Can two strangers – and two words – tell you who you really are?

By Carly Krug

Beauty may be skin deep, but style goes a lot further than the clothes on our back. Take your typical Sienna Miller outfit, for instance. On me, it doesn’t work. Not because I’m not as thin, beautiful or blonde as Miller (I’m not) but because Boho meets Soho with an English accent just isn’t me.

I’ve spent years wondering why some women (myself excluded) can pull of a poor boy cap with playful panache. Or why on others a scarf knotted at the neck is carefree and chic, while on me it’s chokingly contrived.

And yet it only took an hour with Vancouver style shrinks Carrie McCarthy and Danielle LaPorte and two words as my Style Statement to discover why.

Seated in their sunny Kits studio, McCarthy and LaPorte pepper me with me with soft-spoken questions. Some are easy: What’s your favourite flower? (hydrangea) If you came into a lot of money what’s the first thing you’d buy? (plane ticket) Where in the world do you feel most comfortable? (forest) Others required more thought: What would you wear to the Academy Awards? (black and elegant, think Felicity Huffman) Your belief system? (Karma)

After an hour of “all about me,” both women retreat to a back office to discuss my prognosis. A surprisingly short time later they return and present me with: Sophisticated Natural.

I try it on for size. And it fits – like a glove. A lifetime of internal debate as to whether my style is more au natural (camping and hiking boots) or of-the-moment (cocktails and high heels) melts away. Suddenly, I’ve been granted permission to embrace both.

"It operates on the 80-20 principal,” says McCarthy. “The first word is your 80 percent, the second word is your 20 percent.” The 80 percent is your essence, the inner you. Whereas the 20 percent is your twist, edge or accent, she explains.

Sophisticated describes my love of classic, urban and clean lines. Natural goes deeper than outdoorsy and alludes to my dislike of anything artificial or pretentious. And a need for acceptance.

McCarthy (an interior designer) developed the concept when she realized non-décor questions helped determine her client’s desired esthetic. LaPorte was in public relations, but was so moved by her own Style Statement (Sacred Dramatic) that she joined forces with McCarthy.

“At first we thought it was about our living rooms,” laughs LaPorte. But, McCarthy adds, “It has to apply to your couch – and to your marriage. It really is that encompassing.” LaPorte says her two words shed light on her material values.

“I never buy anything just to fill a space,” she says, also, “I can’t do anything to just make money. It has to be meaningful.”

While McCarthy (Refined Treasure) found it was important for her to take time to cherish herself every morning.

Others have been just as affected by their $150 session. Many have shed tears. One woman (Traditional Sexy) threw out half her wardrobe. Another (Cherished Playful) started dating again at 60.

The Style Statement’s success (they’ve imparted hundreds, a book deal is in the works, and the TV show rights have been sold) is: “It’s meant to pull you forward. It may not be who you are everyday, but this is he best you,” says McCarthy.

LaPorte instructs me to use mine like a compass. “Communicate who you are in all you do.” Before you buy a shirt, contemplate a career change, throw a dinner party – ask yourself what Sophisticated Natural would do, she says.

For those who squirm at the thought of labeling themselves (let alone with one ostentatious-sounding as ‘sophisticated’) McCarthy and LaPorte have this to say: “ A style statement is an invitation to think highly of yourself…because if you don’t nobody will.”