Improvability Blog

A real-life story in 5 parts
(if you missed Parts 1,2 or 3, see the end of this article for a link)

Part 4

Perhaps we all know what suits us already?

I firmly believe that we all know exactly what suits us; it’s just that we get sidetracked from the path in front of us as other people berate us with their misinformed opinions, make us question our gut instincts, incite us to be like them (so that they feel safe and comfortable), and then we compound the whole sorry mess by actually listening to them!

The mis-information comes thick and fast:

• First Mum dresses you in what she likes. Have you ever looked back at the photos of you when you were small? You might like to steel yourself with a large brandy and a tin hat before you undertake this particular sanity-threatening exercise
• Then, as you get to your teens, you decide, for some inexplicable reason that only a psychiatrist could possibly explain, that you want to look like your best friend’s big sister so you try to copy what she wears and end up looking a real dog’s dinner
• Then some twit of a boyfriend tells you that you don’t look good in colour xyz so you stop wearing the one colour in the whole wide world that makes you look and feel the best you’ve ever felt and start wearing the exact opposite, just to please some half-wit who was only thinking of what he wanted in the first place.

Don’t we do some daft things?

By the way, all the above happened to me

• I know Mum was only doing her best at the time but I can’t tell you how incredibly hideous I looked in a pale blue-and-cream checked skirt suit with huge box pleats! OK, so I was only 11 but good grief and glory, the very thought makes me feel quite nauseous. My younger sister, on the other hand, looked rather chic in two of her best Summer colours
• My best friend’s sister was extremely curvy – I think voluptuous would have been a better word – whilst I was just a scrawny little wretch. She had warm skin tones whilst mine are distinctly cool. She had a massive, loud personality and told everyone exactly what she thought of them whilst back then I wouldn’t say boo to a goose. So when I tried a bright coral jumpsuit with blue-flowered platform shoes all topped off with a rather lurid orange lipstick, you can see why I looked a bit of a dipstick! (Yes, you’re right. This was the early Seventies and we’re all entitled to make mistakes now and again!)
• The caring, compassionate dumpkopf of a boyfriend who threatened to leave me if I bought ‘yet another black dress’ was a warm-toned Autumn who, when he stood near anything remotely black, looked like a vampire from a Hammer House of Horror film (or do I just have a selective memory here?). He was transferring his own likes and dislikes onto me, to make his own life safe and secure, and I can’t see much evidence of truth or concern for what I wanted in his behaviour. Unfortunately, being young and keen to impress the current man in my life, I had chosen to interpret his words to mean that I looked awful in black. Hindsight and proper colour training taught me that I look absolutely wonderful in black and, now, I wear what I want, and what makes me look good and feel good.

These days, I will certainly listen to other people’s advice, muse on it, weigh it, but then I make my own decisions as to whether it has any merit – or not. What about you?

Next instalment of ‘Do you wear what other people want you to wear?’

The final Part 5 – ‘Who are YOU listening to?’ – will land in your email inbox on September 3rd so watch out for it..

If you missed any of the previous 3 parts, you can read them here:

• Part 1 – How a Classic tried to break out of the mould
• Part 2 – How a Romantic masqueraded as a Classic for all of her life
• Part 3 – Who are you pretending to be?

Impress your friends and family with expert colour advice

ONE PLACE LEFT

If you love colour, style and fashion, why not earn good money doing what you love?

I spend every day doing what I love. I help ladies and gentlemen choose the colours and styles that make them look and feel fabulous all the time, and I make good money doing it.

As you’ve been reading, I get stopped by perfect strangers asking for my advice. My friends and family all check with me when they buy something new. It’s so rewarding to be able to help people look and feel fabulous, even if it’s just to stop them spending their hard-earned money on unnecessary necklaces!

Would YOU like to be recognised as the ‘fashion expert’ by YOUR friends and family?

“Am so enjoying my colour consultations, and it’s all thanks to you! I get such an adrenaline rush (almost like being on stage!!)” Angela, UK (Dec 07)

Would you like to earn your living from colour and fashion?

Do you want to

• Work with interesting people?
• Transform them and give them confidence to look and feel fabulous all the time?
• Use colour and fashion every day?

Then this is just up your street.

Start your new career right now with our fantastic updated 3-day Colour Analysis training course:

• Monday – Wednesday 7th – 9th September
• 10 am – 5 pm each day
• Chesterfield, UK

Warning! You get me for the entire 3 days, so check me out

1 place only left

The next Colour course will probably be next year 2010 so you need to move fast if you want the last place on the final Colour course of 2009 to learn how to become a colour expert.

As soon as the course is finished, you’ll be confident to start analysing:

“It was great to meet you and I really did enjoy the course. I felt exhausted when I got back, there is so much to think about. Tried the analysis out for the first time today! The first friend that came was Spring(ish) with some Autumn thrown in. We both decided that she was extremely lucky to have so many colours to choose from!! Another friend came later and although she normally wears Autumn colours she was a Summer. I felt much more confident and she went away excited about trying out the new colours.” Yvonne, Market Drayton, UK (Feb 09)

This is defnitely not a ‘churn them out’ training system

“Just wanted to drop you a line, now that my brain has stopped buzzing, and say thank you for such an invaluable and enjoyable time. You were generous with your time, your expertise and your ideas. It was great to meet such a vibrant entrepreneur with such passion for her business and a real desire to enable others to become successful. I entirely agree that this business is about so much more than simply colours or image; it’s about transformation and what an exciting business it is! I shudder when I think about the clinical ‘churn them out’ training route that I could have taken. I did my fiance’s colours and really enjoyed it. You are so right – it’s all about shutting up and just listening!” RM, USA (July 08)

• Learn how to make your training fees back in just a few short days
• Pay in instalments
• You could be earning before you’ve even finished paying for the training
• Earn while you learn – book now

I am really looking forward to helping you create the business of your dreams.

Find out all about training for an exciting life-changing career in Colour Analysis

Ring me on 01246 249514 to discuss what you’re looking for – with no obligation on either side! I will listen to what you have to say and I promise to give you my best advice.

Last chance – don’t delay; ring today.

A moment of insight

“For women… bras, panties, bathing suits, and other stereotypical gear are visual reminders of a commercial, idealized feminine image that our real and diverse female bodies can’t possibly fit. Without these visual references, each individual woman’s body demands to be accepted on its own terms. We stop being comparatives. We begin to be unique.”
– Gloria Steinem (American writer) -

A real-life story in 5 parts
(if you missed Parts 1 or 2, see the end of this article for a link)

Part 3

Who are you pretending to be?

I told you that this dainty lady was ‘ostensibly’ a Classic. You see, I know that after a couple of hours with me, she’d actually turn out to be a true Romantic, but we’d still have had to build in a vestige of Classic here and there for her be ‘acceptable’ to her husband, family and friends.

Peer group pressure can be an awful thing

Personally, I’ve never followed the path of least resistance, In fact, more often than not, I have deliberately set out to swim in the opposite direction and I couldn’t give two monkeys what the fashionistas say is in or out. I wear what I want, when I want, but I know that the majority don’t feel able to do that. It’s not for me to say that you should abandon what other people want you to be and then be who you really want to be; perhaps who you really are deep down. That can only be your choice.

The problem is that there is a price to pay for being different. For me, the price is actually part of the prize but, for this lady, having played the Classic role virtually all her life, a massive change to full-blown Romantic would take some serious thinking about, and I had an appointment in exactly 5 minutes to meet someone else so I didn’t have time for a pep talk. Shame really, as I could really picture her:

• in a contoured peach or coral flowered A-line dress instead of the shapeless mid sludgy-brown boxy jacket and matching straight skirt she was wearing
• with softer, more golden curls in place of the pale brown straight-ish bob that aged her about 10 years
• tottering around on pretty, cream, open-toed sandals instead of her practical Classic brown courts

I just had time to talk this lovely lady out of parting with money for a totally unsuitable necklace and finally convinced her that if she was to wear a necklace at all, then maybe a simple gold chain would be all that she needed.

I say ‘finally convinced her’. Actually, that’s not the whole truth. She saw the sense in it straight away; I could see it in her eyes. She knew deep down that she didn’t need a necklace or a flashy bracelet. She knew that a chunky necklace wasn’t her thing at all and she would be so much more comfortable in her usual Classic dressing; she may not have understood why right at that moment. but she knew that what I was saying felt right.

I did suggest a pretty gold clutch bag and matching kitten heels and I saw her consider them for a brief moment but then the moment had gone. I guessed that was a stretch too far – I’d need to spend some time with her before that one hit its mark. But hopefully she’d think about it later…

Next instalment of ‘Do you wear what other people want you to wear?’

Part 4 – ‘Perhaps we all know what suits us already?‘ – will land in your email inbox on August 31st so watch out for it..

If you missed either of the first 2 parts, you can read them here:

• Part 1 – How a Classic tried to break out of the mould
• Part 2 – How a Romantic masqueraded as a Classic for all of her life

How to be recognised by your friends and family as the colour expert, and get paid for it

If you love colour, style and fashion, why not earn good money doing what you love?

As you’ve been reading, I get stopped by perfect strangers asking for my advice. My friends and family all check with me when they buy something new. It’s so rewarding to be able to help people look and feel fabulous, even if it’s just to stop them spending their hard-earned money on unnecessary necklaces!

Would YOU like to be recognised as the ‘fashion expert’ by YOUR friends and family?

“Am so enjoying my colour consultations, and it’s all thanks to you! I get such an adrenaline rush (almost like being on stage!!)” Angela, UK (Dec 07)

Start your new career right now with our fantastic updated 3-day Colour Analysis training course:

• Monday – Wednesday 7th – 9th September
• 10 am – 5 pm each day
• Chesterfield, UK

Warning! You get me for the entire 3 days, so you might like to check me out first

*2* places only left

The next Colour course will probably be next year

You’ll be confident to start your business as soon as the course is finished:

“It was great to meet you and I really did enjoy the course. I felt exhausted when I got back, there is so much to think about. Tried the analysis out for the first time today! The first friend that came was Spring(ish) with some Autumn thrown in. We both decided that she was extremely lucky to have so many colours to choose from!! Another friend came later and although she normally wears Autumn colours she was a Summer. I felt much more confident and she went away excited about trying out the new colours.” Yvonne, Market Drayton, UK (Feb 09)

BEWARE! This is not a ‘churn them out’ training system

“Just wanted to drop you a line, now that my brain has stopped buzzing, and say thank you for such an invaluable and enjoyable time. You were generous with your time, your expertise and your ideas. It was great to meet such a vibrant entrepreneur with such passion for her business and a real desire to enable others to become successful. I entirely agree that this business is about so much more than simply colours or image; it’s about transformation and what an exciting business it is! I shudder when I think about the clinical ‘churn them out’ training route that I could have taken. I did my fiance’s colours and really enjoyed it. You are so right – it’s all about shutting up and just listening!” RM, USA (July 08)

On the course, you’ll learn how to make your training fees back in just a few short days. You can also choose to pay in instalments so you could be earning before you’ve even paid for the training… We didn’t have that in my day (at least a hundred years ago) so you’re very lucky. You have such a great opportunity to earn while you learn – book now.

Find out all about training for an exciting life-changing career in Colour Analysis

check the website for more details or ring me on 01246 249514 to discuss what you’re looking for – with no obligation on either side! I will listen to what you have to say and I promise to give you my best advice.

Don’t delay; ring today.

A moment of insight

“Stop standing still and THINKING. Get MOVING. The point is, just get in the game! You will learn by DOING.”
– Jack Canfield -