The impact of personal style goes way beyond making a good first impression or showing off an eye-catching outfit every day. It’s about your confidence and ability to look beautiful and feel comfortable in your own skin and clothes.
Whether you’re a complete fashion newbie or only looking to reestablish and redefine your style, these five essential steps below will make your next shopping round less of a struggle and more of a “This is so me, I’ll take it!”
Understand your body shape
Before impulsive shopping and trending it up, you need to understand your body type and what flatters you the most. There are many ways to identify your body shape, including online tests, consulting with your gym trainer, or simply looking at yourself in the mirror. Once you’ve understood your body shape, you’ll be able to spot the celebrities with similar shapes and silhouettes that work for them and thus identify what makes you feel confident. Also, think about the colors that suit your skin tone and then test different hues for the best look without looking washed out.
Evaluate your closet
Clean up and clean out. Dedicate a day to your wardrobe and toss out all the items you haven’t worn in the last year. Only then can you begin restocking your wardrobe and starting fresh with your style. You should aim for 50 pieces or less, making sure they reflect you and where you are in your life and career. Decluttering and maintaining an efficient and organized wardrobe is of critical importance to nail your personal style.
Seek inspiration
There’s no shame in looking for inspiration and role models to help you define and support your fashion style. Surf the internet, jot down the names of your favorite style icons, follow social media influencers and fashion bloggers, and gather inspiration and ideas from their looks. Sometimes a random passerby with a killer outfit can encourage you to go home, rummage through your closet, and pull together a similar combination. Just because “copying” has a bad rep doesn’t mean your personal style will simply be an imitation of someone else’s.
Experiment
Playing safe is good, but if you want people to notice you by your distinguished style, you need to make some bold choices, starting with pairing seemingly unmatchable pieces. Go crazy with accessories – especially during summer and in combination with basic tees and jeans – but also remember that sometimes less is more. And if you want to make a really bold statement and get out of your comfort zone, get a piercing or one of those authentic Japanese tattoos. Experimenting will help you discover who you are, what you like, and how you want people to see you.
Be yourself
It may sound cliché, but personal style is indeed just that: personal. Keep this in mind, and make sure you feel like yourself whatever you wear and whichever way you wear it. And the whole thing about that signature piece? It’s you.
Sometimes it seems as if everyone else around your has a natural eye for fashion and is rocking their own killer styles, but the truth is that they’ve had to go through all of these phases before getting there as well.
Aside from allowing you to reflect on your individuality and making you feel better about yourself, creating your personal style will also spare you many shopping dilemmas and hours spent in front of the mirror when getting ready for a big night out. By following the simple steps mentioned above, you will not only like what you see when you open your wardrobe each morning but proudly take it out onto the streets, too.
