Your Personal Style
What does that mean, how to find it, and why it matters!
In previous posts and over the years on Instagram I’ve alluded to personal style. Personal style refers to the unique and distinctive way a person expresses themselves through clothing, accessories, grooming choices, and overall appearance. It goes beyond simply following fashion trends and involves a conscious selection of clothing and accessories that reflect one's personality, lifestyle, values, and preferences.
What is “personal style” anyway?
When we don’t know or even have a general idea what reflects our personal style it becomes all too easy to follow micro-trends, impulsively buy clothes, have a disjointed closet, feel like you look just like “everyone else”, and fall victim to owning clothes you rarely or never wear.
Here are some key aspects of personal style:
Personal style allows individuals to showcase their uniqueness and individuality. It's a way to communicate aspects of one's identity, interests, and creativity through fashion choices.
Personal style often reflects personality traits such as confidence, creativity, sophistication, playfulness, or minimalism. The clothing, colors, patterns, and silhouettes chosen can convey a range of emotions and characteristics.
While personal style is distinct from following fashion trends, it can incorporate elements of current trends in a way that aligns with an individual's taste and aesthetic sensibilities. This might involve interpreting trends in a unique way or blending them with timeless pieces.
Personal style is closely linked to feeling comfortable and confident in one's clothing choices. When individuals feel good in what they wear, it can positively impact their self-esteem and overall sense of well-being. I know when I’m dressed in a way that reflects “me”, I feel better equipped to tackle the day ahead God has prepared for me!
Personal style is not static; it can evolve over time as individuals' tastes, experiences, and lifestyles change. It also allows for experimentation and exploration of different looks, fits, aesthetics, and fashion influences.
Personal style can be influenced by cultural backgrounds, subcultures, geographical locations, and societal norms. These factors can shape one's fashion choices and contribute to a diverse range of personal styles. I noticed this on my recent trip to Florida. What people wear in the Sunshine state is often heavily influenced by southern style, tropical vibes, and very bright prints & colors. While I was tempted to purchase a “Florida fit”, I knew I wouldn’t wear it in Colorado. Style here is very relaxed, western inspired, and people tend to wear more muted & neutral palettes. I’m definitely not one who wants to stand out, so wearing something best suited for the south would probably make me feel slightly awkward. Where you live highly influences your style!
Overall, personal style is a means of self-expression and creativity that allows you to curate your appearance in a way that feels authentic and meaningful to you. It's a dynamic aspect of identity that can evolve and adapt while remaining true to one's sense of self.
We know the what…now the HOW…
When I first began my journey towards an ethical closet, and I was taking a break from shopping, I began taking notice of the clothes I wasn’t wearing.
This gave me pause, why wasn’t I wearing these clothes? I bought them for some reason…so why didn’t I reach for them? I began asking myself some questions:
if I saw this in the store today, would I buy it?
what are 3 other ways I can wear or style this?
looking at the pieces I do frequently wear, why do I wear that? And what makes it better than the pieces I don’t wear?
was this an impulse purchase?
do I like the color/print/silhouette?
do I have this because “everyone” does?
is this ill-fitting?
and many many more questions! Sometimes we are in our closets so much we need to take a step back and accurately assess what we have and why.
This is when it hit me…many of the clothing I owned I didn’t even like or know why I bought it aside from things like “it looked good on the mannequin/in the fitting room/I needed a new top/I thought I’d wear it more.” Much of what I was buying was based off of that moment: how I felt, what I saw, what I thought I needed. I did not consider my closet, my preferences, or even the long term perspective of the garment. I wanted it. I bought it.
After observing my closet and what I tended to reach for (and didn’t), here’s the personal style conclusions I came to:
I don’t like polka dots. Yes they are timeless and plenty of women look great in them…but I just found myself not wanting to wear my clothes with polka dots. How does this help me? If I see a dress and I love everything about it (cut, style, fit, length, pockets, etc.) but it has polka dots on it…I pass. I know I won’t wear it.
Converse tennis shoes…I had a pair for YEARS and wore them maybe 5 times. They are an iconic shoe. I love that they come in so many colors…but I just found myself not really liking them. So now I know if I see a Converse shoe in the most amazing color/print, I will pass because I know it’s not a good investment for my closet.
Purple is a great color…but not for me. No I’ve never had my “colors done”, and do not plan to. But whenever I wear something purple I just am not loving it. Mostly I’m referring to lavender to deep purple shades…I can get on board with red undertones like burgundy. So now I avoid purchasing clothing with purple shades and accents.
Ripped jeans were 100% my thing in my teens and into my early 20s…but not so much now. And it wasn’t for lack of owning them. I owned them in my 30s…and rarely wore them. I always found ripped jeans to be difficult to style proportion wise. If my right knee is completely exposed, and my left partially…it just never looked right. So I don’t buy them anymore.
There’s for sure more things I discovered about myself like I love black dresses and white shirts and button down tops, and olive green…but I won’t get into everything now. The point is discovering my personal style has helped me avoid dozens of impulse purchases and filling my closet with items I won’t wear.
Why does this matter?
I said it above but it’s worth saying again…knowing what you like to wear and you actually wear it, has a profound impact on your day, how you interact with others, and ultimately how you treat them. If I’m wearing something I feel “meh” about, it’s probably going to come out in my attitude. I recognize I serve my family much more joyfully when I’m wearing something I like and it reflects me.
It also matters because as a consumer, I am making wise choices not only for my budget, but also for the well-being of others. When I’m just haphazardly making purchases from any brand that sells something “cute”, I’m not considering the quality, longevity, versatility, construction, fabric choice, or even how the employees touching the garment were treated. (If you want to know more about fast vs ethical fashion, read this post!) It may be cheap on your end, but someone somewhere is paying for that inexpensive piece of clothing.
We are buying more clothes than ever and at the cheapest price points. We are also getting rid of clothes more frequently and many of them are not reused, they are disposed of. Clothing sold for cheap are constructed very poorly and of extremely low quality fabric. Some of that fabric has even been found to be toxic…to water supply, garment workers, your skin/body while wearing, and then the planet as it will most likely never decompose. (If you want to know more about the fabrics being used in modern clothing I highly recommend the book The Conscious Closet by Elizabeth Cline *affiliate link* and the documentary Slowing Down Fast Fashion with Alex James)
When we hone in on our personal style it is much more likely you will purchase items that will last longer, be worn more frequently, and you will have items in your closet that coordinate well together.
Another exercise that proved helpful to me when discovering my style was paying attention to celebrities, style icons, and characters in movies/TV shows that made me say “ooo I love that outfit.” I would find images of them on Pinterest and I made a “Style Muse” board. For example some of my personal style muses are Princess Diana, Kate Middleton, Jackie O., Joanna Gaines, Mandy Moore from the show This is Us, Eliane from Seinfeld, and more! You can look at my board here and then make your own!
Don’t get legalistic about your personal style and don’t expect it to be the same your entire life. Who knows, maybe one day I will find a pair of Converse shoes I fall in love with and wear often! 😉 Or the perfect shade of purple will jump out at me and I’ll cave. Just be YOU and not everyone else and style is completely subjective! Let go of the rules and what “everyone” is currently wearing.
Have you ever thought about your personal style? What do you think reflects you best?
I never thought of my clothes this way. Love this article. Thanks.