Personal Style: A Step-by-Step Guide to Finding Your Own Personal Style

It is a new era in fashion—there are no rules. It is all about the individual and personal style, wearing high-end, low-end, classic labels and up-and-coming designers all together” –Alexander McQueen

Fashion is a very diverse subject. It has many different facets and aspects that would cater to every individual’s style palate. No matter what the trend or the current vogue is, your taste in fashion remains constant, classic and timeless; this is where you define your personal style. One of the best adages that would distinctly define personal style comes from a famous intellectual. To quote this, Gore Vidal explicitly said that “Style is knowing who you are, what you want to say, and not giving a damn”. In a simpler sense, it means finding a fashion statement that sits well with you and owning it with confidence.

However, as most of us are not fashion pundits, we would often find ourselves confused as to what we truly like and if our chosen style is suitable to us. This, complemented with a multitude of sartorial options to choose from, would make finding a personal style that sits well with us and is equally suitable for us can come across as not only a daunting task, but would pose a unique fashion challenge as well. However, no matter how intimidating this fashion task may be, it is very much possible. Fortunately for us, we have an array of fashion styles and trends at our disposal that all we really need is to do is choose a singular style for us. This can be achieved through these seven steps:

1.) UNDERSTAND YOUR BODY

Humans do not come in a singular cookie-cutter shape wherein everyone can easily fit into uniformly styled clothing and look their best while sporting it. No, individuals come in all shapes and sizes and for every figure in existence; there is a corresponding manner of clothing or style that would suit them best. This is why; it is advantageous for you to know yours. Understand what kind of body you have and what works best for you. Understanding your body shape is the key to knowing your strengths and weaknesses and because of this; you can be more selective in choosing clothes and would purchase the right clothes to accentuate your best features.

2.) UNDERSTAND YOUR PERSONALITY

Knowing what kind of personality you have (chic and dainty, street and grunge, elegant and modern, etc.) would help you identify the kind of style that would work best with you. Take a few minutes to do some self-introspection and write down some words that would best describe who you are. After identifying aspects of yourself, take a look at your style and see if it truly reflects your personality and then have a look at different styles and choose one that appeals to you most.

3.) IDENTIFY A COLOR THAT INSPIRES YOU

Though you do not necessarily have to dress in clothes that come only in a singular hue, knowing which colors appeal to you would largely influence your style and how you feel. Supposing you are an individual that prefers neutral and earth tones, introduce a bit of color into your current style by experimenting. This can be in the form of adding bits of color through various accessories and see if this sits well with you.

4.) EDIT YOUR WARDROBE PIECES

Most of us are guilty of keeping a cornucopia of clothes in various cuts and styles. If you have hoarded a superfluity of clothes over the years, it is time, to be honest with yourself. Take a long hard look at your closet and ask which of the garments inside it do you really like and how many of these sartorial pieces have not seen the light of day since? Note down those that did not work well for you and make sure never to purchase the same style again. Dispose of those styles by either donating or selling them. To you, they may be great pieces but if they do not suit you or your body type, you are only holding yourself from looking stylish.

5.) KEEP A SCRAPBOOK OF STYLES THAT INSPIRE YOU

When it comes to fashion, knowing what you like largely depends on what fashion influences you have. Should you see something that appeals to you, take a mental picture of it should it be impossible to take an actual one. If you do this for a certain period of time, you would notice a pattern in the kinds of style you are most receptive to and from there, you can introduce personal accents of yours in the form of accessories, slight improvisations or mild modifications to give the style a personal touch.

6.) MAKE SURE YOUR PURCHASES FIT YOU

If there is one fashion rule every individual must abide, it is this one rule: Never buy and wear anything that is ill-fitting. Though fairly straightforward, almost all of us have been guilty of doing this at least once in our lives. Seeing a good outfit on the racks is incredibly tempting and it is rather easy to commit to the idea of losing weight in order to fit into it that more often than not, we often leave the selected piece neglected inside our teeming closets. Or we would compromise by wearing the piece altogether despite it looking off on us. This is one of the biggest fashion faux pas. Take note, no ill-fitting clothing would ever look good on you so buy only those that fit you well.

7.) MAKE SURE YOUR CLOSET INCLUDES THE BASICS AS WELL AS STATEMENT PIECES

The only way you can have a crystal clear sense of what you do want and what suits you best is to have the basic essentials that are necessary for building your personal style. Basics can vary for each individual so go through your inspiration scrapbook and identify which basics you would absolutely need for your style. In the same vein, complete your closet by having a few choice statement pieces that are unique to you. Be creative and create a brand new style from mixing and matching all these items together and harmonize them in order to come up with a personal style.

We are all unique individuals and our taste in fashion can be vary from wearing wholesale pieces from English laundry to favoring pieces from retailers such as steve madden, but whatever your fashion palate may be, do make sure that it engenders a style that defines who you truly are.

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