Tools Not Rules

Preparing to leave for a quick getaway to Montreal tomorrow, I’m staring at my suitcase with trepidation. There’s a lot of rules I always try to follow about clothes for travel…Rule #1: Not too much, need to carry my own suitcase. Rule #2: No wrinkly fabrics. Rule #3: Try to fit in the gym shoes (need to find a light, small collapsible pair…have been saying this through a decade of business travel). Rule #4: Similar color palette so you can get away with one or two pair of shoes. With all these rules to follow, I usually end up in the same thing…black head to toe. In other words, utterly boring.

Enter my friend Darcey – personal style consultant extraordinaire. She’s got me pawing through my closet looking for something called a “thriller” … you know that one piece that makes you go “Damn I look good.” Her idea is that most people start with the basics and build up. Exactly the wrong tact to take apparently. Rather she's a proponent of "Thriller, Filler, Spiller." You start with the wow, fill in around it, and "spill" a pop of color to add interest. Or so I've interpreted her directions.

So my new Rachel Roy jacket with leather patches and a zipper up the back is about as close as I’m going to come to a thriller. Of course it breaks the rules (bulkier than necessary) and will require another pair of shoes. But then Darcey’s also trying to get me to embrace the idea of “Tools Not Rules,” an interesting principle on every level. Her premise being that if you give people rules, it sets them up to be broken. As opposed to tools, it equips them for success. Probably a lot to be applied here to other areas, but I'll leave that for later.

OK Darcey. Going back to get the bigger suitcase. Especially after reading your latest blog about not knowing what opportunities or new people you might encounter on your travels. (www.darceyhoward.blogspot.com) Off to Montreal!

Ciao,
Jules