Evolving Stylishly

What is House of Colour?

House of Colour is a service that deals in confidence and empowerment by celebrating us all as individuals and this is done through the tools of colour, style and make-up.

Tracey Moys is an image consultant for House of Colour West Cornwall. She became a House of Colour consultant in 2018. When asked why she made this career move, Tracey explained that she emigrated to Cornwall in 2006 from the USA. She did so to support her then husband who was in the Royal Navy. Tragically, her husband died unexpectedly in 2018 and House of Colour helped her personally as well as provided her with a career she really enjoys doing.

Whilst some may say that who cares what you wear and isn’t being concerned with your appearance rather shallow? Tracey understands the impact psychologically on what we wear and how we present ourselves. Clothes, colours and our appearance is a non-verbal communication of who we are and reflects our personality.

Understanding and being informed of stylistic choices helps us to understand who we are in the world; how we can be more of who we really are and who we’ve known ourselves to be. With greater understanding of ourselves, we can better understand and appreciate the people around us and how we present ourselves to the world.

Sometimes we make a conscious choice in how we dress. Other times, we simply wear what is in our wardrobe and seems suitable for the occasion without putting much thought into it. Although we may not think about it, the way that we dress, sends subliminal messages to not only those around us, but also to ourselves.

For Tracey it’s about understanding and making intentional choices and ideally those intentional choices are making the most of us and that we are saying what we want to say.

Is Appearance Really That Relevant?

Whilst we may not realise it, the human brain is still hard wired for survival. Part of our brain still operates on the level from back in Stone Age days when it needed to make quick judgments and assessments of the situation. Our brains automatically determine if what we are presented with is a threat. We identify if a person is friend or foe through our visual senses.

Roughly 70% of information that we take in on the first meeting is visual, it’s not being judgemental on purpose it’s a safety mechanism as part of your brains job is to keep you safe. So we make these instant assessments on people and if we’re not presenting ourselves authentically, it’s very hard for people to reconcile with what we see with our actions and behaviour. If we’re dressing in alignment with who and what we are, then you build trust at speed.

For example, if you were to go to a corporate interview, you wouldn’t wear flip flops and a Hawaiian shirt. In the same way, you wouldn’t wear a suit to attend a forest school outing.

Some people aren’t always good at expressing themselves verbally, way that you dress is a way of expressing who you are without having to communicate verbally.

Where Can People Find You and Which Areas do You Cover?

The franchise area Tracey covers is West Cornwall. Effectively, draw a line from Truro west, then head east towards Mevagissey.

Although there is a definitive area she represents, her clients come from all over the globe. West Cornwall is simply the area that she can advertise and market in, however if clients from outside this area wish to work with her, they are more than welcome.

People can find her in her studio in Truro, it’s room 11, 18 Lemon Street, Truro.

If have clients that have requirements whereby they can’t make it to the studio, she will go out and meet them in their space.

What can people expect when they turn up to a session with yourself?

Coffee and tea! Beyond that Tracey’s clients will tell you they get a warm and friendly service. Although there are core services which are style and makeup – each client receives a very tailored, individual service because we are all unique and individual.

If you feel daunted by having an individual session, she can offer group sessions as well as intimate on to ones. Whatever the requirements are, she’s flexible and happy to work with you in a way that you feel comfortable.

Tell us More About Colour Palettes.

Colour is about finding the colour palette that suits people. You either need warm colours or blue based cool colours and within those either bright or soft colours.

When you come into the studio, we look at you in natural light rather than harsh, man made lighting.?We then compare the different types of colours and determine which ones make you look your absolute best.

Some colours make you look sick, tired and unhealthy which is something we don’t want. Others bring out your skin tone and pick up highlights in your features such as eyes and hair.

Once you know your colours, for any clients that are interested (because it’s not only women that want to appear their best) we can look towards which makeup colours suit your colouring. The good thing with knowing your make-up colour palette is that once you know which they are, it doesn’t change. Some women can find it challenging knowing which colours work for them, lipsticks is one that most women will look at and try and figure out if it is suitable.

Following on from make-up, we can then look at hair colour, jewellery, accessories, shoes etc.

How Formal is the Process?

A style consultation is a lot of talking – it’s conversation between yourself and the consultant to find out more about yourself.

The discussion covers body architecture, which styles suit your body architecture, which styles you like and how you want to be perceived. Tracey delves into your lifestyle to understand what would be appropriate for you and how you live. It’s no good recommending something if it doesn’t suit your everyday environment. Every session is tailored to the individual and incorporates body shape and personality.

From the consultative conversation, Tracey will work with you to put together a framework for your wardrobe.

It’s not about throwing everything in your wardrobe away and buying a whole new wardrobe. It’s working with what you’ve got.?New purchases should be intentional and also with a focus on sustainability and within your own budget. Whether that be from a high street or a charity shop, the focus should be on intentional purchases and with an aim to minimise waste. Waste can be eliminated through knowing what you suits you and what you like to wear.

On the sustainability side of things - freeing up space in your wardrobe and not hoarding purchases can be quite liberating. Anything not used can be sold or donated?and as we reduce spending on unnecessary items; there’s less of a cost to the planet through frivolous buying.

What is left in your wardrobe gives you a solid foundation of items you know will work together and will work for you. It allows you to be confident that you will always have something to hand that represents who you are.

One thing Tracey always says is that “Fashion is a tool not a destination.” Fashions change, not all fashions will suit you. Some are classic and the key is knowing what is classic and will work for you forever. Buy only the things that will work for you for a long period of time.

What Else do You Have on Your Agenda?

Tracey also runs private FaceBook group that offers online access to services for those unable to get out, or wish to do things form the privacy of their home.

One of the courses she has goes through your wardrobe and look at each item in your wardrobe individually and decide whether each item works for you or not. The course is available for anyone, whether a client or not and helps you to get a handle on the excess in your wardrobe.

It starts you on the road to figure out why you may have 90 pairs of black jeans. Do you have buying patterns that cause you to purchase the same or similar items? ?What can be surprising for most people is the amount of emotional baggage that’s tied up in our clothing. When confronted with the excess and some of the negative thought that comes with purchases in your wardrobe, clearing these items away can be quite therapeutic.

Think of it this way – we all hear about retail therapy, going out and making ourselves feel better through buying spontaneous, often unnecessary purchases. When faced with the accumulation of all these items, it can give pause as to how often you feel the need to console or cheer yourself up through “retail therapy.”

Statistics state that 80% of people wear 15% of their clothes 80% of the time. Most of us can ?hold up our hand and say that we have clothes in our wardrobe that sill have tags on and never been worn. Or that we have items that were bought as an emergency, or we’ve bought as a one off and never been worn again.

Ultimately the FaceBook course helps you to clear and condense your existing wardrobe to leave you with clothes that work for you. That doesn’t mean we don’t go out and buy new items and have a refresh but if we buy things that we don’t wear, we’re just wasting hard earned money.

The course is ￡30 and done in your own time it only takes around 10-15 minutes a day.

As a Sole Trader, How do You Find it Being a BBX Member?

BBX has helped with sales as Tracey has a lot of BBX from courses she’s sold to other BBX members. It’s been helpful in that she can and has used it for services such as print. She had some really lovely business cards made from a BBX member. The service was great and the quality of the paper it was printed on is really high quality.

When you’re in the industry of how to best represent yourself, the last thing you want is to then hand out your business information on a cheap piece of card.

Tracey has also contacted her account manager to see if she can purchase a laptop on BBX and will be looking at using it for a short break away.

One thing she also likes about it is the ease of being able to donate her BBX to charities.

Is There Anything Else You Want to Discuss?

There’s not a huge amount to add. The studio was launched not that long ago and has been going really well. There’s a lot of great feedback, with people claiming that the space is calming and lovely to be in. For her, it’s just about providing a really good client experience, making you comfortable and giving something special. People don’t always understand what she does and are often surprised by the impact it can have.

If you’re looking for Tracey on Social Media, her main outlet is Instagram. Her tag for insta is evolving_stylishly, so please do look her and up and follow. On FaceBook, she’s under HOCCornwall. If you’re in any doubt on whether it’s something for you, Tracey is happy to have an initial discussion, and more importantly, take a look at some of the testimonies and comments from clients. Individuals that have been on one of Tracey’s sessions are very vocal on social media about the help she has provided and how she has helped them boost their confidence.

When you look at it objectively, it can be surprising just how much of your mood and personality determines what you wear. Tracey helps you to make the best of those choices and to do so with intention and purpose.