How to Work With a Soul Board: Part One

If you listened to my first guest appearance on the Chrysalis Color podcast, you probably know all about my Soul Board method. But if you don’t, I’m going to tell you exactly what it is, how I use this method to work with my clients, and how you can start one yourself.

When I got serious about improving my personal style, I noticed that a lot of people had personal style boards on Pinterest, where they would save outfits, makeup, and style concepts that appealed to them personally. So I created a style board, too, choosing images based on my color palette and my physical archetype. And while my board looked great, I often struggled to translate these specific images to my real-life wardrobe.

Simultaneously, I was saving a lot of images to a separate board without thinking about style at all. These images were all over the map: classic art, architecture, jewelry, vintage movie stills, landscapes, fabrics. What they all had in common is that they were beautiful to me. They spoke to my heart and made me feel emotional, a sense of longing. I didn’t worry about cohesion when pinning images, but over time the board became pretty naturally harmonious with itself.

I don’t remember how or why, but I started using this board to reverse-engineer my personal style. I noticed a lot of recurring motifs in the images I was choosing: lush flowing fabrics, mermaids, women with long hair, water in all its forms, art nouveau, forests and flowers galore, knits, embroidery. I began to look for these details in clothing and accessories, keeping my palette and archetype’s guidelines in mind. Almost as if like magic, my personal style bloomed. I had it dialed in. The Soul Board was born.

When I started offering personal style coaching, the Soul Board method was at the heart of my work. If a client really isn’t interested in this element of coaching, of course I don’t force them to partake, but most of my clients are really drawn to this concept after years of saving style ideas that didn’t take shape. It’s always amazing to me what can be gleaned from someone’s Soul Board. Everything from perfume notes, patterns, clothing silhouettes, accessories, textures, and personal vibe can be reverse-engineered from the Soul Board.

Personal Color Analysis and Personal Style Analysis are such important tools! But tools are meaningless if you don’t use them - and if you don’t find a way to resonate with them. Not everyone loves their season or archetype right off the bat. Maybe you were draped as a Light Summer but you love dark and moody vibes. Maybe you’re a Dramatic Natural but you love cute little accessories. I believe there is always a way to combine what speaks to your heart with what suits your physicality, and the Soul Board is the best way I’ve found to dig into it.

The beauty of the Soul Board is that you never have to start over (unless you really want to). Pinterest is littered with abandoned style boards, but the Soul Board is flexible. If you used to love light and floaty color schemes, but now you’re into all things Victorian Gothic, it’s no problem. Maybe your preferred color palette has always been cohesive, but the shapes and design details you prefer are different now. You can just keep collaging new images on top. Or if your style has diverged drastically enough, you may choose to start a brand new, wide-open soul board and keep the old one as a reference point for who you were then. I chose to do this after about 10 years of working with one soul board, and I love seeing the evolution and similarities between the two.

So How Do I Start One?

Create a new board. If you feel hampered by the idea that others may see your board, go ahead and make it private!

If you can, try to ignore your color palette and archetype completely, unless they already resonate with you on a heart level. Look for images of landscapes, rooms, foods, fabrics, colors, moods, and other things that are inspiring to you and spark your imagination. Think of movie scenes and book covers that speak to you. If there any quotes that really jump out at you, add them! Your soul board can include images of clothing, but try to stay away from more sterile images like flat lay stock photos. Feel free to pin heart-stopping pieces, beautifully-styled shoots, and other images involving clothing that really speak to you.

Your Soul Board is not the place to store aspirational images of people you wish you looked like, body types you wish you had, or hyper-specific clothing items you want to buy. Your Soul Board is about your deepest desires and soul stirrings. Look for images that make you feel authentic, inspired, and emotional. Let your “fantasy self” show up here in all their glory. Our fantasy selves can be important tools in helping us figure out what we really want from life and style. Try not to edit your board too much later, unless you save something that you decide you don’t really like after all.

If you’ve been on Pinterest for a while, your Home page may have some great suggestions for you to get started with. If you’re new to Pinterest, try searching for things you already know you like. They can be anything - candles, desert landscapes, modern art, bookshelves, panthers, charcuterie plates. You can also try browsing color analysis mood boards, because there’s usually a wide variety of subjects represented.

Then What?

Keep collecting images to your board. Sign into Pinterest every day and see what your Home page suggests to you. Scroll for a few minutes while you brush your teeth or drink your morning coffee. After a while, your board will take shape. Then you can take a step back and review your board with a curious eye.

In Part Two next week, I’ll describe how to break down your soul board into specific style concepts.

Want to work with me?