If you're struggling to identify your personal style, don't worry, you're not alone.
While it feels like discovering your style should be quite intuitive, it's rarely that straightforward. The truth is, even though I've been in fashion for 10 years, I still sometimes get lost in the myriad of trends that seem to be coming and going quicker than ever.
What I've found helpful in grounding myself are a few simple tips that I learned while working as a personal stylist in New York City at a styling firm called Visual Therapy that worked with Manhattan's most powerful women. Founders Jesse Garza and Joe Lupo published a booked called “Life in Color” where they explain how to decipher which colours suit you as well as the 5 style archetypes that could help you identify the brands and clothing items you feel drawn to.
The book was by no means meant to be prescriptive, but rather serves as a guide for those looking for a starting point. Most of us do not sit neatly in one style type but straddle two or even three buckets. But keeping these parameters in the back of my head has helped me dodge a few bad purchasing decisions since then.
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There are endless factors that contribute to one's personal style. Body shape, personal preferences, and even peer pressure, but as I get older, I've found that time is probably one of the best teachers as I shed layers of insecurity and gain confidence in my sense of self. And when you look at the most iconoclastic stars, they stand the test of time because they know what they like and stick to their guns. Just look at Sienna Miller—our '90s Boho queen has never deviated from her signature style and has found herself becoming the reference once again as all things '70s come back in favour.
But if you're looking for some quick tips that you can start executing today, here are 5 steps to follow to help you find your personal style.
1. What Is Your Style Type?
While working at Visual Therapy, the first thing we did when working with a new client was ask them about their style type. The easiest way to do that is to think of the celebrities and style icons whose style you admire, which would lead you to the brands and hero styles that you're likely most drawn to. When I'm at a loss for new ways to style my clothes, I still look to certain celebrities or content creators for fitspo who I feel match my style type. It's important to reiterate that most of us sit at the intersection of various style types, and maybe dip more heavily into one or another depending on the season or time in our lives. Personally, I identify as chic-whimsical, but I leaned much more whimsical with my choices when I was younger before moving countries and wanting to fit in more with my peers. But will I ever grow out of my love for zebra print? Absolutely not.
If you identify as a classic style type, stars like Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston are probably your spirit celebs. Always gracing the carpet in simple but elegant gowns, they are the epitome of old Hollywood glamour, where the person, rather than the clothes does the talking. Brands like Chanel, Giorgio Armani and Karen Millen come to mind, known for their understated and timeless designs.
The chic lady counts Victoria Beckham and Natalie Portman as inspiration, women who are a little more adventurous than the Classic girlie when it comes to playing with colour and shapes, but there will always be a sophisticated edge to their look. Jil Sander and Stella McCartney would sit comfortably here, for their sleek, sometimes sculptural designs that are still grounded in elegance.
Sienna Miller is the queen of Boho style so basically if you find yourself wanting to cop everything she steps out in then this is you. Of course, some of us might love to dabble in elements of boho, whether it's donning the occasional pair of cowboy boots or floaty dress, but the true Bohemian will always love what Chloé, Zimmermann and Ulla Johnson have to offer.
Not afraid of a bold print or colour-block dressing? Neither are Blake Lively and Anne Hathaway. What makes their appearance on red carpets so exciting is these ladies love to experiment with patterns and colours—no yellow is too bright nor print too daring. You'd probably find their closets bursting with Valentino, Gucci and Rixo.
This is for those who love something a little off-kilter, the Tilda Swintons of the style spectrum who find themselves gravitating towards Margiela's Tabi shoes, Issey Miyake's asymmetrical pleats, or Rick Owen's torn gowns. The Adidas Sambas are too mainstream for them.
2. Dress For Your Body Shape
As much as I love the look of a pair of straight-legged jeans and how they can be worn with oversized tops, given my body shape (I'm a pear), every single time I've bought straight-legged trousers, they sit in my closet collecting dust. Of course, we're all entitled to wear whatever the hell we want, but the truth is, certain styles fit our body shapes better and therefore help us feel more confident when we step outside. Once you've chosen your style type(s), understanding the fits of clothing that you like yourself in helps you narrow down the plethora of choices. If you don't feel confident in it, regardless of how much you like it on the hanger, maybe you just have to make like Elsa and let it go.
Pro tip: To know if something really looks good on me, I take a full-length mirror selfie without my face in it—that allows me to look at the outfit more objectively. Do try it at home!
3. Love It or Hate It
Having relatively small feet for my height, I've always liked the way I looked better in pointy shoes that elongated my silhouette. That's just a personal preference that I try to apply to any trend that comes along. For instance, ballet flats were all the rage this summer, and while I very much wanted to participate in the trend, I decided to hold out for pointier or more slimming styles that I knew would look better on me. Similarly, I've never liked the look of chunky shoes, so while the dad trainer was making a comeback, I steered clear of it altogether. Don't try to force yourself into trends if they don't resonate with your core style.
4. Let's Be Realistic
Sometimes the needs of our busy lives end up dictating many elements of our style. Does your job require a long commute or running to meetings outside of the office? Those things factor heavily into what we end up wearing every day. No matter our style preferences, we still need to be realistic. Consider the most worn items in your closet, which will be good indicators for what you actually reach for when you need to get dressed in the dark, then try to find elevated versions of that. Is your go-to jumper a tomato red high street find? Next season maybe invest in an accessible luxury version that you now know you'll cherish.
As a rule of thumb, before I purchase any new item, I always try to see if I can think of three outfits I'd be able to wear it with before taking the leap. If you're looking to reassess your current wardrobe to identify your style, maybe take each item out and see if you can wear it three different ways. If not, maybe it no longer belongs in your repertoire.
5. Consider the Trends—or Don't
It's probably not what you wanted to hear, but oftentimes finding your personal style just requires trial and error. I can't tell you how many trends I've fallen victim to (hello, low-waist jeans) that I now cringe at, but that's all just part of the process. Just as we've all had to cut ourselves a blunt fringe at some point, the only real way to know is to fail sometimes. I've tried very hard to convince myself that I'd wear those thigh-high white patent boots I bought in college, but alas, I'm just not that girl.
The older I get, the less bothered I am by the trends that surface every week, knowing that at the end of the day, personal style is less about what you wear, but how you wear it. And remember, it's not an exact science—be sure to have fun!
For more from GLAMOUR UK's Fashion Editor Rosie Lai, follow her on Instagram @rosielai.
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