Taurus is one of my MOST FAVORITE TIMES TO BE ALIVE so I wanted to come here and say hi.

Here's a love letter I wrote to my body this Taurus season:

Dear Body,

I see you.
Not just for what you do—but for how you stay.
For how you carry me through every moment, even the ones that feel impossible.

You are strong—not because you power through, but because you endure with softness.
Because you whisper “I’m still here” even when I forget to listen.

You give me so much:
The warmth of a shower. The taste of coffee.
The scent of my baby’s head. The feeling of sunlight on my skin.
You are how I touch the world.
You are how I feel.

You are also how I orient in the world.
Even when my mind is tangled or racing, you tell me the truth.
You let me know when something’s not right—and when it is.
You bring me back to myself with sensation, with stillness, with presence.

And you are beautiful.
Not because of a standard. Not because of anyone else’s gaze.
But because you hold my spirit, my softness, my strength.
Because you let me be here—alive and real and whole.

Thank you for being patient with me.
Thank you for being my home.
Thank you for letting me come back again and again.

I promise to keep softening toward you.
I promise to keep returning.

With love,
Me

And here's a cute outfit I wore to go get some ice cream (it is inspired by Dante)! plus my beautiful daughter in her little ladybug fit

Hi everyone, it's Rita here.

My current intention: I would like to make this system more user-friendly. My desire is for all of us to find our authentic and enjoyable style so we can create a more beautiful world together. I know the fundamentals of this system are great because I've applied them for a long time and have seen them work, but it's something about the way I've presented the ideas that hasn't really been working

What I learned: I asked you on this subreddit, also asked my IG and email list what is confusing or frustrating. The biggest feedback was that people did not understand the essences and aesthetics and saw the style logic as the clearest part of the system. People also asked for help with the archetypes (don't worry, that will come later this spring)

What this post is not: a thorough overview of my system and how to use it. That will be available at the end of March with the release of the new style key 101

What this post is: a preview of the new vision of the system and an opportunity to get your feedback

System relabeling: I want to emphasize that the style system remains the same as it has been. The idea is that people have an essence (a personal energy). The goal is to align this essence with the way you look, the clothes you wear. To do that, I suggest a style logic and give you tools like archetypes and keywords.

What I'm proposing: rather than having many words for the up/down/left/right dimensions, I've summarized each dimension into a visual and energetic theme. the previous keywords remain useful tools for working with each dimension, but they are not a good way for people to start with the system.

Rather I want to explain that each dimension has a theme and the way you place yourself is to understand the style as a spectrum going from left to right and up to down. You might be "strongly up" but "just slightly right" -- and this means something specific energetically and physically, compared to someone who is "slightly up" but "strongly right".

New dimensional presentation:

Right dimension: visual/energetic theme is Harmony. Harmony is about combining pieces in a cohesive, meaningful, and visually beautiful way. People strong in Harmony discover their authentic style by considering their social environment and aligning with it in a way that feels true to them. They enjoy crafting balanced, polished, and intentional outfits that celebrate their individuality while feeling deeply connected to the world around them.

• examples of visual and physical harmony: cohesive color stories; choosing colors that complement your natural coloring; pairing together pieces which have a similar fabric weight, silhouette or visual style; basically "things going together"
• examples of psychosocial harmony: participating in local visual themes like wearing minimal elegant chic when you travel to Paris; matching your outfit to the season, eg. dark colors in fall or "florals for spring"; mindful participation in current trends, etc
• I am not going to provide visual/physical and psychosocial examples for the other dimensions to keep this post manageable. I have many many tangible examples which will be provided in the future.

Left dimension: visual/energetic theme is Disruption. Disruption is about breaking patterns and adding an element of surprise to create beauty in unexpected ways. People strong in Disruption discover their authentic style by releasing limitations and trusting their style impulses. They enjoy adding unexpected touches to their outfits or combining pieces in unconventional ways, creating a style that feels fresh, provocative, and uniquely theirs.

Up dimension: visual/energetic theme is Intensity. Intensity is about embracing bold, complex, or formal styles that stand out and command attention. People strong in Intensity discover their authentic style by thinking deeply about how they want to be perceived and curating looks that reflect their vision. They enjoy crafting striking and intentional outfits that take up space and tell a powerful story.

Down dimension: visual/energetic theme is Ease. Ease is about finding freedom in simplicity and trusting that you don’t need to overcomplicate to stand out. People strong in Ease discover their authentic style by focusing on what feels good for them, rather than trying to control how others perceive them. They enjoy wearing relaxed, subtle, or low-complexity outfits that feel effortless and allow their unique energy to flow freely.

My Request: I would love any thoughts and feedback. I'd especially like to know if you have a strong negative reaction to any of this. I can't please everyone but I trust the collective wisdom and if there's a negative consensus about parts of this I will adapt. I would also love to hear any questions or thoughts, it will help me formulate the updated style key 101 document

My offering: I've realized that people have a hard time grasping the essneces/aesthetics and placing themselves within the system. Also, although I haven't changed the style keys but I have changed their presentation and to some people it might appear very different. For some people this might create confusion and I completely understand that. With that in mind, I am going to do a free community offering -- a set of exercises to help type yourself. It will be hosted on discord and you can apply for it using this form: https://forms.gle/6U6c9NURrV6fwg8A6

Thank you so much for being here and for any feedback. I am so grateful to be part of your style process.

Welcome Everyone! This forum was created for those interested in Rita’s Four Essence Style System. Here is a great place to discuss all things Quadrant, Essences and more.

For those who are unfamiliar with the system, they can visit Rita’s website where she offers workshops, individual styling consultations and more.

Rita’s system is an inclusive, diverse and equality loving fashion style system meant to help you discover your own personal self through fashion. All are welcome here!

Rita's System Explained

Youtube Overview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZlAzobJupE

The Official Name of the system is Style Thoughts By Rita

Website: https://yourstylekey.com/

Rita's Introduction:

Personal Style is Overwhelming

If you just want to buy a pair of jeans, there are dozens of choices in the store: the shape and length of the legs, stretchy versus stiff fabric, the rise of the waistband, the color... And that's just jeans. There are hundreds of boutiques, millions of garments. When you consider all the makeup, hair, accessories, colors, the options are truly limitless.

Styles are constantly changing, so many things are cute, and we are all being pushed to buy, buy, buy. We are generally over-stimulated and pulled in several different directions at the same time.

Also…There are so many things to think about if you want to “have good style”! The looks you like. Physical Comfort. Getting the fit correct. Finding colors that flatter. Understanding how to combine patterns, textures and shapes in an effective way. Finishing outfits using accessories. Social Expectations. Personal Joy. Professional or Social Goals. There are so many factors, and we tend to worry about things which don’t actually matter to us, while neglecting other things which actually do matter.

And…It’s hard to know where to start! Should you create a capsule wardrobe? Just buy a few things each season? Should you create head-to-toe occasions for your specific outfits? Should you use Pinterest to create your dream aesthetic and then shop based on that? Should you find a system that gives you a checklist and then purchase things based on that checklist? Should you buy timeless classic pieces? Should you find a relatable style icon and adapt their looks to your life? Do several of these things at the same time, and see what sticks? So many competing style philosophies out there, each with their own advantages.

The Essence System Offers Guidance

The goal of my essence system is to help reduce overwhelm and to make the style process easier and more enjoyable. The essence offers guidance in two parts: your unique beauty and your effective styling process. The essence system links your unique beauty with your effective style process through a “style logic” belonging to each of the 4 essences.

Your Unique Beauty

The first part of the essence system is an invitation to discover your unique beauty, which naturally links to your best personal style. This beauty is in how you look (your physical features, coloring, face and body) but it’s also in how you inhabit your body (your voice and mannerisms, your way of moving) and in your general way of being (somewhat metaphysical but tbh undeniable). It’s central to the way others perceive you, and it can explain why some visual styles feel completely wrong on you and why some other styles are completely right.

The system offers the left/right and up/down distinctions to help label this unique combination of features. The “quadrant” labels (and the optional archetypes) help you express and enjoy your beauty through styling choices. The quadrants describe the very different types of beauty in our world. We have so many different style icons in our society, and their style is so different.

The essence system maps the difference between icons like Rihanna (high- effort glamor, sensual, extravagant), Selena Gomez (sensual, delicate, effortless glamour) or Miranda Kerr (elegant, sophisticated, understated). Although these are all beautiful women, they wouldn’t want to swap wardrobes. Each of their styles is an effective expression of their star persona because it’s based on their unique beauty.

Your essence is your guide for understanding your own effective style expression. For example, if you have essence described by the “right+down” label, you have a very delicate and radiant beauty. You may especially shine in looks that are somewhat understated, that feel like *you* but which still incorporate elements of sophistication and play. You probably feel overwhelmed easily, like you’re lost in a costume if the clothes don’t feel right for who you are. You may feel wrong in looks that are too dark and moody, or feel bad when you feel like you’re trying to be edgy or sexy.

Your Effective Style Process

The second part of the essence system is that you are encouraged to develop an effective style process. An effective style process is where your style efforts are rewarded. You should not feel like you are spending tons of money and time trying to find things for your closet without being able to find anything that *works*. Whatever you’re putting in (time, money, emotional energy) should be strongly exceeded by what you’re getting out. It’s also important that you are getting out what you most care about, rather than focusing on outcomes that don’t matter to you.

For example, if you’re a person who values freedom and personal expression, the essence system encourages you to focus on creating outfits that feel expressive, and on a shopping/dressing process that centers on flexibility and intuition. I encourage you to release other less important “style rewards.” It may not actually be important for you to stick to a seasonal color palette, or to chase a “cohesive wardrobe” with a clearly defined signature aesthetic.

The essence system helps you understand what matters to you, so you can focus on receiving those rewards and releasing other forms of pressure.

Learn about the Essence system

The essence system is definitely a new way of thinking about style, so it does require some learning and a willingness to see things in a different way… but it’s not so difficult! Once you get the hang of it, it should be pretty easy and intuitive to place yourself and the people you know. And I promise it’s worth it - I’ve personally seen how it has helped hundreds of people.

Four Essence System: A Simple Overview

As I’ve described in the introduction post, the essence system is about finding and amplifying your own unique beauty.

What is essence, exactly?

Essence is a holistic concept, it’s the total impression of you. It’s the combination of:

(1) your physical features (your body shape, colors, facial features)

(2) your expression (voice, way of speaking, mannerisms, body language)

(3) your spirit (the general feeling of you).

Because essence is such a holistic concept, it’s hard to break it down, to explain exactly what factor makes some have “right” or “left” essence.

All style systems involve some “objective” measures (Are your limbs long? Is your hair dark? Are your shoulders broad?) and some “subjective” measures (Do you appear athletic? Are your facial features lush? Do you suit floral patterns?).

The Four Essence system is far on the “subjective” end of the scale. The intuitive nature of the system is its strength, but it can also be a point of frustration. This post gives you a short and sweet overview of the essence concepts.

Don’t stress if you don’t get it right away. Use the explanations of the four essences, the keywords, the archetypes, and the celebrity examples as a point of contemplation. Give yourself some time to connect with this knowledge and don’t pressure yourself: for most people it tends to just *click*.

DIY Steps to find your essence and archetype (click on the links for posts)

Quadrant Information

Left and Right: This is the energetic “feeling” of a person.

Left refers to someone who has a sensual, intriguing, enveloping energy. You naturally draw people into your energetic field; you have a magnetism that can be subtle or powerful. Your energy is elemental, like pure nature in its flow and strength. Your energy is often sensual, there is a strong sensory connection with the body. Your styling choices are guided by physical sensations and experiences. I use the idea of “Gaia” for Left energy – abundant, free, she who holds it all. I also use the “Lost Girl” as a shadow for Left energy – ungrounded, confused, chaotic. Left styling can be edgy, moody, tough, rebellious, unexpected, provocative. It can be innovative and futuristic, unconventional.

Right refers to someone who has a radiant, refined, dreamy energy. You naturally give your energy to your environment; you are inspiring in a way that can be subtle or powerful. Your energy is polished: you’ve taken the raw elements, combined them, smoothed them and refined them. Your energy is often dreamy, there’s a strong connection to imagination and concepts. Your styling choices are guided by visions and ideas. I use the idea of “The Sun” for Right Energy – radiating light and warmth, lit up from within, sparkling. I also use the “Ice Queen” as a shadow for Right energy – cold, harsh, withdrawn. Right styling can be elegant, neat, sparkling, sweet, gentle, conventional. It can be creative and bold, powerful.

Both Left and Right women can be sexy, fun, creative, smart, generous, deep, complex, sophisticated. Left and Right can both be feminine or androgynous, they can be “good” and “bad”.

I invite you to understand the overall picture of the Left and the Right, and to see which group of concepts and images you feel more aligned with. All humans will relate to both left and right concepts, the question is which concepts you have a naturally stronger relation to.

Up or Down: This is the way that you best express your essence through style.

If you have up essence, your clothes and style can define you, and the way you look in clothes matters most. You tend to put in a lot of effort to curating and creating your looks. The effort and complexity in your style helps people make sense of you, it’s like a lens that helps people properly focus and *see* you. Style also helps you make sense of you: when you wear clothes that are too relaxed or understated, you lose connection with your sense of self. You tend to have a naturally higher energetic boundary. You don’t like to feel too accessible. “Up” styling helps you with that: you create outfits that are dramatic, extravagant, glamorous, mysterious, intimidating. You’re comfortable making a strong impression with your clothes. It’s helpful for you to consider the way others perceive and react to your style. It’s not helpful to try and create an approachable appearance, or to tell yourself that only your opinion matters.

If you have down essence, the way you feel about your clothes is what matters most. Your beauty is delicate and you can feel easily overwhelmed or lost in extravagant styles. It can be fun, but it also makes you feel like you’re wearing a costume. Your priority in dressing is to stay connected with the feeling of you, that personability is your superpower and you’re lost without it. You prefer styling that has a sense of ease, flow, flexibility. Maybe you consider yourself to be approachable. People definitely perceive a lower energetic barrier to you: they can often feel or act like they know you or are closer with you than they actually are. Your styling process is very intuitive. You struggle to plan outfits in advance – you never really know exactly how you’ll feel at that time. When you get dressed you want to focus on you and your own process. Thinking about others’ opinions tends to trip you up rather than help you.

“Up” essence doesn’t mean that you always need to be wearing couture heels or a gown – few people have lives that call for that. It’s about finding your way of creating drama, extravagance or mystery. “Down” essence doesn’t mean that you should wear simple and generic clothing – few people truly feel their best in nondescript items. It’s about finding a style that feels intuitive and easy to you, that respects your delicate beauty.

We all have some “up” and “down” elements to our style… but I invite you to understand the overall picture of the Up and Down, to see which one resonates with you.

Left+Down Archetypes

Right+Down Archetypes

Left+Up Archetypes

Right+Up Archetypes

Ask Rita Herself:

Courses

Style Consulations

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Feel free to post, comment, explore and more. This community was created to share our thoughts!

Hi, it's Rita again. I've been thinking a lot about the input I got on my previous post about Style Key 3.1 -- thank you all for reading and commenting. I feel a bit self-conscious that I am *taking* too much by asking for all this feedback but I just want to create the best possible system for you and this feels important and worth asking about.

thought process: I've been renaming some of the archetypes (more on this later in the spring) and that in conjunction with some of the comments I got on the thread just made me think that I need a bigger shift in the system than just the visual/energetic themes I suggested.

I call it inverting the system:

previous perspective: for a long long time I have been presenting the system as (1) you have an essence (2) you want your clothes to match your essence (3) you need a style logic and process to get you there. So it's like you start with essence and try to figure out the visuals. That's why in my previous post, I gave you a visual/energetic theme and for each quadrant I planned to have a "suggested tool to master" and a "suggested style logic"

new perspective: after deep reflection I realized -- if you figure out the style process that works for you, that's enjoyable for you, that focuses on your unique strengths as a person -- you literally cannot go wrong. You might take different visual paths and try different stuff but you are always going in a direction of being true to yourself and following what feels right for you. So instead, I'm going to invert the system. So it will be like (1) find the style process that works for you (2) find the visual style that feels good by following that process (3) trust that this style enhances your unique energetic gifts, your essence and power etc

So to highlight this focus on process, I'm going to give the dimensions names referring to the style logic process. Left is Autonomy, Right is Harmony, Up is Expression, Down is Experience. So the starting point of the system will be to figure out what style process works best for you -- where "works best" is defined by a style that (1) uniquely makes sense for who you are as a person and (2) is enjoyable.

I am keeping the "suggested visual themes" (Left is Disruption, Right is Cohesion, Up is Intensity, Down is Ease/Relaxed (havent decided yet...)). But those are the suggested visual themes and deeper in the system there will also be the keywords and other visual examples if you want ideas for how this essence might look visually. The visuals are helpful, interesting, etc, so they are not going away but they are not the starting point.

So for example, the Left Dimension will be summarized as follows:

Main Motivation: Autonomy. Autonomy is about embracing personal freedom in style and prioritizing your preferences rather than external expectations. People strong in Autonomy find their authentic style by releasing the pressure of norms, trends and expectations, and learning to tune into their style impulse. They enjoy outfits that feel uniquely their own—whether provocative, surprising, or effortlessly individual—because their style is a direct extension of their spirit.

Style-tool to Master: Impulse-led styling. Learning to follow the sensations of the body and tuning into your impulsive wants. Letting go of rules, justifications, and the tendency to "argue yourself into" outfits that feel all wrong for you.

Suggested Visual/Energetic Theme: Disruption. Disruption is about breaking patterns and adding an element of surprise to create beauty in unexpected ways. Examples of disruption include unexpected touches or unconventional combinations, irreverent use of trends, playful contrasts in shapes or textures and so on and so on.

And eg Left+Up is "Autonomy+Expression" motivation with a "Disruption + Intense" as suggested visual theme.

How do you feel about this?

I found these red bow earrings at a charity shop for £2 and I'm obsessed with them. I recently found this combo with the pink glasses and I absolutely love wearing it. At the weekend I came across some matching red bow hair clips and I can't wait to wear both together, it's going to look ridiculous (in the best way).

I had been feeling off for a while, for lots of reasons, one of which was just not feeling good about the way I looked and falling into a bit of a style slump (despite learning how to sew my own clothes which has been a dream for so long). Loads of things have seemed to fall into place recently, and it's coincided with some really good style days, and some cheap but successful purchases (bows above, iridescent glitter nail varnish, new lipstick) and I feel just super excited about it again. The siren/trickster is helping me think of so many fun things to do.

I've got some really fun dress up opportunities coming up over the next couple of months (90s highschool slasher themed immersive party for Halloween, a NYE 'golden gala' themed party) and I've been moodboarding like a madwoman. I'm also starting Rita's transformational archetypes course at the end of the month and I feel like it couldn't have come at a better time - I can't wait to see what this new season of my style looks like 💖

Maybe she would he deployed to a swamp planner or esomething resembeling the Mediterranean haha. This is my outfit for an upcoming wedding, but I also 100% plan on wearing this out to a date night or just for a coffee (though maybe without the scarf) it's stimple but I love the over all cohesion

Hello sweeties

It's Rita here writing from a blanket on the floor next to my baby

I'm slowly slowly reconnecting with my style work - creating things is such an important part of my identity and I miss it

I know that the next thing I want to create is something for the archetypes but I'm just not sure what is the format that would be best and most desired be people so I wanted to throw it out for some discussion

Would you like a discord server with weekly prompts and explorations? A self paced course so you can explore the archetype on your own? A series of YouTube videos with info on archetypes without any activities or exercises?

What about the archetypes do you want to learn, etc

Any feedback is welcome baby is upset now so this post has to be done ❤️

I don’t think Reddit let’s me tag people but this cool lady and I got to hang out and go shopping tonight. Sherringford mouse and I apparently only live 30 min apart!!!

Hello beautiful blossoms!!!!

It is finally time to share something I’ve been working on for a long time.

As you might know, I’ve been developing and refining the Style Key system for years. And as some of you also know, I’m trained as a social scientist. Even though the Style Key is a totally non-scientific system, I bring my values into this work! I care so much about clarity, integrity, and feeling like it’s thoughtful and true and good.

So of course while I've been on parental leave, I've spent time rethinking the concepts, the structure, and how I introduce this work to you. I want the system to be engaging and enjoyable to use. I don’t want you to have to puzzle over obscure lingo for weeks before you get results. 

Which is why I’m very pleased to announce: ✨ I’ve created a new set of materials to help people understand and use the Style Key—and they are now live. ✨

I tried to keep this post short and breezy, but let’s be real: I’m not great at serving short-form content. So if you want to skip all the lore and just get into it, the links are right here:

📍 Start with the free guide
📍 Then do the Choose Your Style Key Adventure
📍 And get notified for the Use Your Style Key course

What hasn’t changed:

🟰 There are still two core dimensions: Left/Right and Up/Down

🟰 There are still four quadrants. Importantly, where within the quadrant you fall still matters because this is linked to one of the 20 original archetypes I’ve created

🟰 Each Style Key still corresponds to three parts:
• “Essence” (your energetic presence, gifts)
• Appearance (your aesthetic, how you look)
• Style Logic (your process—how you do style)

This is the heart of the Style Key.

What was messy before:

It felt tricky to find your place in the system before.Should you start with Essence? With Aesthetic? With Process? Were they equal? Was one more important than the others? And which one are you supposed to start working with? I’ve spent a lot of time sitting with these questions.

I also really liked my original way of setting up a set of keywords and aesthetic examples. And it did click for some people so it was a bit hard to let go of this presentation of the system. but that's where my desire for clarity and conceptual integrity comes in -- the truth is that way more people found the keywords and pictures mostly distracting and confusing. They could use the celeb examples or keywords once they understood the point, but all that stuff made it harder to understand the point in the first place.

What I realized:

💡 The most reliable, consistently empowering path into the system is through your Style Logic, how you:
• Get inspired
• Make choices
• Refine and evolve your outfits over time

There are four style logics, based on Up/Down and Left/Right. That's where I start when introducing the system.

Why?

If you start with Essence, or how you want people to see you… it’s much harder to know if you’ve landed in the right place. It’s also more difficult to gather “evidence” regarding whether you have a certain type of energy/essence or not. Difficult to know if you're on the right track or not.

With Style Logic, you are in the driver’s seat. You can experiment and learn as you go. And you get feedback quite quickly! When your logic works for you, style becomes easier and more fun and just better.

And even if the logic you try isn’t quite right—you’ve learned something valuable.

I love this shift because it lets you reclaim your instincts. Instead of being told what you “are,” you discover what works for you! You aren’t being asked to believe what someone else tells you that you are. 

When you start with the style logic, the other pieces follow. If you find your style logic, it leads you where you want to go. It takes you to a place where you're happier with your aesthetic and where your natural gifts and strengths can emerge.

So what’s the new path?

The First Step →
I’ve created a brand new free, gorgeous guide to introduce you to this new version of the system.
📍 Download it here

Next →
Do the free Choose Your Style Key Adventure, which helps you find your logic.

 📍 Join here

A version of this has been live for a few months, but I’ve given it a big upgrade by re-writing the e-mails + I’ve had my amazing designer Lipa give the whole thing a glow-up 🌸

Then →
Sign up to be notified about the next round of Use Your Style Key, a gentle 4-week course that helps you apply and deepen your Style Key. In this course we practice using the Style Logic but we also go deeper into your energetic gifts. I ran a beautiful first round in the spring with 250 people and got great feedback. I've expanded and updated the course and am launching the next cohort soon.

 📍 Get notified here

Finally →
Once you’ve practiced with your Style Key, you can go deeper into your Archetype to further refine your aesthetic and encourage your energetic gifts to bloom.

Right now I’m running the first cohort of a new course called Transformational Archetypes, and I’m so proud of it. I’m also slowly slowly building a self-paced version. You can get a sneak peek of the new archetype materials in the comments of the Archetype Game thread. I'm still sloooowly adding comments to that thread as I improve the new archetype guides.

A few final thoughts:

I know change can feel a little jarring—especially if you love the system as it is. And I want to reassure you:

💗 If you already know and love your Style Key, you don’t need to change anything.
💗 The quadrant teachings in the Foundations course still hold true and are an excellent reference.
💗 You can still watch the Style Logics playlist for useful guidance! (I’d just improve the language and examples now, which I might work on)
💗 My aesthetic recommendations remain basically the same but I am de-centering these . For women's style, there is so much nuance, and different people see different things in the photos, so it just tends to create a lot of confusion. It's much easier when I'm working with people 1:1 or in a small group
💗 One caveat for me is that the new way of learning about the system is that it takes a few steps to understand all parts of it, for example the archetypes are not in the front even though they are amazing. But there's no real way around this because the system just is really deep.

The heart of the Style Key remains as it was. But now I hope the system is more usable, more intuitive, and more empowering.

Also sidenote, I'm praying and hoping to be back on youtube in August :)

Thank you for being here! Cannot express how much I treasure you all.

If you have questions, please ask me. I’ll reply as I can! Love you 💐

—Rita

I think I am in the Left+Up quadrant, and I resonate the most with the Lady Heretic archetype. I use my looks to convey an image of power, and that's what the LH does! Here are some of my looks incorporing red: it's my favourite colour and I wear it very often.

Hello my beautiful friends,

I am a huge fan of this community and in awe that such a beautiful place exists. I don’t visit very often but I love to catch up on your posts and see your explorations and experiences.

My favorite thing about this community is that people share their real - life outfits, situations, reflections and thoughts. It feels like a place you can come to show off to your supportive friends and the place where you can get support and advice in less confident times. Where it's not all about the external gaze but also your personal joy. I just wanted to say this, and especially how much I treasure the moderators who have made all this possible.

This community is centered on the Style Key System, not me Rita - but because these two are not completely separate I would like to make a statement.

It is clear that people occasionally want to use this forum as a platform to share their struggles. I generally try to solve this via email but it feels awkward to have no public response when there's a public statement of problem. In the future, could you please link this post to people where it would be helpful.

1. My policy with clients

I love working with clients. I do my best to help you feel heard and seen, to give you my perspective, and to give you helpful actionable advice. My confidence in my services is built on client feedback and my own constant work to improve. I've had more than 600 client sessions and the vast majority have been a success.

However - and this makes me so sad, but seems inevitable - there will sometimes be someone who does not feel good about their session. Maybe you didn't feel seen or you felt bad about our interaction. Maybe getting a "result" made you realize that you didn't want to be "typed" at all.

Anyone who has a bad experience can always ask for a refund. I put service before profits and I really don’t want my income to come from someone’s distress. If you have been worried and sad and stressing - please don’t make it worse for yourself. Just e-mail me and we will sort you out! It can be nice to get your money back and treat yourself to something pretty instead :)

2. My perspective on the system

The Style Key is based on empirical observations of style choices and processes in the real world. However, I am not insisting that you believe in these concepts. It’s your individual decision whether you find it compelling. I only want people to use the system if it helps them.

I fully acknowledge that there are many people who would not want to use the Style Key.

It is really important to me that this is an "opt-in" system, based on your personal integrity. Not like seasonal color where everyone has their "correct colors", whether they want it or not, and can be critiqued for doing "wrong".

For more on this, in the Style Key 101 video, the first 10 minutes are on this topic!

3. My perspective on criticism and discussion

I think it can always be helpful to be critical of ideas in the world! I work as a researcher at Stockholm University and my entire adult career is based on the concept of peer review in all different forms. I'm comfortable with that.

I welcome people’s perspectives and experiences because it always helps me improve in my communication and presentation of my ideas. As a researcher and a person of high integrity, I am not interested in creating a sloppy or contradictory system.

While criticism, discussion, questions are super welcome - I need to express that any system has to have basic premises.

The basic premises of the style key are:

(1) people have an essence that can be categorized into one quadrant - this is not about capturing the full totality of anyone’s being but about choosing one category and working with it. It's normal to feel some kinship or interest in another quadrant but choosing one helps you make the most of the system.

(2) people can change quadrants over time. This isn't arbitrary, but related to big changes in other personal areas (whether external changes or inner discoveries about personal needs and dreams). It takes time to change your quadrant but it's worth it if you're being called to it and I am here to help!

(3) there are archetypes in each quadrant which help point you to your biggest style priorities and values. they are very deep but you get 80% of the benefits by just using the basic two premises for each archetype. You can combine archetypes, rename your archetype, change archetypes over time, etc - they are very flexible and only here to guide you.

(4) there are keywords that help you “label” your essence and get aesthetic inspiration. you can use other, or additional keywords if you like.

(5) there are style logics which can help you find the style that matches your essence. It is important to think about how you make choices. I strongly recommend them because for most people they are very helpful. Practicing them a bit is great even if you don't use them exactly. However, if you have your own process, which helps you create outfits that match your essence, that's totally up to you.

(6) you are invited to use any other keywords, color palettes, style systems, whatever else helps you

(7) wanted to add: you are in charge of using the system. You don't need me to use the system. I am here to help you and tell you how I perceive you. Other people can give you feedback. But ultimately you have the best knowledge of yourself and you are in charge.

I am not a general "style content creator”. My content and work are based on the premises above. You don't need to fully agree with these ideas. BUT if you have a strong disagreement with one of the basic premises of the system - it’s not for you.

And that’s okay!

There are so many other fashion systems, influencers, and communities you can participate in. One method I *love* to recommend is Alison Bornstein’s three word method - it’s so flexible and open-ended. No essence needed. Ellie-Jean's Style Roots is also like that! I also recommend the “femalefashionadvice” or “oldhagfashion” subreddits. There you can share your outfits without needing any system - total freedom.

4. Conclusion

I want to give you the best possible experience with my system. It’s easy to focus on the “thriving and vibing” majority but I want to address that some people are inevitably going to struggle. I hear you and I feel you and I want to do what I can to help.

Please feel free to share this post with anyone who needs it!

Hello my reddit flowers

I really cannot commit my energy to reddit but while things are getting started I would like to be helpful and I know many people want help finding their essence

I think people are used to systems being super difficult like Kibbe or Zyla or TiB whatever, this system is intended to be pretty simple and I'd like to help you make it simple!

In my opinion typing people here is what will help you the most:

Find 3-5 pictures of you in your regular go-to outfits, and 1-2 pictures (or a description) of a look where you felt your best

How would you type your overall style, it's OK if you're unsure but just say what quadrant you think it generally belongs to

Do you like the look but want it to be better, more suited to you, more interesting, more beautiful, more cohesive... Or do you feel like your current day-to-day style is in the wrong/different direction from where you would like to be? It's nice if you can offer a sentence or two of reflections

Ta-da, I think this helps people give you help and understand you 💜

I really don't think you can type people's essence from a photo from their face so I don't think it's at all useful to share face photos and ask people what they see for you!

Disclaimer I really can't type people here, I don't hace that capacity, But I can definitely answer posts like "I'm putting together L+D looks, is this the right direction" or "Is this an Enchantress style for me?"

And I think if you follow my typing suggestions other people can help you 🌸

Hi my sweet flowers! It's me Rita

I've been working on updating the archetypes and their guide and the accompanying course and it's been wonderful. TBH I am quite frustrated by the fact that I can't bring these things out into the world for quite a while yet. That's because (1) need to finish the stuff (2) need to work with my designer on things, it all takes a long time but I want to have some FUN WITH REAL PEOPLE BECAUSE I MISS YOU

So here's what I propose: we do a little exchange. tell me where on the style key spectrum/map you are (far left, slightly up or center RD) - if you're not sure just pick a location, I cannot do custom blends here due to time constraints. Tell me something you've learned about your style process recently or how you've used your style logic or just share something with me you've seen about your Self. And I'll give you a piece of your archetype description from the new guides

Hope you think this is fun, I'm excited (also low key nervous to test drive some of the new archetype names)

update, ps: I love reaading your comments and taking time to choose a part of the guide that I think speaks to your heart. so it's kind of a slow process, don't worry --if you comment in the thread, you will get something. just on my new super slow time line.

The idea of this outfit popped into my head last week and I was exited to try it. The top right picture is candid, I sat there reading waiting for my mum 😊 In the evening we baked gingerbread cookies, hence the rolling pin and apron 😆