Are you truly in your fave style era?
Personal style is a journey. It’s something you develop over time through life experiences, growth, and the desire to truly step into the “total you“. No one can take away your personal style, it’s a fashion love letter you write to yourself every day when you put on your favorite pair of trousers you’ve had for a few years or the cream sweater with the secret coffee stain you try to hide with pins or brooches.
Your personal style is the love letter of how you show up in the world as you.
Let’s Get Into It
What is personal style?
It’s a fashion statement you make for you by you. It’s wearing what you enjoy, what you find comfortable and strutting it effortlessly.
Everyone’s personal style isn’t the same. It can be similar, but we all have a unique look that’s defined.
Rather, it’s inspired by our culture, where we shop, how we style it or even the movies and music we listen to – our personal style is only defined by us.
What makes “style” personal?
Style becomes personal when you begin to curate looks, wardrobes and clothing pieces that are true to you. Styles that allow you to showcase the “total you”.
For me, my personal style is often reflected in the brands I like, the colors I enjoy and what makes me feel good. The patterns that make me feel groovy, the statement pieces that are iconic or one of a kind.
How do you create “personal style”
Personal style is created when you step away from trends, look at your closet and say “do these clothing pieces feel like me?”
“Does my closet represent the individual I am becoming, do they represent me in my highest form?”
Personal style and highest form go hand in hand. In my opinion you can’t be in your highest form if you’re not wearing the clothing pieces you truly want. Rather, it’s high-end designer or thrifted pieces you should wear the clothing that brings you joy.
While we may desire designer clothing, luxury fabrics and labels – you can still curate personal style with low cost items as well.
That’s what I did.
Is thrifting the cheat code for starting your personal style?
I am an avid thrift shopper. I’ve been thrifting, going to resale shops since I was a little girl, before it was cool. I remember back in the day, it wasn’t cool to go thrift shopping , a lot of people turned their nose to it. Now it’s popular because it’s “sustainable”.
Enough of my mini rant.
Thrifting allows you to “play around” with different pieces from many different decades. You can find 90s windbreakers, flair tops from the early 2000s , last seasons fast fashion styles. The thrift is a great space to start with finding what you like and what you don’t like at a lower cost.
You can also learn about the quality of fabrics. What does a 100% cotton shirt feel like? The thrift allows you to find good quality fabrics and often times you can compare those fabrics in the store.
The thrift is a good space for experimenting because while you may not like the overall piece , you can upcycle it to what you want it to be.
Another hobby I enjoyed was upcycling my clothing to make my fashion more unique by cutting ugly crew necks into cropped shirts, making vests out of denim jackets, and cutting midi skirts into mini skirts.
The thrift is the start of defining personal style. It’s also a good way to learn about different brands. There were many brands I hadn’t heard of but saw at the thrift and became a fan!
If money ain’t a thang, then skip the thrift but I am telling you – the thrift is still a great playground for finding and learning your personal style.
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Statement pieces are key
To have a statement piece is like having the icing on the cake. It can make or break an outfit. Many outfits don’t need a lot if they have ONE good solid piece that stands out, because it makes the fit unique and defines YOU!
Statement pieces are hats , accessories like bold jewelry, funky blouses with bold prints, those jeans with the wonky design. Statement pieces MAKE A STATEMENT and a lot of times you don’t have to say nothing about it for it to be a STATEMENT.
Stay away from trends
Don’t get me wrong, every now and then I find myself wanting a new Telfar bag, or a pair of those new Ugg Boots.
However, leave trends alone. Trends are meant to die out, and most times they do and no one ever misses them unless they were iconic!
While trends have their place in the fashion scene, trends don’t contribute to personal style because guess what? There’s a million other people in the world dressed just like you.
You ever go to a party or a concert and the girl HAS ON THE EXACT SAME OUTFIT AS YOU? Concert season 2024 included mini skirts, fishnets, black knee boots and big oversized moto jackets! That was a huge trend of the season because moto jackets were popular, mini skirts were in a craze and black knee boots were the go-to shoe if you wanted a sexy, elevated look.
Did I forget to mention the baguette bag being the OG accessory?
While that look was super cute and sadly I was a moto jacket wearing concert girly myself (it was VINTAGE) – I still found myself annoyed because I looked like everyone else.
When defining and creating your personal style, you should wear what you want but also still find pieces and styles that make you unique.
There’s so much copy and paste in fashion and especially with social media being a big factor in how fashion is portrayed nowadays, you should curate your style with ideas that are different and not easily accessible.
But what if I want to wear the trends but still be unique?
Do it. Wear those moto jackets but find vintage ones and don’t wear it with a mini skirt, find some jeans or trousers, don’t let that be the statement piece.
Use accessories to hype up the fit, start sourcing jewelry , pins, buttons, to add onto your moto jacket to make it one of a kind.
You can “stay on trend” but make it unique to you. You can buy that Telfar bag but add your own design, add your own charms.
Charm bags are a big trend right now but you can make your own custom charms using beads, mini toys, teddy bears just add keychains! Broken jewelry pieces? Deconstruct it and create charms out of your old necklaces and earrings!
Your personal style starts with mindset
Before you go out and spend any money, make mood boards, go on Pinterest and create a board full of fashion inspiration. From accessories to clothing pieces you would want to source – make boards for them!
Dig deep, go further. Get offline, go into stores, see what they have, and take pictures of clothing items you like. Find the original creator of the clothing item if you’re tired of fast fashion.
Create a list or journal entry of what you want your style to be. Look up different styles because not every woman likes “baddie couture” or “cottage core”. You may like academia with a dash of Afro punk.
Learn the different styles so you can incorporate those aesthetics into your “personal style”.
Your personal style will change
My style at 21 is not the same style I have at 25. While I love a good mini skirt, I am moving a bit passed that and more into midi skirts (kinda) .
While I loved a good SHEIN cart, I haven’t shopped there in the last two years because I care about quality over quantity now.
H&M is one of my go – to clothing stores, but I am starting to look away from them as well. I want higher quality fabrics, less trendy wear and more functional clothing.
Overtime, you will see your style change and that’s good. You should want it to change, I still stick to my basics of sourcing vintage fashion pieces, accessories like berets, chain belts and jewelry but now I am just tailoring it to who I am becoming.
As I grow older, my style grows with me and that’s the beauty of defining personal style. Knowing my foundation but expanding on it and allowing it become more mature and healthy not just for me but for the environment and my bank account!
Personal style isn’t made overnight
You have all year.
You have 12 months to experiment, shop, observe and develop your personal style.
Here’s a quick guide to get you started
- Research – Learn the fabrics you like, the brands that interest you, the aesthetics that exist, and create mood boards.
- Get offline – Go inside boutiques, local shops, thrift stores, and retail stores to see what exists , FEEL THE CLOTHING. Try pieces on.
- Experiment – Wear a color you haven’t worn before, but you like, try new prints, wear that clothing piece that’s hiding in your closet.
- Source statement pieces – Find something unique to add to your wardrobe.
- Take pictures – See how you look in them! Pictures are a great way to see if you truly liked your outfit or not. Document the journey.
- Be confident – The outfit is only as good as you wear it. If you’re not confident, it will show!
- Have fun – Remember, finding your personal style should be a fun moment , not stressful because it’s YOU, helping YOU.
- Be the total you – Embrace your individuality, your style and strut that outfit with power.
Let’s Talk About It
How are you going to find your personal style this year?