Your Ultimate Style Guide - Tips For Women Finding Their Personal Style
Styling the perfect ensemble may feel impossible, but clothes can be a secret gateway to confidence. If you’re feeling stuck in your style rut and dying for a change, this is the perfect place to start.
1. Styling yourself Like an Icon
Start your fashion journey by taking a closer look at what inspires you. Look at some of your favorite characters in movies and TV shows- what’s their style? What colors are they wearing, and what are your favorite looks they’ve worn?
ABOVE: Nicole Kidman in To Die For & Parker Posey in Party Girl
Make a quick list of some of the best outfits you see during your nightly binge-watching sessions
Try to re-create them with things you already have in your wardrobe
Don’t be afraid to get unconventional
Evaluating the stores you're drawn to is another excellent indicator of taste.
When walking down the street or strolling through a new town, which stores or windows are calling your name?
Does the hippie, free-spirited vibe of Anthropologie or Free People attract your attention?
Or does your heart beat for the crisp and clean ensembles in the windows of Theory, or Reformation?
2. Tips On Finding Your Color Palette
This isn’t key to nailing your style, but it can be a super helpful tool in building a wardrobe. Think of it as a little bonus boost or an extra shot of espresso for your look.
Finding your undertone is the easiest part. Here's the quickest way:
Just look at your wrist and check out the color of your veins- are they blue, greenish-yellow, or a combination of both?
If your veins are blue - you’re cool-toned! This means you’ll look best in cooler colors. Think icy blue, sage green, and cool purple.
If your veins are greenish-yellow, you’re warm-toned! This means you’ll look best in warmer colors like reds, pinks, and oranges
If you have a mix of both - you’re neutral! This means you can pull off both cool and warm tones.
This look combines tones effortlessly
Don’t worry too much about finding your “color season” (ie summer, winter, spring etc) so you don’t drive yourself crazy.
Just focus on finding colors that make you pop!
For instance, which colors brighten your complexion, and which ones drain you?
3. How to Dress Better by shopping smarter
Staying up with trends is a super fun way to keep your finger on the pulse of culture if you’re into that, but it can also turn into a seemingly endless cycle of buying items and giving them away.
Instead of getting buried in the latest trends, stay true to your taste.
Try boiling a trend down to one element, like silhouette, color, or styling and then use clothes from your closet first, rather than buying something new you might never wear again.
Have fun experimenting with trends replicating what you can in your closet, rather than copying someone else’s look. Don’t fall victim to another game of “fashion telephone.”
For instance, long skirts with loafers are having a moment!
Instead of rushing to buy them, try the silhouette with items you already have to see if the look suits you. Layer a well-fitted tank top/tee shirt or chunky cardigan over a dress to soft-launch your skirt era.
Here's another great example of making a trendy look from scratch....
These looks achieve the exact same effect.
The woman on the right used things she already had, like a basic grey long-sleeve and a plain black dress, rather than buying new.
4. Experiment To Find Your Style
Experimenting with your look is so important in finding your style identity.
What do I mean by fashion phase?
When we say “fashion phase,” we’re talking about a style or aesthetic you might try temporarily, just to see if it’s “you.”
Every cool girl you’ve ever seen has been through many style phases. It’s inevitable.
It’s impossible to know what you like without knowing what you don’t like. The best way to figure that out is by trying everything. Don’t be afraid to try different looks, color schemes, silhouettes, and combinations!
During these explorations and phases, you'll end up collecting wardrobe staples that could last you a lifetime. Life’s too short to only try one aesthetic or style!
5. Using Ratios to Style Clothes Better
Nailing the right ratio in your wardrobe makes getting dressed in the morning a breeze. You should have a good proportion of basic and statement pieces that can be mixed and matched with ease.
A basic piece is simple in color and construction. You can throw it on with anything- like a classic pair of jeans or a white t-shirt.
A statement piece is an eye-grabbing garment that stands out in a crowd, like a patterned blouse or big hat!
New fashionistas tend to buy a ton of statement pieces and throw them all together.
Layering statement pieces can be so much fun, but it's often hard to pull off.
Basics are the easiest to style, so the newer you are to fashion, the more you can lean on them in your everyday wardrobe.
Try experimenting with statement pieces like a bold belt or chunky necklace on top of a basic outfit.
Statement Pieces vs. Basic Pieces. Generally speaking, your basics-to-statements ratio should be around 80% basics and 20% statements. The ratio isn't set in stone, so find the sweet spot that’s perfect and feels good for you.
6. How to Use Fashion To Embrace Your Natural Features
When you’re styling your look, the best thing you can do is lean into your natural beauty! Embrace your curls/hair texture, skin tone, and body type. Feeling beautiful is all about being authentic to your true self.
Finding your authentic style should never include self-criticism and a harsh attitude.
So many people resist fashion because of how it’s marketed. Fashion magazines can be amazing sources of inspiration, but they can also be harmful.
The fashion industry has a history of weaponizing insecurity instead of encouraging self-love. Break up with this toxic cycle and buy what makes you feel confident and comfortable.
Your wardrobe needs to be working with you, not against you. Clothes are replaceable, but you are one in a million.
If your clothes aren’t making you feel good about yourself in your authentic form, change them rather than trying to change yourself. Clothes are replaceable, but you are one in a million.
7. Why Are You Holding On To Crap?
There is nothing worse for your style than opening your closet doors every day and facing an ocean of clothes you totally hate. It’s impossible to put ensembles together when you're overwhelmed by bad choices!
Get Rid of The Bad BF’s
As personal stylists, we’re constantly hearing people talk about the old clothes they don’t want to get rid of. It sounds just like your girlfriend complaining about the boyfriend she can’t stand but never breaks up with!
If you've hated the way a piece of clothing feels or looks for years, that’s probably never going to change. Cut your losses and opt for pieces you genuinely love.
Ghost those old garments you never liked much to begin with—they’re not doing you any favors gathering dust.
8. How to Create Your Dream Closet
Just like finding your true self takes time, finding your most authentic wardrobe is a long process.
The best way to approach the process is to release the impulse to rush it and ditch the high expectations.
Self-discovery and personal style go hand-in-hand. Giving yourself grace to try things and fail is crucial.
Trying to nail your style perfectly right off the bat is a total waste of time! Collect pieces mindfully over time instead of rushing to buy a completely new wardrobe.
Beauty is in the details and high-quality craftsmanship.
Don’t buy it unless you absolutely love it, and watch your closet transform.
9. Ignore The Environment
“Comparison is the thief of joy.”
Try your hardest to ignore that inner critic telling you what you “should” wear. There is no dress code for your personal leisure time, and no one can tell you otherwise.
If it feels like others are drawing too much attention to your dressing up, pay them no mind. Everyone’s style is different; that’s what makes fashion an art.
Embrace what makes you different in your style, and don’t dull your sparkle for anyone.
When you're off the clock, try to remind yourself that no one is going to sneak up behind you and give you a dress code violation.
Enjoy the freedom of dressing to your taste, and ignore the noise.
10. Playing Dress-Up
A great way to speed up your fashion evolution is to get dressed more often. You should be “breaking the invisible dress code” as often as you can to build up your taste and get used to gussying up.
Try to put some intention into getting dressed three times a week. The easy outfit is perfect for the days when you’re just running to the grocery store. But, if you have somewhere to go, spend a little extra time putting your look together.
Do your hair! Try out a new makeup look! Break in those new jeans!
Getting into the habit of getting dressed up can lend so much to your fashion confidence. When you leave the house in something you feel proud of, it will put a big pep in your step for the rest of the day.
11. Take the First Step
All these tips can be great places to start, it all depends on what resonates most with you. The real key here is to believe that you’re capable of your style goals and to take steps towards them.
The worst thing you can do is freeze, worrying about nailing your look right away and putting off the closet purge. If you think too much about how far away your style goals feel, you’ll never do anything about it!
The time will pass anyway.
Time will pass whether you're building your dream wardrobe or not, so you might as well use it to your advantage!
No one is perfect at anything right away; think of it as your styling scholarship/trendy training!
You have the rubric, now you just have to do some research in the field.
