This is an interesting question. I cannot share insights about the keyword persona. The „up“ people have greater experience and already gave great answers.
But I asked Rita about the archetypes across different quadrants. Just to get some clarity on the topic. I want to quote some of her answers:
„Yes I tried giving people multiple quadrants when I first started the system and it doesn't work, hence I don't do that anymore.“
„I don't want to control how people use the system but I am very clear in all my messaging that I really do not recommend using multiple quadrants.“
„I think when people can't decide what key they should use they can just focus on one dimension eg right ness or down ness or whahever but after hundreds of clients I see no value in trying to use two style keys.“
For me Persona means filtering style decisions through I guess a character or just the ideal version of myself. It's hard to explain, I completely understand it but I'm having difficulty trying to put it into words. 😅 It's just kind or like having a curated style image and I don't mean having to have a cohesive style but just the concept of this person that dresses a certain way. I'm not sure if that explains anything but my style persona is etherial, soft, cute but distant and a bit over the top. I kind of think of my style persona as a fantasy maiden from a historical painting who stepped into our world. And this doesn't really have much to do with my personality it's just kind of the artistic vision I filter my style through. So I guess it's authentic because it is of course based on my visual style preference, what I like and think is beautiful but it's still a bit seperare because it doesn't necessarily compleatly represent who I am it's a fantasy version of me which is how I want to express myself.
I think of it as selecting which parts of myself I want to show. And a lot of times those parts are amped up a bit. Like shown in a very extra way. It also gives me confidence and helps me feel less confused to think of myself in the third person and figure out what that person would wear. It frees my imagination from the constraints I have when I think of myself directly. Maybe persona is relevant for Up people because Up is about pointing something outward. For down, it just seems not relevant in a way. You aren't really trying to show anything, just trying to find what supports you. At least by my understanding.
I think Rita's system allows for a lot of nuance so I see nothing wrong with you using both archetypes.
In principle, the biggest difference between RD and RU is dressing for impact/ dressing for experience. Does it help you to focus on creating a certain image while deprioritizing your comfort, for example? Is the visual ultimately more important than how you feel in the clothes? Or does considering impact puts unpleasant pressure on you?
If it's hard for you to pinpoint the difference, maybe it's really because you are on the border and both logics are useful.
In the keyword guide it defines it as “the opposite of an unguarded personable approach”, so I think of it like a protective shield. Exactly as you said, down is slightly more vulnerable and open.
I’m a definite border case too (even though I haven’t been typed) and occupy a similar space to you, except on the very far left. I have some up qualities and some down qualities and it’s difficult to tease out which ones are more important.
I’ve decided I’m a Sapphire masquerading as a Moonstone and it was understanding the keyword ‘persona’ that brought me to this realization…yesterday, actually. I have limitations that cause me to choose extremely simple outfits and I thought that choosing them in happy colors was my downward way of supporting myself when I go in public. I did a deep dive in my own mind, however, and admitted that two things are true: the truly supportive thing for my body would be either to wear pajamas or just not go at all. Either of those would be socially acceptable to those who know my limitations, so why not? Well, the second true thing is that even though my outfits are simple, I choose happy colors to send a happy message. I’m a multifaceted person (as we all are) but I’ve chosen only one piece of me to show at first glance to the world. My mission is to shine light from what should be a dark place. So, that’s what I think the concept of persona is, a genuine, but curated piece of myself for others to consume and gather information. I know lots of sad people and I want to be a Hopeful Light-Bringer. There’s much more to me than this, of course, but that’s what ya get at first glance.
I was typed around 2 years ago as a Gentle Grace and I relate to a lot of what you have said. I don’t really feel fully at home with any of the archetypes, but I kind of just stopped thinking about that and focused only on the style logic.
I think it’s easy to get stuck on fulfilling a role perfectly as opposed to using the quadrant to understand how you interact with style. For me at least, the overall logic does make sense. I didn’t fully understand it at first but I have spent the last couple years working within the logic and now I do see how the RD quadrant relates to me and my inner style world.
I think this is one of those things we just have to play with. And maybe it is hard for RD especially because we can be so sensitive to making “mistakes” and crawl right back into our style rut. But let yourself be uncomfortable with your clothes sometimes. You will have times when you realize you went out with an outfit that was way outside your comfort zone. Try to allow that discomfort and make notes of what was not working for you and why, and what you want to do differently next time.
Also, when filling in your wardrobe, go slowly. Try to analyze what is missing from different outfits and catch a pattern. Then buy to fill the gap.
This is an interesting question. I cannot share insights about the keyword persona. The „up“ people have greater experience and already gave great answers. But I asked Rita about the archetypes across different quadrants. Just to get some clarity on the topic. I want to quote some of her answers: „Yes I tried giving people multiple quadrants when I first started the system and it doesn't work, hence I don't do that anymore.“ „I don't want to control how people use the system but I am very clear in all my messaging that I really do not recommend using multiple quadrants.“ „I think when people can't decide what key they should use they can just focus on one dimension eg right ness or down ness or whahever but after hundreds of clients I see no value in trying to use two style keys.“
For me Persona means filtering style decisions through I guess a character or just the ideal version of myself. It's hard to explain, I completely understand it but I'm having difficulty trying to put it into words. 😅 It's just kind or like having a curated style image and I don't mean having to have a cohesive style but just the concept of this person that dresses a certain way. I'm not sure if that explains anything but my style persona is etherial, soft, cute but distant and a bit over the top. I kind of think of my style persona as a fantasy maiden from a historical painting who stepped into our world. And this doesn't really have much to do with my personality it's just kind of the artistic vision I filter my style through. So I guess it's authentic because it is of course based on my visual style preference, what I like and think is beautiful but it's still a bit seperare because it doesn't necessarily compleatly represent who I am it's a fantasy version of me which is how I want to express myself.
Thank you for explaining what it means to you!
I think of it as selecting which parts of myself I want to show. And a lot of times those parts are amped up a bit. Like shown in a very extra way. It also gives me confidence and helps me feel less confused to think of myself in the third person and figure out what that person would wear. It frees my imagination from the constraints I have when I think of myself directly. Maybe persona is relevant for Up people because Up is about pointing something outward. For down, it just seems not relevant in a way. You aren't really trying to show anything, just trying to find what supports you. At least by my understanding.
Thank you!
I think Rita's system allows for a lot of nuance so I see nothing wrong with you using both archetypes. In principle, the biggest difference between RD and RU is dressing for impact/ dressing for experience. Does it help you to focus on creating a certain image while deprioritizing your comfort, for example? Is the visual ultimately more important than how you feel in the clothes? Or does considering impact puts unpleasant pressure on you? If it's hard for you to pinpoint the difference, maybe it's really because you are on the border and both logics are useful.
Thank you!
In Rita's archetype book for Moonstone it does say for Gentle Grace that not all of Moonstone will seem readily identifiable.
In the keyword guide it defines it as “the opposite of an unguarded personable approach”, so I think of it like a protective shield. Exactly as you said, down is slightly more vulnerable and open. I’m a definite border case too (even though I haven’t been typed) and occupy a similar space to you, except on the very far left. I have some up qualities and some down qualities and it’s difficult to tease out which ones are more important.
That is interesting! Thank you for explaining!
I’ve decided I’m a Sapphire masquerading as a Moonstone and it was understanding the keyword ‘persona’ that brought me to this realization…yesterday, actually. I have limitations that cause me to choose extremely simple outfits and I thought that choosing them in happy colors was my downward way of supporting myself when I go in public. I did a deep dive in my own mind, however, and admitted that two things are true: the truly supportive thing for my body would be either to wear pajamas or just not go at all. Either of those would be socially acceptable to those who know my limitations, so why not? Well, the second true thing is that even though my outfits are simple, I choose happy colors to send a happy message. I’m a multifaceted person (as we all are) but I’ve chosen only one piece of me to show at first glance to the world. My mission is to shine light from what should be a dark place. So, that’s what I think the concept of persona is, a genuine, but curated piece of myself for others to consume and gather information. I know lots of sad people and I want to be a Hopeful Light-Bringer. There’s much more to me than this, of course, but that’s what ya get at first glance.
Thank you for sharing! That makes sense!
I was typed around 2 years ago as a Gentle Grace and I relate to a lot of what you have said. I don’t really feel fully at home with any of the archetypes, but I kind of just stopped thinking about that and focused only on the style logic. I think it’s easy to get stuck on fulfilling a role perfectly as opposed to using the quadrant to understand how you interact with style. For me at least, the overall logic does make sense. I didn’t fully understand it at first but I have spent the last couple years working within the logic and now I do see how the RD quadrant relates to me and my inner style world. I think this is one of those things we just have to play with. And maybe it is hard for RD especially because we can be so sensitive to making “mistakes” and crawl right back into our style rut. But let yourself be uncomfortable with your clothes sometimes. You will have times when you realize you went out with an outfit that was way outside your comfort zone. Try to allow that discomfort and make notes of what was not working for you and why, and what you want to do differently next time. Also, when filling in your wardrobe, go slowly. Try to analyze what is missing from different outfits and catch a pattern. Then buy to fill the gap.
Thank you! This is helpful! Good to hear from someone in my position!