Pixel Dance

It’s about frost time around here, so I was out taking pictures of the last flowers of the season. I snapped this one of one of a morning glory on my trellis. Morning glories are usually bright cobalt blue. But this one is pink. Utterly neon pink. Not at all what you’d expect from a morning glory. I can’t tell you how many people ask me what it is, and then stare blankly at me after the answer. And I can see what’s running through their mind: “It can’t be. Morning glories are blue.” Yes, they are. And they are pink.

Pink morning glories are a little out-of-the-box. And, you know, I’ve found that we say we want out-of-the-box, but usually, I’m not sure we do. It’s too uncomfortable, frustrating, not expected. We want the box. It tells us what to expect, so we don’t have to be fight-or-flighty. It’s safe and fine, and generally gives plenty of room to feel right. Because I think that’s what we really want — to be right. We like the tags of ingenuity and “outside the lines,” because we don’t want to be seen as stuck, or old-fashioned. And we like the sound of so many things. We like to be spiritual people. We like to be tolerant. We like to be open. It sounds so progressive. But in the end, it’s kind of a broad brush to generally make us feel OK with it all, in our rightness. And I’m not knocking that. What else are we going to do? We don’t want it to be true that we are in-the-boxers. There’s nothing wrong with wanting things to be steady and go well. And you can’t live life entirely in the unexpected. Life throws enough nasty-unexpected our way that we start to equate unexpected and nasty, and the whimsy goes out the door.

I don’t think we know how to leap the edges of the box because we’ve developed everything into a system. There’s a system to learn writing, to design your closet, to count your calories. There’s a system for finding a spouse, reaching happiness, reading the right books. There’s a way to do everything right. Which means everything done out of sheer inspiration or impulse is probably seen as “the wrong way.” Impulse = uncontrolled. Inspiration = undisciplined. Life = safe.

I don’t know about anyone else in the world, but I’m a slave to whimsy. I don’t want to fit in the system. I want to see what happens if I don’t. And I’m not talking about things of morality or social conscience. I’m talking about a song whose second verse doesn’t resolve. Or some hot black boots with a purple dress. Or a pink morning glory. What is the harm in testing the box walls? It may just be delightful out there. . .

The person you are meeting on the blog today could change your life. And while I tend towards the hyperbolic, this time I’m not overstating it. Andy Paige is a style consultant, and she travels the country helping everyone — from glamorous stars to ordinary women — dress and look their best. Not only does she teach the right colors of makeup, style of hair, and fit of clothes, but she teaches how to do it all on a budget. Her tag line is “who says you have to spend a fortune to look like a million?” Here’s a little about her:

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I’ve been in and around the fashion industry for 25 years. I started out as a model in my teens, and was a fit model for years (fit models are women with standard proportions for a particular size, and they try on clothes before they go to market to ensure proper sizing). My grandmother taught me how to sew, and I sewed my own clothes for years. I took for granted that everyone knew what I knew — what clothes were well-suited for their bodies, what a rise was, how to apply makeup. It wasn’t until I realized that everybody didn’t know what I knew, and until someone validated my talents, that I began to be aware that my skills had the potential to become a business. So I started Cents of Style.

Cents of Style is a solutions-based business. My general mission is to encourage, guide and teach my clients the skills of economic beautification. I teach women to care for themselves, and look their absolute best in all regards. And I love to see the transformation. I love the confidence I am able to build, teach and establish. That’s the downfall of every woman in America; a completely unneeded lack of confidence. But I give people (I style men, too) the power and encouragement to fulfill their dreams. That’s an amazing gift. Outward appearance is not just fluff — it is the spine of confidence. And I am confidence-building.

My philosophy is that you can be a mother, achieve your dreams, love God, do good in your community, and look fabulous doing it. It’s not either/or. There’s no need to sacrifice your image — if anything, your image is the catalyst to your dreams.

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Andy has an incredible gift, and she is something special. I hired her to come to Colorado Springs two years ago to guide me through a transformation. And I’ll be honest, I had some judgments that had buried themselves in my skin. I really didn’t want to look “all foofy,” because I wanted people to realize that I was deep, smart and spiritual. But I finally realized that all I was showing the world was that I didn’t care about myself. I was telling the world that they didn’t have to take me seriously. And — here’s the painful part — I realized I had judged put-together people as shallow. And you know when you judge, you cut yourself off from that very thing. So how could I look nice if all nice-looking people were shallow? That would mean I was shallow too. Ouch. But thankfully, you can decide to change at any moment, and I confessed my judgment, risked allowing myself to look shallow, and pressed into letting the real me out. And I am telling you, folks, I am smarter, funnier, brighter and more clever now than anyone ever thought I was in the frump stage. Because what you look like is what people have to go on — so tell them who you really are. Another thing — you may think it is an expensive treat to have Andy come, but in the long run, I spend a lot less on clothes and makeup than I ever did throwing the credit card willy nilly at what I thought might work. I now have a laser-sharp sense of what to buy, when to buy it, and what to add (inexpensively) to look like I shop all the time. I tell you, Andy is brilliant. It’s one of the best thing’s I’ve ever done.

You must save your pennies to have Andy come, or visit her in New York. You can find out information, and even hire her on-line at www.centsofstyle.com. Even if you can’t do that yet, she has a million great ideas on her Web site, and I visit it all the time to keep up. And she sells wonderful accessory suites — a small group of accessories, with usually a purse — for $49.50. Every month there is a new one, and they are fabulous and smart. But the pièce de résistance is her brush set. If you were an artist, would you paint with whatever paper towel you could find? Not-so-professional results. Makeup application is the same. Andy’s brushes are professional, and no woman should be without them. Check it out on the site, and ask for (or buy them for yourself) as a Christmas present. They come with instructions, and her site has videos that help with application as well. Don’t be afraid to be beautiful. Don’t be afraid to shine. And let Andy polish you up – she’s great at it. Thanks, Andy. Still.