You like dressing up. You love shopping for clothes and accessories. You have a passion for style and an interest in following trends. Only, the results you mostly see is on the wrong side of eclectic, or seem sort of boring. You know why that is? You don’t quite know yourself yet. Or, do you? Do you really know exactly what colours, sleeve lengths, hem lengths and widths, skirt shapes, neckline shapes, prints, sizes work for you? Do you have an overall consistent style or several of them, clearly separated? You may have the enthusiasm, the taste, the creativity, but they need to be practised, applied, focused. The good news is, it’s possible to learn – just start the awareness journey. Here’s the process to help you focus and get into the basic habits.
1. Get a hell of a lot of inspiration.
Ever noticed how looking at art, clothes and interiors puts you in a creative trance? Hit Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest, Lookbook, check out blogs and your fave fashion forward magazines. The best time to do it would be during or right after fashion weeks when the world is bursting at the seams from all the latest in street style. Collect images you like and pin them on a board. You wouldn’t believe how this stimulates your sense of style and develops your taste. Note what is it that you love, and why. Is it really the look you love or the beauty of the model, or maybe those tons of attitude about her? The quality and style of photography or the cool backdrop? Practice seeing behind those factors until you notice colour or print combos, cuts, silhouettes, outfit tips, small style hacks. How to do ‘next season’? Should I invest in that trend? Would that work for my shape? Would that work with my similar clothes? I definitely want to try that!
2. Get lost in your wardrobe, at least once per season.
You now have an idea of things you want to try in the next few weeks or months. Go through your closet and do a rough selection. The cool basics plus any current or next season fashion stuff you should always be able to see up front, on top, easily accessed, and to the abyss with the rest for now. (This is not a clearout as such, but since you expend a lot of energy you might as well go all the way.)
3. Start building outfits – here’s exactly how.
The approach
This is where we say, ‘Dress like you’re going to blog about it’.
Think brief daily dress-ups (the way I do it) or a bigger weekly session (as some fashion editors do it). I do it daily because I find it impossible to stick to a weekly plan due to changes in weather and mood so I’d just be wasting my Sundays. I suggest you make a point of always going for something different as you need to experiment as much as possible. Giving all your clothes labelled by you as current a spin will tell you what to stick with and what to part with – what doesn’t work should go. Anyway, the goal is to have a styled look for every working day. How to go about that?
The action
- Go through your inspiration boards or files, pick the look you want to try and at least one key item to build your outfit from. Watch out, sometimes the ‘key item’ is not the white blazer but, say, the bracelet worn on top of the sleeves. Try to always pin down what really makes the outfit you love.
- Choose the likely combining pieces from your closet – still based on the original look – and try them on with the key item.
- When something clicks, continue to build from there, adding more pieces and accessories that work for you – you know, weather, mood, comfort and so on.
- Always try the full look on. If something feels wrong or flat, change the item around until you are happy. Look for similar substitutes first but when you’re desperate enough to try something unlikely, that’s usually when the magic happens. The end result will differ from the inspirational look but it can be just as awesome – and it’s yours.
- You know you’re on the right track when you can’t wait to wear the outfit the next day. If you get into the habit, you will build up enough self-awareness and experience to define your style and give it proper focus.
- How much time does it really take? Until you’re happy or too exhausted to go on – anywhere between five minutes and two hours, depending mostly on how quickly you can find items you have in mind. Good storage saves huge amounts of time.
4. Test outfits with mirror shots or ask someone to snap a pic of you.
More or less decent photos will help you decide whether a look works for you or not. It has nothing to do with how the look feels or how practical it will be in the street, at the office, in real life. They confirm whether the outfit is great and draw your attention to flaws you may have overlooked. They also help you compare looks easily. Photos are very useful and they’re only half a step away from actually blogging about your outfits.
5. Take it easy on yourself.
There will be days when you just… CAN’T. BE. BOTHERED.
This is normal, but on most days, you should bother – being stylishly on point makes a huge difference in your confidence and thus, success. There are, of course, hacks for such days too, like storing your cool basics in one section of your wardrobe, throwing pieces on from there, then quickly adding a bit of interest with a bag or a scarf.
Oh, and aim for EPIC your own way. Always.
