Images: TFS / Hanelli Mustapata / Helmut Lang via Because I'm Addicted
Find the other steps in the Wardrobe Rehab Series here.
Defining your style is a very important step to ensuring a wardrobe that works well, is gorgeous AND functional. When I say defining your style, I don't mean deciding what you are allowed to wear and then never straying from that, but more, deciding what looks good on your and what suits you, and then working in trends and experimenting with looks from there. Defining your style is not always an easy thing to do though, and takes a little bit of time and thought. Once you have done it, it will be easier to know what you will and won't wear when you are shopping, and faced with a sale or bargain item when your first instinct is to swoop, so you don't end up with a cupboard full of unsuitable styles. In this step I'll give you some guidance on how to determine your personal style.
Assess the 'Good' Pile
Remember the pile of 'keepers' from the last step when you culled your wardrobe? Well, hopefully this pile says something about how you like to dress and what your style is. The clothes that are there you obviously enjoy wearing and (should) look good on you. Ask yourself, what are their characteristics? What do I like about them? What principles of what is in this pile can I apply to my future shopping so that everything in my wardrobe is immensly wearable and enjoyable?
As an example, in my pile were alot of the following things:
- High waisted mini shorts and skirts
- Skinny leg jeans
- Pegg leg trousers
- Girly Long sleeved dresses
- Bodysuits
- Blazers and statement jackets
What I could tell from what was in the pile is that I prefer an hourglass silhouette, structured, sometimes girly aesthetic with the exception being for work clothes where I tend to prefer a more man-ish look. You don't necessarilly have to let this pile define you, and maybe you want to break out of your current style and start dressing differently, butunderstanding fully what is in your wardrobe will definitely help you choose items when shopping that will work well with what you have, and help you build your wardrobe further (we'll learn about basics and colours in the next few steps!).
Know what suits you
Knowing your bodyshape and what looks good on YOU is also key to defining your personal style. We are constantly bombarded with new trends and looks, and only a small number of what we see will suit us and work with our bodyshape. Desiring every new style isn't abnormal (I have a strange breaking in period where I hate a trend and then bam! I'll want it) but buying every new trend and filling our wardrobes with unsuitable items is a bad idea. Unfortunately I am not an expert at determining what's best for different people's bodyshapes (there's a heap of stuff on the internet including here if you need it). But one thing I would recommend you do if you are in need of guidance, is get together with a close friends and talk honestly (and lovingly) about what suits you both best. Sometimes it is hard to see ourselves without a bias, and our friends are much better at that. Tell each other when you looked your best recently and what it was about that outfit that made you look good.
Another obvious point about bodyshape is to chose your best features and make sure the items in your wardrobe are promoting that feature. Got nice ankles? Steer clear of maxi dresses and go for a mini. Lovely decolletage? Go for tanks or off the shoulder. Great boobs? Go for a plunging neckline.Small waist? Go for high waisted. Great bum? um, I think you get the picture.
Catalogue your favourite looks
Another step for determining what your personal style is (or in some cases, what you want it to be) is to collect images of aesthetics that you like - I could rattle off a number of different looks (boho, classic, preppy etc etc) but I often find these a bit generic and cliche. The best thing to do is to collect all the images you can (from magazines, saved off from blogs etc) to inform the style you like. The blogging world is a treasure trove of outfits and aesthetics on different people that you can mix and match from. Who not start your own blog on which to upload your favourite looks? This really does help to better affirm what your style is (and who knows, you could become an overnight sensation!). Couple this type of style research with a knowldge of what looks good on you and you'll be on your way to better personal style.
For me, a few blogs that I love that sum up what my aesthetic would optimally be are Excessive Consumption, Vanillascented and AfterDRK. My wardobe motto has to be 'keep it simple, stupid'. I don't like feeling overdone, much like the fellow minimalist enthusiast Dead Fleurette (amazing blog that helped inspire my need for a wardrobe makeover and this process). When doing research as to what your favourite looks are, try to look past element of 'trends' (its hard, I know) and focus on what styles look good on you. This is because the purpose of the wardrobe rehab project is to develop a wardrobe that works for the next five years and more, full of perfectly fitting simple items, into which you can mix a small number of wardrobe up daters each season if you want to be more on trend.