The "Dread"-ed Compromise

I've been wanting some pretty little dreadlocks for a long time now. Really, for years. However, there has always been one thing or another stopping me from getting them. I've played around with my hair quite a bit over the years. I've done cornrows and tiny braids and even small little pigtails all over my head. I admit that the latter didn't work out so well... but, hey! I was 18 and having fun! I did like the braids, though, even though I think it was a little more out there than my conservative social circle was used to, as I always got a lot of comments on my hair. One time in my early 20's, I was even asked not to braid my hair before I sang a solo in church, in order that people would focus on God and not my hair. So I stopped braiding it other than once in a while. After all, I didn't want to be distracting people from worship.

Things have gradually changed for me over the years. One thing I've learned about myself is that I'm a people-pleaser. I don't like saying no and if I'm not careful, I tend to care too much about what people think of me. I can see my own heart, but if someone starts questioning my motives, I've always been likely to re-think what I'm doing. But the simple fact is that I'm an artistic girl. Some things people might see as rebellious, I just think are pretty (such as artful tattoos, belly rings, nose rings, big jewelry, bright hair colors, and cute dreads). I always thought it was something I would "grow out of", but here I am at 30, so I guess that's just who I am. And I'm good with that. I realize this might make me a bit different from a lot of people in the church, but it doesn't mean I love God any less or have a rebellious heart. God loves me! He made me to see beauty in everything and gave me a creative gift. When I express that, it makes Him happy because He loves that about me. He wants me to have fun and enjoy life as long as I'm living for Him the best that I can.

That being said, the hubs doesn't really like the look (or the permanence) of dreadlocks. So, we made a compromise. I'll wear braids, which I can take out easily enough, but still have a similar flair to them. This will also help me to grow my hair out more easily, since the length is driving me batty and tickling my face right now. I think they're fun and cute, and they only took me about 3 hrs to do (not all in one sitting, mind you).

So, here's me in my braids:

I'm still considering the possibility of locking them at some point, but for now, they feel fun and summer-y. That's a word, right? Yeah, I thought so. Happy almost summer!

My amazing finds at Gleaner's yesterday

I came home with quite a bit of produce after my shopping yesterday, including strawberries, pears, oranges, avocados, grapes, and peas. I also picked up a lot of frozen items, such as edamame, cooked wild rice, cooked wheat berries, and kale. Soups, here I come! I was also able to get plenty of chips and soda for David to take to work in his lunches. David's mom also sent us over some strawberries, blueberries, pears, oranges, pistachios, nutragrain bars, and an avocado from Costco. But my favorite finds yesterday were in the clothing area upstairs. I couldn't believe how many type 1 tops I was able to find. Normally I don't find much for myself at Gleaner's. Most of the time I can only find things for the kids, so I was really happy with my finds yesterday!

First I found a button up shirt with the perfect colors and shapes and a brown zip-up sweater to go over it.


I found another button-up shirt and the perfect jacket. This is by far my favorite of the bunch, right down to the flower-shaped buttons. So cute!


Here is another button-up shirt from Old Navy, with chocolate brown and pink stripes.

I also picked up this gold-looking sweater to go over some things.

And a very type 1 scarf.

Not to mention the pants that were perfect other than the length. They were longs, so I cut off the bottom and embellished them with some paint I got at the craft store.



Lastly, I found a green sweater with an asymmetrical collar.

These should all go great with the earrings I got with the remaining money on my Target gift card.

Here is the look I went for today with a new pair of earrings and some shirts and necklaces that were already in my closet. This Dressing Your Truth stuff is so much fun!



I'll try to post later today with our menu plan and that wonderfully delicious brownie recipe. Mmm, my mouth is still watering. I've made them twice in the last 2 weeks :)

Dressing Your Truth Type 1

Since I took the Dressing Your Truth course with the $1 trial, I've been experimenting with some Type 1 looks. It hasn't been difficult, since a lot of my clothing is type 1 already and I just didn't know it. The jewelry I am wearing in this picture I purchased just a week or so before I took the course. I had actually picked out a different set of earrings and a necklace, but decided at the last minute to switch it out for these. I was simply drawn to them. Aside from the silver accent, they are perfectly type 1, so I'm going to utilize them. The earrings, necklace, and tee were all on clearance at Kohl's at different times. The shirt is type 1 as well with the shiny hearts. I've layered it with a long-sleeve type 1 orange shirt that I got on clearance at Old Navy. I go to this shirt a lot for layering under short-sleeve shirts. I am also wearing some Gap jeans my sister-in-law gave me and a pair of chocolate brown rounded-toe flats I got for $6 at a consignment store. I'd say this outfit was less than $30 for everything I'm wearing. How's that for frugal fashion? Gotta love it!

So, do you think the type 1 style suits me?

Fashion on the Cheap

Being an artist by nature, I've always been interested in fun clothes, shoes, and accessories. I must admit, I went over the top at times when I was younger, so due to the criticism of others, I toned things down and became much more subdued. For a lot of years after that, I was a jeans and t-shirt girl since it was the easy way to go and it was unlikely to receive criticism. But I still had a lot of items with that Becci "flair" to them, such as my crazy sock collection or purple leopard print belt with studs on it. I've struggled to find the right look for myself and feel like in the past few years I have slowly been able to find a lot of things that really suit me. Sometimes, though, I have trouble narrowing things down to what I really love. I'm sure a lot of people can relate to that feeling.

So, I was really excited when a friend posted on Facebook last weekend that Dressing Your Truth was having a 5-day trial for $1 (it's over now-I signed up just before the deadline). Carol Tuttle, the creator of Dressing Your Truth, has divided people into 4 types based on personality traits and physical characteristics (mostly, since personality can be influenced a lot more by our upbringing & surroundings). She corresponds these four types to 4 of the major elements and their type of movement. I went through whole course and discovered that I am a type 1, which is a bright, animated woman. I had almost all of the traits she listed for a type 1, such as a heart-shaped hairline, rounded face, apple cheeks that tend to get rosy easily, dimples, a youthful face, and shorter, chubbier fingers with round nail beds. Although I had a lot of personality traits of a type 3 and I organize like a type 4 (with a place for everything and my closet in rainbow order), I am strongly a type 1. As such, I went through the course for the type 1 woman. While I don't agree with some of her philosophies or beliefs, I really enjoyed learning more about who I naturally am and that it is ok to use that flair even more than I have been. On the other types, it might look silly, but on a type 1, it is natural. How refreshing!

So, what I learned about how I "should" dress as a type 1 was really helpful, and I'll definitely be taking many things to heart. Light, crisp fabrics, fun prints, brighter/lighter colors, and lots of variety and pizazz. My best shapes in design line and jewelry will be circles, hearts, stars, and curlycues. I also found out that gold is actually a better choice for metal, which I'm finding I like on myself. However, most of my pieces are silver in appearance even though many of them fall within the other descriptions she was using. For each type, there is a chroma, or color scheme to follow as well. For type 1, it is hues, which are colors with white added. Black is out, but in its place we can use cream/tan, dark navy, and chocolate brown. If I had chosen to purchase the course, I would have gotten a style guide, which is a card with various hues on it. On the back side are all the tips for design line, fabrication, textures, etc. The idea is that you hold the colored side of the card up to you garments when you're shopping and see if the colors harmonize with the colors in the items. The tips are there to help you pick things that will look the best on you. Well, being the frugal mama that I am, I didn't shell out the money for lifetime access just yet, but I did dive into all of the information I could get my hands on. I watched all the video clips of club nights, viewed the entire course while taking notes, looked at all the pictures and examples of type 1 clothing, and then copied and pasted them into a Word document. Also, being resourceful, I found a downloadable color wheel with nothing but hues and made my own style guide card!
I even put the most important tips on the back.

I have to say, it looks pretty good even though it's not the real thing! Then I went through my wardrobe to see how things matched up. With the exception of a few items and some black things, most of my clothing fits pretty well into the guidelines as far as colors, lines, and prints. I already had what Carol describes as a "beauty sixth-sense" and I didn't even know it.

The best part? Most of my wardrobe has been bought on extreme clearance or at thrift stores. And now that we're using Gleaner's, we can browse the donated clothing area, too. The rest of my clothes I have purchased with gift cards or birthday money, with the occasional full-price purchase if it's something that is worth the cost that I really need, such as good running shoes. My things that don't fit within the type 1 description can easily be altered with a bit of creativity and a can of gold spray paint, some buttons, headbands, hair clips, and a bit of fabric. I'll be posting pictures of my wardrobe refashioning because it's fun and I think you'll enjoy seeing the transformation, especially if you're the artistic like me. I kicked off my type 1 wardrobe with the rest of my birthday money at Old Navy. I got the pictured shoes (clearance) and jewelry with a 30% off coupon for just over $30.

They look and feel great on me, and they're really fun, too :). I love seeing how good I can look on a small budget.

So, even though the link over on my sidebar is not the most frugal thing, I still think it's worth having there for those that might be interested. If you have the $279 for the course, I'm sure it would be worth it, as it can be really helpful in other areas as well.While I'm hoping to be able to join at some point in the future, the short trial I did was totally worth it, and actually very eye-opening. When you're learning to dress for your type, you're also learning about yourself as a person, which is a fun process. Just feel free to disregard some of her spiritual viewpoints, as they're not for everyone.

*For full disclosure, I do get a percentage of the purchase price if someone enters through my link*