Fashion

What Makes a Personal Style and How You Can Put It Together

posted by Chris Valentine

Sick of simply wearing clothes for comfort and trying to actually put together looks? Putting together a style for yourself for the first time can be difficult, especially since it seems there are a thousand different sources telling you a thousand different style tips. While these can certainly be valid, it does you little good if it’s too overwhelming to understand. As a result, today, this approach is going to take a different two-part way to find your personal style. What can be guaranteed is that you won’t only find clothes you like, but also things you are actually likely to use.

The Mental Piece

Our tastes are constantly evolving, so don’t feel that you have to stick to the same style that you had years ago. However, in many cases, your activity and interests on social media may be able to help guide you on where to start your style. Do you find yourself following certain fashion icons on platforms like Instagram or Pinterest? They may be able to help you put together the aspects of your style. Note that when we talk about following influencers, you shouldn’t be doing this to try and clone the outfits that they are wearing. Not only is this not really your personal style, chances are you don’t have the budget that many of these stars do. What you can do with this is try to figure out what you like.

As a bit of an experiment,  try putting together a list of celebrities or other figures in fashion who are always wearing clothes you like. Then, try to apply a list of labels that describe said celebrities and their styles. This makes a great foundation for figuring out what you like from your outfits, and when you go shopping, you can buy items that give off that same vibe.

Another approach that you can use is working backwards from a signature piece. The great thing about this is that in theory, you can wear that one piece that you’ve had your eye on for a while. Have an inkling to wear cowgirl boots? Go ahead! With this approach, where the work in creating your style comes from is selecting those few pieces you want to build around and doing it, but don’t be afraid to go off the beaten path a bit. One area to do this with is accessories, which can instantly punch up an otherwise simple outfit.

The Practical Piece

As we mentioned before, price is not something that should be taken lightly. However, despite all the coupon clippings and sales you take advantage of, chances are the major thing that throws off your shopping budget is buying things you don’t need, not how much you buy them for. Don’t think this applies to you? Take a look in your closet for a bit. Do you see clothes that you haven’t worn for months or even a year? These bargains and impulse buys may seem great at first, but if they don’t match your style or needs, they’re just taking up space. These may make good candidates for a donation drive, or even selling them to put a little money in your pocket.

When thinking about putting together style, while you naturally want clothes that you like and look good on you, you also need to think about clothes that match your lifestyle. A good way to make sure your clothes fit your lifestyle is simply to write down your general activities over a given week or so. For example, maybe you work from home or are a homemaker and want clothes that are comfortable while raising little ones. Perhaps you spend a lot of time at the office and need clothes that are professional. Be sure to keep the smaller things in mind too. How many errands do you run? Do you need a lot of activewear? Once you nail these down, you’ll know what you need to buy and what you want to buy. Once these two mindsets work together, you’ve finally created the ideal personal style for yourself. Feel free to pat yourself on the back.

Putting together your style isn’t supposed to be aggravating, though it will take some time and effort. The good news is that not only will your hard work pay off with the new attention you get, you’ll know that your hard work will help show the whole world a more confident, complete you.

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