For me finding my style has always been a challenge, from the witty graphic tee phase to the skater girl phase (thanks to Avril Lavigne) to the “I’m desperately trying to be cool” phase of 7th grade. Throughout my ever changing and forever questionable fashion choices what I’ve realized is that style is not fun if you can’t express yourself and if it is not personal.
Be Yourself and Be Comfortable
The keyword in personal style is “personal” (wow who would have figured out that one huh?), that is you have to adapt it to you and not to what someone else is doing or wearing. What is a day in your life like? If it includes a lot of walking maybe high heel might not be your forte, unless you have mastered how to run errands in heels then please share your secret. Know what defines you and who you are, don’t wear something that you think someone else will approve of. Fashion should be used to express who you are, not make you into a caricature of someone else.
Forget about trends
Sometimes I imagine that some Grande dame somewhere in New York or Paris suddenly decides what’s in and what’s out. When she decides that stripes are in – they are in and when they are out …well they’ve got to go. Trends come and go seasonally and while it’s not bad to buy an item or two that’s all over the fashion magazines, filling your closet with these items will be extremely costly, it’ll be forever changing and worst of all you lose who you are amidst it all
Go back to basics
Like I said earlier forget about trends and instead focus on the basics. Having a solid base of basics is always a great place to start because basics like a simple black dress, white t-shirt, black pants etc are never going to go out of style. These are the type of pieces you want to invest in and make sure that they are good quality. You can always add personality with filler pieces and accessories.
Seek Inspiration
Pinterest, Tumblr, magazines etc. serve a purpose other than entertainment, they can be a great source for inspiration especially when it comes to style. Create a mood or inspiration board – it can be physical or virtual – of styles and outfits that you like or are drawn too. Having it all in front of you is a super easy way to get an idea of what you like. For some people, your mood/inspiration board might look like a random collection of things but there’ll always be a common element be it fabric type, soft palettes, bold color palettes, cut, print, etc.
you can check out my personal style mood board, I made it on Pinterest and added things that I could see myself wearing and be 100% comfortable in
https://www.pinterest.com/dsoge/style-mood-board/
Experiment
Experimenting with fashion is the easiest way to find your style, literally, you put on an outfit and decide if you like it or not. Don’t be scared what other people think, if you want to wear all black all day every day for a month, then do it and decide if it’s for you and if you like it.
Personal style doesn’t have to be over complicated or contrived, it doesn’t have to to have a certain label like girly, preppy, contemporary milk maid or something equally as ridiculous, it should just be fun and have a trace of you in it
what are some of your personal style tips?