Defining Your Style

Defining your personal style is the key to great style. It is what makes you who you are and different from the next person. How you dress says a great deal about what you think about yourself and others. Just by how you dress people make decisions on your beliefs, personality, morals, etc. Movie directors rely heavily on costume designers to create the mood and develop characteristics of a character in film; therefore, what the character is wearing tells us a lot about how they think and act. On the opening of a movie we may make decisions on whether a character is good or bad, kind or mean, materialistic or down to earth based on what they are wearing. The same thing happens in real life as well. So, how does one define their style. Well, I'm here to help with just that and it is relatively easy.

First things first. You have to decide what you want to say about yourself to others. How do you want people to see you. Once you have considered that, pick two to three words that you would use to describe yourself. There is a make-up artist that I follow on YouTube and Instagram named Andrea Ali and she does the exact same thing. She says that her looks are always simple and elegant with just a pinch of sexy added in the mix. I have always describe my style as classic, but with a twist. This guides my ever purchase and how I put outfits together. I understand that I probably have put way more thought into this than most; however, once you have taken the time to describe yourself it becomes second nature. This is how to build a cohesive wardrobe that you can mix and match into multiple outfits that make dressing fun and exciting.

The biggest mistake that I see people making is that they hop on every trend that comes along on their Pinterest or Instagram feed. By doing this your wardrobe can become disjointed and makes it difficult to put outfits together. While trends are new and exciting, not ever trend looks good on every person and not every tread is going to portray what you have used to define your personal style. If it doesn't look good on you don't wear it just because it is "in style". I promise you won't look "in style" if it's not right for you. I'm 5'2" and also curvy. I have to be careful that I make selections that elongate what little height I have instead of decreasing it and highlight the smaller parts of my body. This creates an elusion that I'm smaller and taller than I actually am. Many trends that are happening right now do the exact opposite of that. Kick-flare cropped pants are an example of that.

While trends are not always the best way to choose items to purchase, I don't want you to fall into the other extreme either and that is "I can't wear that because I just know it won't look good on me" attitude. Trends can help your wardrobe feel relevant and not dated. I know that sounds totally contradictory of what I just said, but hear me out. I hear people all time say that something doesn't look good on them and they have never tried it on. How do they know that it does or it doesn't look good. Always TRY IT ON! Just like I tell me children, "How do you know that you don't like something until you try it?" The key to this is that you do have to be honest with yourself about how it looks or you then can fall to the other extreme of chasing every trend out there. Keeping those two to three words that describes you in mind can also help guide you on whether you want to follow a trend or not as well. One great way to keep your style fresh is to utilize accessories to make your outfit look modern. Like I said I have a style that I would describe as classic. Many of the pieces in my wardrobe I have had for years, but I can add in accessories to give these pieces new life and I don't look like I am stuck in a bygone era.

A company that does a fabulous job of styling like this is J. Crew. They are masters at putting together timeless pieces and adding in something unexpected to make an outfit feel modern and on trend. I guess this is why I have been shopping at J. Crew for 26+ years! Another great example of personal style is an influencer named Olivia Palermo. I'm sure many may know who she is if you every watched The Hills spinoff series, The City. The way she puts an outfit together is like no one else. Another person could wear the same item of clothes as her, but how she accessorizes and styles her outfits make them her own. A pop of a collar or wearing her sleeves rolled instead of down or choosing an unexpected piece of jewelry is the hallmark of her style and I just love it. Another great accessory that she uses to define her style is confidence, but I'll talk more about that in another post.

No matter if your style is classic or bold, refined or edgy or whatever it may be, realizing that people make assumptions about you before you even say a word puts dressing yourself in a whole other light. Defining who you are and what you want people to think about you can be a turning point in your road to great style. Ask yourself what does this outfit say about me.