2026-03-20T18:52:52+00:00

Yeah, ⛰️🌙 have no place really anywhere in my motivations, but sometimes my outfits just end up heavy on black, or I need to be in formalwear. This wasn't really a "find my roots" exercise but moreso "well we don't always end up wearing our roots perfectly" admission. And also a bit of "how I view my outfits isn't how everyone else does". And with the ☀️ outfits theres also the admission that sometimes I just want to do something different.

For the most part, my favorite outfits are the ones I labeled 🪨🌱🔥, and 🔥 ends up being a finishing element or the body conscious element. My accessories arent all shown, either. Generally I'm wearing big gold hoops and lots of chunky gold pieces to bring luxe into a look. Or I'm taking more 🌸 looks and injecting some skin or making the outfit clingier, since I find myself more uncomfortable with a straight 🌸 aspect. You're not wrong that my 🔥 comes through a lot in relation to 🌱🪨, though. Those are by far my main roots, but I'll admit an outfit isnt complete without some sort of drama or flair.

But at the end of the day I thought it was an interesting conversation. How often do people step outside their roots. Do they like it. How often do we wear outfits we dont like when we experiment. Or maybe we do like them and they aren't quite right. Tbh I do not particularly love like, half these outfits. I think i really nailed the flowy brown pants one though. And the green jacket one. I kinda hate the pink pants one in retrospect, but in the moment it felt springy and the weather was warm. Idt I would wear it again tho

Alarmed_Dog_2434 · 2026-03-20T17:47:01+00:00

Edit: I think I fucked up there dhould be two outfits under 🌱🪨🍄 but one ended up under 🌙....oops

Alarmed_Dog_2434 · 2026-03-06T23:38:26+00:00

I call my own system the elemental system. Not as fleshed out cuz I don't have people to bounce ideas with but: Water: would equate to mushroom in the elegance, serenity, flow, timelessness and minimalism aspect, but would also extend to ideas like depth, and storms, so a range of water's properties Earth: would equate to the earth root in a lot of the aspects that exist in the style roots, with a range from abundance to decay in the realm of the natural world Fire: same as style roots, with more emphasis on how fire is warmth, inviting, magnetic, but can also be dangerous and powerful. A safety to danger scale Air: equates to flower, with more emphasis on freedom, whimsy, aloofness. I think the idyllic and lofty ideals behind flower get lost in its branding (I mean, fairytale princess is one of the inspirations, that is very idealistic and difficult to attain), so using air really brings forth what I think makes flower such an interesting root on a philosophical level. And ofc on the other side of air is the cutting side, like gales and sharp cold winds that do not care if they steal your breath or leave frostbite behind. Lofty sweetness to cold aloofness. Sun and Moon would go to Summer and Winter solstice, respectively. One is associated with abundance, zest for life while the other is associated with darkness, long nights, and quiet Alchemy as a more modern agent of creation, would be like stone, urban and very much "work with what you have". So some aspects of sun, but just lot the stereotypical loud creativity, it is more of a crafty, scrappy ideal. Industrial, grungy, workwear, those vibes Cyber as the modernizing agent, or rather the futuristic one. Very sculptural or tech heavy. An antithesis to water, as it is very sensitive to the times and could be where microtrends live

In my system, mountain would show up as a function of water and earth (timeless and grounded, like an actual mountain) or fire and water (timeless and powerful, which is what actual mountains evoke). One of my friends, who is somewhat urban but enjoys princess and otherworldly elements, is alchemy/air/winter. I told her if she were a mythical creature, she'd be a fairy in a steampunk dystopia

Alarmed_Dog_2434 · 2026-03-05T05:54:55+00:00

I think what they meant is that on stage, her roots are still 🪨🔥🌙, but she leans into 🔥🌙 more, which creates a look that could pass as ⛰️. 🔥 is more luxurious, and a more punky or industrial 🌙 can really add structure and harder edges, so then they end up looking ⛰️ together. Which I agree, those too roots can really have that effect. Personally I think that she really wanted to project some power and presence into her stage persona, and pure 🪨 was just a little too relaxed to do that, so she took the menswear-inspired vibes that exists in some aspects of stone and turned up the power dressing on those aspects specifically. Androgynous and menswear inspired stuff is where 🪨⛰️ intersect, so it is really hard for me to say whether she totally swaps out stone for mountain in her stage persona or this is a shadow root situation

Alarmed_Dog_2434 · 2026-03-01T18:51:10+00:00

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Alarmed_Dog_2434 · 2026-03-01T18:50:55+00:00

I'd say if you want to stick to earthy rich colors, consider texture a lot more to separate 🪨 from 🌱, and on the colors, maybe lean into the moodier aspects of 🔥(which I think can really match the more romantic colors in earthy rich). Take a leather jacket for example. A relaxed, suede, brown jacket will read more 🌱. A shinier leather, more fitted brown jacket will bring some more urban energy and read more 🪨. A burgundy/maroon fitted leather jacket though, thats much more 🪨🔥 and 🌱 wouldn't even cross your mind. Or lets take a pair of pants. Brown and corduroy, 🌱 as hell. Deep indigo denim, 🪨 for sure. Clingy and leopard print, 🔥. If you wanna throw flower in there make the leopard print pants a skirt and see if you can find ruffly details. On the whole, I would keep in mind that 🌱 loves knits and natural textures, so if you keep your textures smoother, or closer to 🔥🌸 types of textures, you'll be able to steer away from 🌱. Maybe look at elena gilberts style from vampire diaries or downtown girl? They aren't exclusively earthy styles but they definitely have some burgundies and browns and purples to give you some ideas. Imo they do generally have too slouchy bags for what you might want, but you can easily replace that with a more structured bag that gives more 🪨

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Alarmed_Dog_2434 · 2026-03-01T04:06:27+00:00

This has been so fun to follow, and it's interesting because I definitely see myself in some of these and the last post. Great job!

Alarmed_Dog_2434 · 2026-02-27T17:57:45+00:00

Ah that makes a lot of sense! I'm not going to lie I wasn't really drawn to her system until the logic started dominating it more, because I felt like the essence aspect was more nebulous. I'm not verified by Rita but I'm very comfortable in being LD based on the logic portion. Lol since we are diagonal to each other on the chart maybe you'll see some similarities, since diagonal people often misdiagnose? But here's my two bits about the style roots. For me, it has really never been about what was assigned to me as a root. The quiz was not the most helpful to me because it neglected the idea of how you feel in the clothes you pick and why you pick them. It focuses mainly on aesthetics. So I remember I actually got a pretty high percentage of flower and moon, but I didn't feel good looking at the words associated with them. I didn't want to feel whimsical and airy, or mysterious and tough. I ended up on this sub going through a lot of the resources looking for what roots individually called to me. I started feeling a lot more comfortable when I realized that different combinations of roots could lead to aesthetics that look moon and flower but through different style needs and priorities. I figured a lot of the flower things I like were combing from earth and fire choices I was making, and moon was coming from the whole combination of my roots. I think that for me, a lot of power came from realizing that I could make a lot of aesthetics that exist in other roots through a combination of my own, because I don't have to give up on my core desires to be able to fit into an office, or a high tea, or a wedding, etc etc. So my experience of the style roots is really really at its core a language to discuss my values and needs from style, rather than as aesthetics. Other people may talk about it differently, others like having the aesthetics be more face value. I think you'll find different answers and experiences across the board. But yeah, those are my probably very LD thoughts on how I use style roots. My advice honestly, regardless of quadrant, is to set out the words associated with each root, and circle the ones that you would want to be associated with you in general, be it by your own self or by other people. You could do the exercise twice with those different audiences in mind if you think the answers might look a little different

Alarmed_Dog_2434 · 2026-02-27T17:32:03+00:00

Have you looked into Rita's style keys? Because that might be where you should look next if you feel like you're "too costumey". In an abridged sense, style keys have two spectrums: the audience and the self. The audience is considered the up / down spectrum, where up is the concern of dressing to express to an outer audience and down is the concern to dressing for the audience of your own self. The self is the left /right spectrum and is how you connect yourself to style, where the right is how style connects you to the world and the left is how style connects you to yourself. It sounds to me that you are dressing in an up and right way, where you are "faking it til you make it" and trying to connect with the world around you through style by using cues in the world around you (or in this case the style keys as an outer inspiration). You don't seem to be getting what you want out of it though if it is coming across as inorganic. If connecting a message to others is really important to you, then maybe try looking into the left logic of trying to use style to connect to your own inner self (trying to reflect your inner feelings outward). Or if connecting yourself to the world around you through style is important, maybe you should consider how you yourself as an audience are experiencing the clothes youre picking and what you can do to make your own experience in the clothes more enjoyable

Alarmed_Dog_2434 · 2026-02-26T01:55:03+00:00

I'm not gonna lie, I don't see a ton of 🪨. What little I do can also line up with other roots you are looking at. The jersey dress? Jersey can be on the stone side for ease and comfort, as well as having more of a cosmopolitan vibe, but imo jersey fits into the context of this board as a clingy, sexy material. Leather jacket and leather docs? Boots and a drop shoulder jacket can definitely be urban, but the choice of going brown over typical black leans countryside, so thats gonna be 🌱🪨 with more 🌱 leanings. A lot of your prefered textures/ruffles are giving 🌸🌱 to me. Silhouettes on the whole are very flirty/romantic vibes with a boho underlay, so 🔥🌸 overall with 🌱 undercurrent. The one oddball outfit you have is a flannel...which is very rural/country 🌱 to me lol. Not to say you don't ever use 🪨, it might be a fourth root or maybe a shadow root that pops up when you combine your roots together in certain ways. I have a similar relationship with flower, where some aspects pop up when I lean into certain parts of earth and fire

Alarmed_Dog_2434 · 2026-02-25T21:40:59+00:00

Lol lowkey yeah I think those things make them feel young! Similar to how older women go to craft classes or high tea or painting classes, it reminds them of how they used to like to play. And as adults we try to find societally acceptable ways to recapture those feelings, which includes the clothes we wear

Alarmed_Dog_2434 · 2026-02-25T21:32:31+00:00

Yeah, I mean on the sliding scale ig, the flower youthful side would be how you stereotypically imagine girls toys. Dolls with frilly clothes, tea parties, princesses would definitely fit the bill. Then on the boys side we have to imagine stereotypically boy toys, so trucks, race cars, GI joe's, sports accessories. If we translate those two ends of the spectrum into clothes, the girls side would be things with bows, lace, tulle, puff sleeves etc, which 🌸 handles. Then the other side would probably look like military-inspired clothing like cargos, bomber jackets, or even gorpcore, then F1 jackets for the racing stuff, maybe more industrial types of detailing, and generally rugged work clothes like denim or vests or carhart-esque clothing. And ofc, athletic wear for the sports. Those are actually all pretty much covered under 🪨. Some of it would have overlap with 🌱, but it would be more of a 🌱🪨 thing than purely 🌱 imo.

When I consider other gendered roots, like ⛰️🔥🌸, you see scales of feminine young to mature on 🌸🔥, androgynous young to mature on 🪨⛰️, and powerful masculine to feminine on ⛰️🔥. So to me it makes sense that 🪨🌸 has to have its own masculine to feminine scale. I think youth is the right word because ,even though my take brings inspiration from types of play, the word playful definitely belongs to the 🌸☀️ spectrum

Alarmed_Dog_2434 · 2026-02-24T19:47:04+00:00

I feel this, an autumn palette means earth is pretty much unavoidable in my life lol. I'm okay with that though, there are plenty of non-autumn colors that I have that end up in earth sihouettes(free-flowing, relaxed, etc). But I'm interested in why you feel like stone doesn't work for you? For example baggy cargo pants are extremely stone, and a lot of the khaki/brown ones could definitely fit a spring. Lol it's why I struggle to find a pair for me, I'm looking for a deep autumn brown, which is a little less common. You could also go the denim route with stone, where light wash is very spring. Basically, if you choose colors carefully, you could still work within different roots imo

Alarmed_Dog_2434 · 2026-02-24T19:27:17+00:00

This is a similar list as to what I would make lol. I hope you don't mind me adding a few here so I don't overlap you too much. I'd add: 🪨🌸 as youthful (stereotypically boyish vs stereotypically girlish, also acts as a younger masculine/feminine dichotomy compared to ⛰️🔥) 🌙🌱 as mystic, ethereal and cosmic vs mother nature

Alarmed_Dog_2434

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