Alison Lumbatis - The Ultimate Book of Outfit Formulas: A Stylish Solution to What Should I Wear?

Table of Contents

A Stylish Solution to What Should I Wear?

ALISON LUMBATIS

Scripture quotations are taken from The ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Cover and interior design by Studio Gearbox

Illustrations by Lydia Drye

Cover Photo xcnova/Shutterstock

Ten Peaks Press is a trademark of the Hawkins Childrens LLC. Harvest House Publishers, Inc., is the exclusive licensee of the trademark Ten Peaks Press.

The Ultimate Book of Outfit Formulas

Text 2021 by Alison Lumbatis

Artwork 2021 by Lydia Drye

Published by Ten Peaks Press, an imprint of Harvest House Publishers

Eugene, Oregon 97408

ISBN 978-0-7369-8208-5 (hardcover)

ISBN 978-0-7369-8209-2 (eBook)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020055132

All rights reserved. No part of this electronic publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, digital, photocopy, recording, or any otherwithout the prior written permission of the publisher. The authorized purchaser has been granted a nontransferable, nonexclusive, and noncommercial right to access and view this electronic publication, and purchaser agrees to do so only in accordance with the terms of use under which it was purchased or transmitted. Participation in or encouragement of piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of authors and publishers rights is strictly prohibited.

To my mother,
who taught me the power of
feeling good about my appearance.

And to my daughters,
who inspire me to do the same for them.

Every word in this book was inspired by the Get Your Pretty On community. Thank you for your questions over the years. Although many times I didnt have the answers, I appreciate the grace youve always given and the opportunity to learn. Thank you for allowing me to share my imperfect journey with you. Special thanks also to

Lauren Smith for being so much more than a business manager. You are my biggest cheerleader, my sounding board, and the best integrator on planet Earth. Thank you for always listening to my ideas and making them so much better than I could ever imagine.

Jessica Pigza for doing the research and being so much wordier than I could ever be. (Is wordier even a word? You would know!)

Lydia Drye for lending your talents to GYPO over the years and allowing me to bring them along on this journey. Your illustrations make this book shine!

Hilary Billings for unlocking the key to writing this booktrusting my gut. Thank you for encouraging me to infuse the DNA of GYPO into every page.

Kathryn Buchanan for your loyalty and for being with me since day one. I can always count on you to figure everything out.

Tiffany Howard for being on the front lines every day and giving our community virtual hugs through email.

Coty Adams for the multiple ways your creativity has elevated GYPO and its impact.

Ruth Samsel, Heather Green, and the entire team at Harvest House for believing in this project and lending all the support and love to make it so much more than just a book on fashion.

Crystal Gornto for holding space for me and showing me what it means to do it for others. Your friendship is such a gift.

Mindy Carter, JaNice Kloza, Cherrie Little, and Joseph Stingley for being my prayer warriors and constantly lifting me up on the days I needed it most.

My husband, Craig, and our children, Devon, Aubrey, and Avayou are my greatest blessings. Thank you for always believing in and supporting all of my hairbrained ideas, dreams, and schemes. I told you one day they would pay off, right?

My Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for breaking me, redeeming me, and using me. You have ordained every step of my journey. Im eternally grateful, humbled, and honored to be used in Your kingdom for Your purposes.

I have to share a secret with you: I dont feel equipped to share style advice. Im not a stylist by trade and have no formal training. This is an area of insecurity for me, which I think we can all agree is ironic since here I am, writing a book about style.

Its trueyoure reading a style book from someone who is no more qualified to offer up fashion guidance than your trash collector. (Well, maybe a little, but there could be some stylish trash collectors out there, right? Im open to the possibility.)

This feeling of unworthiness is a big part of how this book came to be. When I first started blogging, I honestly thought no one would ever want to read what I had to say. Why would anyone want to follow a work-from-home mom / telecom engineer who was putting together the most mundane, ordinary, casual outfits? Nothing haute couture or high fashion, but just some tees, jeans, and a couple of cute accessories. Turns out thats exactly what a lot of women were looking for, and there was definitely a need in the blogging world that I was able to satisfy.

First, lets jump in the way-back machine and set it to 1988, when I was 15 years old. That year, God whispered in the ear of a shy, insecure, bespectacled teenager with puffy sleeves (and even puffier hair) that one day He would use her to impact the lives of other women. Little did I know that He would take His sweet time doing it, and never did I ever imagine the way it would happen.

Twenty-five years later, it all came to fruition with a platform where I have the honor to serve hundreds of thousands of women and help them find confidence through easy style.

But we all know God rarely uses people in big ways without a few trials, and trust me, my friend, I wasnt exempt from the journey into the depths of a valley that led to this place. God has a knack for doing that, doesnt He? Its like He cant just say, Heres your anointing; now go make it happen. No, He had to take me to that dark placemaybe because sometimes I dont listen all that well.

Trust in the L ORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

PROVERBS 3:5-6

I now refer to that valley as my yoga-pants-mom rut, which is a cutesy way of categorizing a season of my life marked by depression and an utter lack of self-care. It was one of the darkest places of my adulthood.

My climb out of the rut is what led to starting my blog, Get Your Pretty On (GYPO). Trust me, sweet sister, when I say that Ive been there.

There and back.

Fun fact: I spent 14 years as a telecom engineer prior to accidentally stumbling down the path of style blogger. After I had prayed for many years to be able to work from home, my management changed, and I finally got the opportunity. At first, it was all sunshine and rainbows. Well, as much as being able to throw in loads of laundry in between conference calls can be. I trust you know what I mean. I was home in the morning, packing lunches and seeing the kids off to school, kicking butt at both my job and my household chores during the day, and driving a carpool for the afternoon pickup. Being able to work remotely and be at home with my kids had me fired up. I was living my work-from-home-mom dream.