Define Your Style ❤ Part One ❤
January 6, 2010Snow Magic
January 7, 2010What Do You Like?
The first step to defining what makes up your personal style is to work out what you like. This doesn’t mean copying celebrity outfts top to toe, it means finding things that inspire you and working out what makes you tick.
There’s no short cut to this, but there are some steps you can take that might help
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Go for a walk
Not just down the high street but down the side roads and the kookier areas of your nearest big town. What catches your eye? Don’t just think about the clothes in the shop windows, look at the people on the streets and the shops themselves.
Near me is a shop that has been empty a few months. Someone has started to do it up. They have removed the sign and underneath is a shabby vintage painted sign reading “Cosy Cafe”. The inside of the shop has slightly shabby sanded floorboards and is completely bare apart from an elaborate pristine white painted cabinet with curlicued corners and scrolled feet. To me, this defines my style, or how I would like to think of my style and it always catches my eye. It’s simple and elegant, the colours are muted, not over accessorised, but with a girly vintage feel.
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Build a Lookbook
When you are reading blogs or magazines keep a note of what appeals to you. Save pictures to a folder on your computer and over a time you should see a theme emerge. Maybe there’s a lot of black, studding and killer heels and it’s that rock chick look that appeals to you, maybe it’s full of whimsical floaty fabrics or Mad Men style tailoring.
If no theme immediately jumps out at you try looking closer at the pictures you’ve saved. It might be a feel that appealed to your rather than the clothes themselves.
For me these 2 pictures really appeal. Although the actual clothing is very different in each picture, and I can’t really see myself wearing any of it, they both have a sense of quiet and whimsy that appeals to me. They feel magical. Detailed, but not fussy.
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Look at your own photos
Many of us take photos, upload them to our computer and then never look at them again. Go back, look at old photos of yourself. What outfits do you like best? Why? How do they make you feel now when you look at them and how did they make you feel when you wore them?
Start taking your own outfit photos if you have the inclination. It might sound obsessive if you’re not a blogger or involved in an outfit sharing community, but think of it like a diet. Do this for a few weeks, look back over it and see what you’ve learnt and what changes it inspires you to make in the future.
Since I started taking outfit photos for Retro Chick I’ve felt that my personal style has evolved more naturally as I’m more aware of the outfit choices I have made in the past.
My first ever outfit picture for Retro Chick in September 2008. I liked the platform peep toes, I liked the full skirt and it’s length, the nipped waist and the shape of the top. I didn’t like the print on the T Shirt, prints like that just aren’t really me, I think my waist could do with more definition and I really need to stand up straight, I also think my hair colour is blah. Lessons learned for future shopping and hair dye experiments.
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What did you wear as a teenager?
Teenage you didn’t care if the boss thought her tights were weird and she didn’t have bills to pay so that disposable income all went on clothes. Were you all crazy coloured hair and tights or did you spend your days dressed in black listening to the Cure? Maybe you saved up for the latest trainers, or maybe you lusted after little black Chanel dresses and bought copycats from TopShop?
This won’t be your look now, but it might help you to think about the way you dressed when you weren’t dressing for anyone else.
Once you’ve got an idea of the kind of style you like it’s time to think about Who you are in Part Three.
Photo by mydearDelilah
Photo by kalandrakas
25 Comments
More excellent, totally useful advice from Retro Chick. And just what I needed at the start of a new year.
Personally, despite being a downtrodden mum of two, I love drama, theatre and magic, which I think is why I’m drawn to rich colours and exaggerated, classic shapes. Might take a walk around Chester. Probably a good thing that I have no money to spare.
Keep reading. I hope I can help you turn those things your drawn to into a wardrobe you’re happy with!
i like to shop with an open mind & wait for my eye to catch a treasure!
This is what I do. But I think to do that you need to have an idea what you like. I know a lot of people who struggle with buying anything that isn’t jeans or a jersey top!
my new mantra is “what would Kirsty (Allsopp) wear?” as I really like her style. Some whole new outfits have emerged from my wardrobe recently because of this!
lol! Brilliant!
Make sure you make it all your own though.
i like your point about dressing as a tenneage or even a child, there was definitly a time in the past where i wore whatever i felt like in that moment and for no particular reason other than i wanted to… i am definitly going to look back and see where my tastes gravitated to then…
.-= IdStyle´s last blog ..Design Board: Anarchy in the U.K. =-.
I did look back at mine. I wore a lot more colour when I was a teenager, especially in acessories!
I totally agree with you! I started photographing my outfits several years ago and it has helped me tremendously!
My style at 29 is not all that different from how it was in high school…I definitely gravitate to a certain aesthetic!
.-= hanako66´s last blog ..My Mom is Cool =-.
I really find it focuses your mind on what you do and don’t like about an outfit.
Really great style tips here. I’m still trying to figure out what my personal style and I think a lookbook would help with that.
.-= Treacle´s last blog ..Review: SiSi Liquirizia Seamed Knee High Tights =-.
I found a theme emerged quite quickly, I like strong shapes, but with a girly twist, no frills and froth though!
Eeek! And what if you love a little bit of everything?
Love the idea of looking back through old photos — they don’t lie, do they?
*Kelsey
I think if you like a little bit of everything you can incorporate that into your wardrobe. You might like girly frocks with studded leather wrist cuffs!
I like this. I believe you have to go on instinct, too!
.-= Laura Connell´s last blog ..Burroughes Black Tie NYE =-.
Absolutely, but it really helps to sit down and think about what you like if you’re not sure!
your tip to “look at your own photos” really works for me. this is the main reason why i’ve been active in flick’s wardrobe remixn group. it allows me to keep track of outfits i love. documenting outfits like this also gives me good reminders of what not to wear.
a bit off topic: i appreciate these tips you have for us — they’re totally useful. thanks!
.-= katrina´s last blog ..Much Love Monday on Wednesday =-.
Yes, groups like that are great for that kind of thing because you can use other peoples photos to refine your style as well.
Thanks so much for doing these posts. I love the idea of looking through photos. I think I need to start taking photos of outfits to keep track of what I wear, and what just stays hanging up in my wardrobe! Sometimes I feel like I have nothing to wear and it’s usually because I’ve forgotten about some items that I just never wear..
.-= Rebecca´s last blog ..Where do snowflakes come from? =-.
Sounds like you need a big wardrobe clear out! I think I’ll get to that later on.
“Since I started taking outfit photos for Retro Chick I’ve felt that my personal style has evolved more naturally as I’m more aware of the outfit choices I have made in the past.”
Yes, I totally agree with this!
.-= Eyeliah´s last blog ..Your Heart Is Gonna See You Through =-.
What wonderful advice! I have a little folder titled “look book” right on my desktop for just those occasions when I find a photo that gives me that twinge and catches my attention. Honing one’s personal style is definitely not always the easiest task — thanks so much for your tips!
xoxo
.-= Ciara´s last blog ..Trend I Love: Digital Prints =-.
I agree, the secret of personal style to have your own and not try to be somebody else. I am not against experimenting and fighting my comfort zone – but it still should have your personal mark on it!
.-= Alice´s last blog ..How To Wear A Puffer Coat =-.
I’m absolutely loving this series–my big crafty new year’s resolution of sorts was to figure out what my style is, and learn to put together better outfits–not an easy task, since I have this love for crazy prints that aren’t always easy to mix into outfits! And this is hands-down the most helpful thing I’ve found. I’m really hoping that these tips wil help me avoid taking the time to make clothes and accessories that I end up not liking. Plus revisting my high school style was a lot of fun!
.-= Becky´s last blog ..The Personal Style Project, phase 1 cont. : Fashion flashback! =-.
I like this series, its simple tips and pointers.
However, I have a little criticism… towards the teenager part. Rather just to the phrasing of it: because there are certain teenagers – like I used to be – whose disposable income didn’t go into clothes. All of my disposable income used to go into books and crafty stuff, and I shopped for clothes with my mum, with her money.
It’s just the assumption that every teenaged girl only shops for clothes that made me twitch… It doesn’t change anything on the fact that it’s a helpful tip, that there are certain things I wore as a teenager because I liked them, and those things still work for me (such as my love for corduroy or dark blue with off-white). 🙂
.-= Hana´s last blog ..Honest Scrap =-.