4. The Year Of Ruts
In this week’s episode, Merritt starts off with a few *very* personal updates… TMI, in fact. She also gives a more thorough review of Squid Game, the Korean horror show on Netflix she’s been watching, as well as the Gwen Shamblin docuseries, The Way Down, on HBOMAX. Additionally, she talks Kate Middleton’s recent fashion moments and her favorite collections from fashion month before diving into the main topic of the week. Merritt’s been in a rut with just about everything in the last year and a half! She discusses what those ruts are and how she’s trying to dig her way out of them, from diet and fitness to dating and work. Hopefully there are some helpful takeaways in there…! To end the episode, Merritt answers listener questions on engagement photos and creating a wardrobe based on color analysis!
Call into the Beck and Call hotline to ask Merritt anything! Call 214-620-0473 to leave a voicemail and Merritt will answer your question in a future episode.
LINKS TO ITEMS MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE:
Food: Sakara review and Butternut Squash Noodles recipeHardcore On The Floor for Peloton
Please be sure to rate, review and subscribe, and follow Merritt on Instagram @merrittbeck for more content!
EPISODE AUDIO TRANSCRIPTION
Hey guys, welcome back to the beck and call podcast. I'm your host Merritt Beck. I am a fashion and lifestyle blogger. And on this podcast I'm talking about all things life work and love as a single woman in my 30s. If you missed it on previous episodes, I live in Dallas, Texas, and right now we've got the State Fair of Texas going on, which is very favorite thing about fall here in Dallas. We usually have it every year. But of course due to the pandemic last year, it was canceled, and this year, it's back and I am going on Wednesday with Liza, we're gonna go during lunch and just eat our hearts out all of my favorite fried foods. I love fried oreos, I love turkey legs. So you got to get a Fletcher's corny dog and I say mustard only. I don't know about you guys, but that's my favorite way to do it. And then this year, they have something called the armadillo and it won one of the awards this year. It is a funnel cake in the shape of an armadillo with cookie butter ice cream in the middle how incredible this sound? I'm definitely getting one of those lies has already been and she said it's huge and doesn't think I can finish it all. But let's make a wager shall we? I thought it might actually be fun to have Liza on the podcast next week to introduce her to you guys. But also we can go over what our favorite things were when we went to the fair. So we're gonna work that in and I thought I might also talk about hiring as a business owner or self employed person. So we can kind of work that all into next week's episode with Liza. In addition to the fair, I've got some other kind of random things happening this week. So this probably TMI. But last week, I went to house of preservation for a little consultation. It's kind of a med spa here in Dallas, and I went in for laser hair removal. And I've never had it done. And I'm I'm pretty fair, so I wasn't sure if it would work on me. So I went in for a console just to kind of see what they thought and we're gonna do it. Because I've had such a bad experience with waxing and triggering, it is so painful. I did sugaring right before my California trip. And while effective, I was miserable, I was sweating, I was in so much pain, I was like so tense. I don't know how people do that regularly. And I'm sure it gets less uncomfortable, the more you do it, but I'm just not willing to put up with that kind of pay for it. So I'm trying laser hair removal, and my first appointment is tomorrow. And I will definitely let y'all know how it goes. I'm pretty sure she said it's like 175 a session and you do sessions over a period of several months. So like I'll have one now. And then I think I'll come in four weeks later and do another session. But I'm really excited to do it. I'm doing my bikini area, it's a pain point for me because I always get razor burn when I shave. And like I said sugaring and waxing is so painful for me, I thought I had a low pain or a high pain tolerance, but not with that appear. And then something else I am doing, which I have maybe talked about a little bit on my Instagram stories, but I didn't think I was gonna do it. I have several friends that have had their eggs frozen, and I'm 34 I am single. So I'm also still very much on the fence about whether I even want children. But I also don't want to make the mistake of not doing something about it. If that is eventually something I want to do. So I've ultimately decided to go forward with egg freezing, I really just decided to do it a few months ago. And it's been kind of a struggle working it out. I didn't realize how you know in depth and complicated it was in terms of scheduling. So I've really had to wait until I've been back in town. And my first injection is next Wednesday. So I'm about to get all the drugs, I'm about to get on a call with my doctor to talk through the whole situation and what I can expect and all that stuff. But I'll keep you guys updated on my journey. But the reason I really decided to do it. So I went in after I had a few friends go through this process. And it was just I sort of wanted to find out what my levels were just to kind of get an idea of what we're working with. And I was a little surprised to find out that my Hmh levels were on the low side of average, like just a couple points above being on the low side. So that sort of kick started my desire to do this. I really didn't think I was going to do this, but I am doing it. So hopefully they'll get some stuff out of there and things that I can use in the future. But I just wanted to let you know that I'm doing that and we'll keep y'all updated with how it goes. My friend is also doing it kind of at the same time her retrieval may be around the time I start doing the injections. So she and I were talking about maybe her coming on here once we both finished the process and talking about it, but I'll let you guys know about that. And then my final personal update for the week. I booked a trip to New York for the first weekend in December. I'll be going Thursday. Your Sunday and I cannot wait to go obviously it's been a while I haven't been since far before the pandemic. I think it was early December 2019 When I went but I love New York especially during the holiday season is so charming it really gets you in the festive mood for the season and I still have several friends that live there. So I'm flying up there I'm going to stay for a few days and I'm so excited about it
now hopping into the latest I thought we do a little Royals update because we got to see several days of Megan so it's only fitting that we talk about Kate literally days after Megan and Harry's New York tour Kate and will went to the double oh seven premiere in London and she stepped out in the most beautiful gold sequins custom Jenny Packham gown if you're interested in royal fashion at all I highly recommend following ie homes on Instagram it's Elizabeth Holmes and she is an expert on royal fashion whereas you know I just linked to Megan's outfits on Sussex style watch Elizabeth really breaks down each outfit the Royals step out in so what's the meaning behind the brands that they chose to wear? Does this outfit remind you of another royal that wore it like for example, in this case, Kate's Jenny Packham gown has a lot of similarities in the shape and style to Diana's dress that she wore to a different double oh seven premiere in London decades ago. She even made a connection between the hairstyles which again I wouldn't have noticed but Kate's hair is so much longer and it was in an up do whereas Diana's hair was just short but the way it was styled definitely reminds you of it when you compare the two photos it's really cool. Anyway, the photos of Kate that night were beautiful. She was radiant. She had the biggest smile on her face. Those photos kind of reminded me of the iconic Harry and Megan under the umbrella moment when they were finalizing their engagements as senior members of the royal family it just beautiful like such a such striking images of Kate and then the very next day she and wills stepped out in Ireland and she was wearing this vibrant purple Emilia wickstead suit a blazer and pants set and paired that with a navy turtleneck and navy pump so very colorful look after a gorgeous gold sequins look it was too awesome looks back to back in the last little royal news tidbit Princess Beatrice announced the name of her daughter. It's Sienna Elizabeth Elizabeth obviously ties back to her grandmother Queen Elizabeth and Sienna his great grandmother and Sienna is a city in Italy and her husband is from an Italian noble family or I think his father grandfather is double check that So tying in both of those which I think is really sweet. And it's such a cute name. Can't wait to see more of the Royal babies.
Okay, last week, I promised you guys an update on squid game if you missed last week's episode squid game is a new show on Netflix. It's a Korean show. And it is crazy wild. It's so different. I was trying to explain it to my mom, because I'm not sure it's something she would watch. But she did see the movie parasite. And it's similar to that. And it's so well done. It is creative and so different and really pulls you in. There's a lot of good character development, a lot of good twists, and you know, plot turns and that kind of thing. And I highly recommend it. But again, it's very gory. It's sort of a horror film. But it's, you know, action packed and interesting as well. But spoiler alert, I'm going to talk a little bit more about it. So skip ahead. If you are currently watching it or haven't watched it yet and want to watch it. It basically follows one man at the beginning it opens up to a bunch of other people. But in the beginning, this man who's really struggling with debt, he's being followed around by mobsters who are beating him up. He can't afford to like help his mother, his mother's giving him money. He's just he's sort of a deadbeat. He's a deadbeat. Dad can't take care of his kid. And he ends up getting approached by a man in the subway, who wants to play a game with him. And he said he'll pay him to play this game. And so he plays and he gets the money. The guy gives him a card to call him if he wants to keep playing. And of course, the man who is desperate for money, all of these people who are desperate for money and in serious debt and in trouble take this opportunity. So they're being preyed upon. And they go to this island and play all of these childhood games. It's games like red light, green light, and some other games that I'm less familiar with, but that apparently are popular in Korean culture. And so each episode or every other episode, they play a new game. And the catch is that if you don't play the game, right, or you, you know, don't win the game. They kill you. And every time a contestant dies throughout the process, the pot of winnings gets bigger. so they continue to play more people get weeded out, and then you know somebody wins at the end. But the show is such an interesting concept. Of course, it's like devastating and terrible. I mean, these people who are already in bad with people and in debt are being preyed upon and it's made into a joke. It really gives you a lot to think about, but it's really a creative show. I highly recommend it. If this sounds at all interesting to you definitely check it out. It's squid game on Netflix. Another thing I watched in the last week is the way down. It's on HBO Max, and it's a docu series about GWEN SHAMBLIN And I had no idea who she was. I have been seeing photos of her huge hair on Instagram the last week and figured I should watch it just to know what people are talking about and referring to and so I watched the I think three or four episodes that they have so far on HBO max on Sunday, and it was a really interesting, so if you haven't seen it, Gwen Shamblin is the creator of the way down workshop which was basically a workshop dedicated to getting people to lose weight and they tied it to Christianity so like she would say if you're hungry, but your stomach's not growling pray instead of eating so basically, teaching people to start disordered eating habits. This then kind of became the Remnant Fellowship Church because it was so tied to religion, why not make it a church to so this lady was basically a cult leader, very charismatic, got people to kind of cut off their families and only stick with the church right deals broke off from mainstream Christianity and that she didn't believe in the Holy Trinity that God alone and not Jesus or the Holy Spirit were to be worshipped. She also had insane hair that got higher every year. I don't know how anybody trusted her simply because of that because it is full of secrets. But anyway, I really enjoyed it. They're I think only three or four episodes right now, but they're still filming it because although GWEN SHAMBLIN is now dead, she died in a plane crash. Her daughter is now taken over the Remnant Fellowship Church. So the Docu series will continue but I think they're still filming and planning to release more episodes next year. So really going to look forward to that once that comes out because now I'm hooked very interested in cults and all of that stuff. It's very interesting to me, but also since it's Halloween month, wouldn't GWEN SHAMBLIN be kind of the perfect Halloween costume for any blonde build your hair up really high wear a strapless mini dress I mean, put on some bad eyeliner. I know it's kind of tasteless, considering she's dead now but she was kind of a bad person. So I don't feel that bad but I just thought it would be a great Halloween costume. And then the last thing I want to talk about which doesn't really fashion doesn't really translate that well over podcasts but fashion month is over and I usually kind of keep an eye on what's going on but it wasn't until last week that I really looked at all the collections and I thought I share some of my faves here. So the stod collection was really fun. Lots of it was like a fruit bowl color palette perfect for vacation. I'm so ready for fall but I'm already kind of interested in spring just knowing what they have coming out really cute stuff. And then a couple of my favorite collections were the more feminine ones. That's generally kind of the vibe I like to look at in the spring with light colors and obviously florals groundbreaking soft neutrals, that kind of thing. Adam Lepus his collection was really great. I'm probably saying it wrong lupus, lupus. He had a lot of soft colors. It was all very wearable but elegant. And then obviously Monique Lhuillier a I love her things always whimsical and romantic, lots of soft colors. There was one particular dress that caught my attention and it was sort of a mint green full skirted mini dress and it had this giant flouncy ruffle all along kind of the bust neckline area. It was so stunning. I also loved Oscar de la Renta as they they had fun floral prints, some lace work and fringe details and then the gowns are really solid and vibrant, bright colors. And then another of the really high end designers that I loved this season or for spring 2022 is Fendi It was stunning neutrals, lots of kind of roaring 20 fives with tiered fringe pieces, high gathered necklines, I just loved it. And I thought the most inventive collection was Louis Ave. They had very interesting drape work sharp structural shapes within pieces. And then they also incorporated these rigid metal pieces woven into the fabric. So it added cool silhouette like it added kind of shape and structure to certain pieces while also adding like gold shine. It was cool, very interesting, kind of artsy architectural. But anyway, I just wanted to share some of those favorites from fashion month if you want to check them out. You can look at all of the collections on Vogue they have all of the fashion shows and pictures from each collection
Alright, This week's main topic, I wanted to cover ruts and getting out of ruts because I feel like this last year, year and a half, I'm blaming the pandemic, I have been in one big rut from diet and exercise to work to obviously dating has been kind of put on hold my whole life feels like one giant rut. So I thought today, I'd chat about some of those ruts that I'm in and how I'm trying to get out of them. And also share some tips if you are also in similar ruts on how to kind of alleviate the issue. So the first one for me has been a food rut and I sort of mentioned this, I think in the last episode or one of the q&a days and talking about like my issue with yo yo dieting, and I've always kind of struggled with my weight over the last year. I obviously cooked a ton during the pandemic, a lot of frozen foods, but I did my best to cook and obviously couldn't go out most of the time. So I got really burnt out on that I got so sick of cooking that earlier this year, I just sort of bought things that were easy to heat up. I didn't bother to check if they're healthy. I bought pastas and all kinds of stuff from Trader Joe's I'd order takeout I just was feeling so lazy and unmotivated to cook, so I was gaining weight, I wasn't fitting in my clothes. And mostly because I just was so burnt out on cooking and was unmotivated to try to eat better. And during the pandemic, several of my friends tried or used secara pretty regularly. And I'd been interested to try it but it hadn't really, you know, had a reason to because I was cooking. But earlier this year, I decided to give it a go. And I did it for five weeks. And I actually did a full review of this on my blog, if you want to check it out style scribd.com. And you can just go to the lifestyle section and the food section to find my Sokar review. But I thought I'd just talk about it quickly on here. I did five weeks of it and actually really enjoyed it. It was all very healthy. It's a vegan kind of meal plan. And it's a subscription service. So they send you fresh ready to eat meals every week. And you can select certain days to do it. I did it pretty much every day of the week. So obviously, that's not something I want to do forever. But it was a great way to kind of reset, reboot my system and start fresh. I also really enjoyed not having to cook or do dishes or do any prep work. It was it really simplified everything I had a very easy five weeks of not having to do any of that stuff. After about five weeks though, I started getting sick of it because even though the menus are pretty diverse, the food does kind of start to taste the same. It's a lot of salads and the things that aren't salads, salads are either kind of vegan burger type things or like a saute with vegetables with like a curry or a Masala or something like that. It just it all eventually starts to taste the same. So after about five weeks, I kind of decided to stop plus I was traveling, I was going to California a couple of times and just wanted to mix it up again, I would totally do Sokar. Again, in the same situation though, like I think it would be such a good thing to do the first few weeks of the new year just to reset your body after the holidays. I would love to try their level to detox though that's something I haven't done yet. And I think they only do it once or twice a month. Whereas obviously the level one is a regular meal plan you can do every week of the year. I feel like the level to detox would be perfect after a like long trip or you're eating a lot or the holiday season if you're really wanting to detox and kind of start over start the year off on a good foot. That would be great to do right now because it's fall which is my favorite season and I can start making really hearty stuff again, like a soup season is my favorite. I love all kinds of chilies and hearty things like that. And so I'm loving cooking again like this week I've made two of my favorite recipes this time of year one is my mom's chicken Dejon and it's just a really, really flavorful delicious chicken dish that I've been putting over cauliflower rice, so it still kind of healthy but very flavorful. And like I said Hardy and warm for the fall season. And then another favorite of mine is the butternut squash noodles. I have that recipe on my blog. So check that out. But it's super easy. You just get the spiralized butternut squash and throw it in a pan with some olive oil and stuff. I usually add some spicy Italian sausage and then goat cheese and sage and it's just so many wonderful fall flavors. It's really easy to make, especially if you're making food for one a great weeknight dinner that's healthy and flavorful and festive for fall. Anyway that was sort of a tangent but what I what I meant to say was this time of year I actually really enjoy cooking. I just really wasn't feeling it this spring summer. So I'm back into the cooking game and a little less out of the rut but I want to do a better job of mixing it up. I get so much in the habit of making the same things things that I know I'm going to like that are easy to make. I get intimidated by recipes that have a million ingredients that I'm only going to use for one thing, which is why so many people do meal plans. It's so effortless but I'm gonna do a good I'm gonna try and do a good job of trying a new recipe each week testing something out, so I'll report back on that, but I feel like that's a great way to kind of mix it up, stop eating the same things, try new stuff. And while I do love the hardier recipes, I'm still trying to eat relatively clean and green when I'm home. So I'm having meat but for the most part, trying to eat vegetables, a lot of vegetables, meat, I do still have cheese, but I'm trying not to make a lot of you know, starch heavy items. Another route I've been definitely still dealing with is an exercise right now you may not think so because I work out every day and I share my workouts on Instagram. But last year, I changed up my workout routine and haven't felt like I've been doing enough ever since. So for a quick backstory I have been or I had been doing up until last year I had been doing BBG which is now high intensity on the sweat app for three years. It is a very challenging workout. It's circuit training in hit cardio style. So think lots of jump lunges, lots of burpees, that kind of stuff and you do three workouts a week and they're just they kill you. It's so hard, but it's incredibly effective. It is truly the most effective workout I have ever done. And I did so well at keeping up with it for three years. But last year during the pandemic of course my motivation wasn't as big because like I wasn't going anywhere and I'd also ordered a peloton, bike and peloton is known for also having so many different types of workouts on their app. So when I got the peloton bike I thought that would be a great time to mix things up and try something new little did I know I would quickly fall off the bandwagon and not have you know working out but I quickly lost all of the stuff that I had worked for simply because nothing compares to the sweat app or you know high intensity on the peloton app and honestly not many workouts do it's like I said BBG was so challenging, really intense. And they're just very few workouts I think that are comparable that will get you the same results and I love the peloton app. I love the tread I love the bike. I'm getting better. I'm getting more into the bike again, I sort of switched it up and I've been using the tread a lot because I do love to run but I love the peloton app I love the variety of classes instructors, they have great playlists. It's really like working out with your own personal trainer, which is great and also different from the sweat app where it's you know animations versus like someone talking to you. But the peloton classes simply are not as challenging and they're not set up in a way that you can really make it a program they do have a couple of programs that are like four weeks long, like a string thing with Andy, I think there's something like that. And more recently, I've seen some of the instructors share kind of workout stacks to mimic a program like that. But it would be so great if they would design that functionality into their app like to show which classes to stack together for a more challenging workout or doing more long workouts. So a lot of their workouts are like 10 or 20 minutes. And so you may want to stack them together but not knowing what's in each each class you may be doubling up on the same thing. So a lot of the classes feature similar workouts and similar moves. And so you don't want to be doing you know, lunges for 40 minutes, you want to have a variety and so I wish they you know, worked on that because I really think the app is incredible but it's just really hard to structure a program that you know keeps getting more challenging and you know makes you improve. Now I do want to mention hardcore on the floor. It is not run by peloton, but it's a Facebook group by peloton users and they also have an Instagram page. I'll link them in my show notes. And you can check it out. But they basically do what I'm saying they're stacking the program for you. They're creating the workout combos for you and they do a pretty good job of it. However, it's not in the app. So you have to go in and search for the classes and do all of that and bookmark them. And it's not a big deal but I'm just it would be so amazing if peloton would just do it. Have it have a program like that in their app. I mean, they have the capabilities there. Their app is just full of classes and instructors and all of that so fingers crossed that some someday they'll figure that out but in the meantime, if you're looking for more structure with your peloton workouts definitely check out hardcore on the floor. But anyway back to my ruts So ever since I quit BBG and started peloton I haven't been able to really match that level of you know, challenge and I just don't feel like I I don't I don't look at all like I did when I was vVg which is okay but you know, I don't want to be doing burpees all day that's kind of why I quit BBG I was like, oh so over all of that high intensity but you think there's got to be other workouts that can do that same kind of work. So I've tried them all I've tried the sculpt society Orangetheory I'm a runner, I've done yoga, pilates, you know, I love, I love strength training. So I've worked out with a trainer before I've done bar, all of these can be effective. But like for me bar, I had to go like seven times a week to get the results that I wanted. And so I really liked the idea of, you know, weights and circuit training and all of that. I mean, that's kind of what the sweat app is all about. It's more just like creating a program that isn't as intense as that, but still intense. And so my current rut is just figuring out the right setup of classes to that's still effective, but doesn't kill me. And if you're in a workout rut, I highly suggest mixing it up. Try different classes every week, you're keeping things interesting there. If you're in a rut in terms of you know, not being consistent, work out with a friend twice a week, start small, don't try and you know, schedule yourself for five workouts every week, build up to that accountability is a big thing. So personal training may be great. If you feel accountable to somebody else, you're less likely to cancel. You might, you know, lose money if you cancel too late. And you could also go with a friend to Pilates once a week. It's a great time to catch up. But also you're working out try working out at different times of day for me, that's the morning but maybe you can't be bothered with morning workouts, maybe afternoon is the best time for you. And then the obvious rut for 2020 and 2021 is the dating rut, mentioned in a past episode that I deleted the dating apps about a month ago. And it's been so nice being free of having to constantly scroll and swipe. I really don't enjoy dating on the apps and I have felt in a rut about the entire concept of dating lately. A friend of mine is actually doing the same thing. At the suggestion of her therapist, he recommended a three month dating hiatus slash sabbatical to help her hit the reset button. And I think it's such a good idea. It's giving her a chance to take a step back from it and reconsider her approach. And also take her mind off the pressure and anxiety that can come from constantly swiping and going on dates and worrying about that my particular dating rut is that I work from home, I'm here a lot. I don't get to meet a lot of new people through my job. And so I have to get creative with putting myself out there. I've got to put myself in new situations so that I can meet new people. Because as I've mentioned, on another episode, I when I go out with my friends, we go to a lot of the same places, I am not meeting people through my job. And so I am trying to be better about putting myself out there be being proactive about that. And then of course we all have work ruts, we all go through times of burnout. I've been creating blog content batching content for over a decade. So there are definitely times I've gotten so bored with it or felt incredibly uninspired and just wanting to give up for me, the best thing I can do to get myself re inspired is to try something new. And this is probably the most repetitive thing I've said throughout this entire episode. But truly getting out of a rut, try something new mix it up. Over the years, I've diversified my content offerings, mostly because I needed to take a break from the fashion posts I was doing. I've added home content, especially you know when I bought my first house. And now as I'm decorating this new house, obviously lots to talk about there. I've started sharing recipes, my fitness routine and updates. I even did YouTube for a while I ended up not enjoying that very much. So I stopped doing that a couple years ago. But it was it's always fun to try new medium like I'm doing with this podcast, I know I'll always have my blog. So it's fun to experiment with a new medium or vertical or content offering to see where that takes you. And if the job you're currently in doesn't allow for a lot of wiggle room or creative freedom and never hurts to ask if you can assist with a different project or try something new, in addition to what you're doing already. Just talk to your boss about it, they may have something that they're working on that they could use your help with. And at the very least they'll be impressed you're interested in widening the scope and continuing your education and training within the company. And it may eventually lead to a lateral move that you could make to a more satisfying position there. Alright, so now that I blabbed on and on and on about my own rights, why don't we talk about how to get out of one? So I think the first the first step is to identify it, acknowledge it and identify it like what's the cause? Are you not feeling motivated to workout? Maybe it's the pandemic and not having an abundance of plans. Or maybe you're not feeling inspired at your job? Are you in the middle of a very boring project because that would do it. My next suggestion is to start small and I mentioned this with working out and with the recipe thing. So cook one new recipe each week. Don't try to overwhelm yourself, but just mix it up one day at a time. You can commit to working out two days a week, two days is nothing that's so easy to start with. Anyone can make time for a 15 or 20 minute workout at some point during their week. And then another thing it's so important to take breaks just like I've said, you know, I did BBG for three years without stopping but I really needed a break from it. Maybe if I'd mixed it up earlier on and you know, not done it consistently for three years, I wouldn't have gotten so burnt out on it. But take breaks when you're feeling overwhelmed. Don't do things that are too challenging or do too many days a week, just overworking yourself in any capacity is always going to lead to burnout. So just take it easy. It's all of that said, being in a rut is just a part of life. We all go through them. Especially right now I feel like we're in such Limbo with this pandemic. You don't know what the future holds. It's a lot of unknowns. It can feel a lot of can feel very unmotivated and uninspiring. So maybe that's why I've been struggling so much the past year with these various parts of life, but hopefully we'll all get right back on track soon. I have high hopes for 2022. But yeah, just keep working. We got this!
Alright guys, now we're heading into the beck and call segment of the show. For those of you who don't know beck and call is a q&a I do every week, you can call in and leave a voicemail at 214-620-0473 to ask me anything and I will answer it live on air. Let's jump into the first question.
Hey, Merritt, I'm wondering if you could give some suggestions on what to wear for an engagement shoot, super casual laid back not at all cheesy photos, but just something that you think would photograph well and it's okay to have several options I can change if I need to. Some will be kind of black and white inside and then some will be outside and live sort of in the mountains. So if you have any suggestions, I would love to hear them. Thanks.
That's so exciting. Congratulations on your engagement and I am happy to help I love that you're open to different outfits and looks because having a variety is going to be so much more fun to pick from I think you'll have more success in finding ones you really love for the exterior shots where you have like the mountain backdrop, I would definitely go for a pretty fall print to coincide you know with the changing leaves right now make it really look really rich. And to keep the look pretty effortless. I would definitely wear some kind of boots. So if it's a short dress, you might do an ankle boot something like the Isabel Murat Dicker boot style like that. You could also do a knee high boot if you're wearing a mini dress for a really chic look. But just choose a dress something fall maybe a floral print something dark and moody that really ties in the scenery around you. And to contrast the dark and moody look for the outside, you would want to go with something lighter and brighter for the interior black and white shots. And I'd even go more casual here because you're going to be inside at your house or you know an inside location so you can look more dressed down, I would do something like an elegant white blouse and simple blue jeans or black jeans. And since you're inside you could go barefoot or you could do a ballet flat, you could do any kind of boot or any kind of heel depending on the look you're going for, you might want to have a couple of different silhouettes for the top on hand just in case you end up not liking the way one photographs, this might be a good idea for the dress to having two different options with different prints or silhouettes just so you have something else to work with. If the colors you don't do colors don't work out or the Fit doesn't look right in the photo. And then one more little hot tip from somebody who's been standing in front of a camera for far too long. In addition to having a variety of outfits to choose from I highly recommend micro movements as you're taking the photos. So you definitely don't want to take spend all this money on a photographer only to have every single photo of you look the same and say you don't like your posture or the way your smile is in a particular photo. It's likely to look the same if you don't change like every time the camera clicks. So what I do in blot like when we're shooting blog photos, is every time I hear the camera, click all adjust my movement, maybe all widen my smile or open my eyes a little bit more I might adjust my arm positioning, I might kind of refresh and roll my shoulders back doing these micro movements may feel really silly as you're doing them but trust me it makes a huge difference. You'll have way more options to choose from and will be more likely to find ones you really love. Alright, let's get to the next voicemail.
Hi Merritt. I've enjoyed following you for many years and your new podcast series is a great addition enjoying it very much. I've noticed that color analysis is beginning to become popular again where I live and I'm wondering have you ever had your your colors done? Do you know what season you are? Would you be willing to share any tips or general thoughts that you have regarding picking out colors for your wardrobe. Thanks so much.
So I've definitely heard of color analysis before, but I've never had mine done. But based on my initial kind of Googling, it looks like I would be a light summer because I'm so fair, I have very blond hair and blue eyes, but I could also be a light spring. What's sort of funny though, is when I look at these color palettes given to both of those, the light spring looks more like me like more beiges, ivory, use creams, that kind of thing. But both of them have so many bright colors, and I really only wear bright colors in the summer and on vacation. So it's kind of hard to picture myself, you know, decking my wardrobe out with all of those pesto. Well, I think the idea of color analysis is great, especially if you're unsure what you like or what looks good on you. And you need some guidance, I think definitely follow something like that. But for me, I don't want to limit myself if I see a color that I love, like for Fall dark green is not going to be the color that I would normally choose for myself, but I love dark green or like a bottle green. It is so gorgeous. It's very on trend for fall and I still would want to buy it. My personal fashion theory is buy what you love, wear what you love regardless of the trends regardless of what people say colors look best on you. Maybe red isn't your color, but it sparks joy. Just wear what you like. Alright guys, we've come to the end of this episode. Thank you so much for listening. Please be sure to rate review and subscribe and you can follow along on Instagram at Merritt Beck for more content. And if you have a question for me, call into the beck and call Hotline at 214-620-0473 to leave a voicemail and with that, I'll catch you next week. Bye
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