Style Building – A Guide to De-Cloning Yourself – Part Two

Having arrived at your personal style therefore, following trends becomes far less complicated. And you will notice that even though the trends change, your style is consistent throughout the seasons and you will begin to learn what is flattering and what isn’t. Yes, it may be a trend to wear berets but if this season’s berets come in plaid inspired by irish kilts and your style is rocker or glam- it is obvious that it would not mesh with your style. In fact, you may have to buy something totally different from what you’re used to wearing in order for it to ‘go’ with anything. And really, if you genuinely have nothing for it to ‘go’ with then is it really your style? And even if you do purchase a whole new outfit hoping to expand your horizons, will you find yourself purchasing more things like it or will it eventually make its way to the back of your closet never to be worn again?

This is not to be confused with stepping outside of your box. I however warn you to do so cautiously. Ask yourself if you genuinely dislike a particular style or item of clothing. If the answer is a loud resounding yes, then don’t bother with it. And this answer should have nothing to do with any insecurity you have. Remember, disliking something and thinking that you cannot pull it off is something totally different. If the thought of wearing something physically makes you ache then chances are you dislike it. If you are afraid to put something on because you think it makes you look fat, or disproportionate etc then you don’t dislike it, you’re just a chicken. *kanye shrug* (yeh I said it).

If something catches your eye without creating repulsion, try it on, snap a picture and walk around in it. Then ask yourself where would you wear it, how often would you wear it, and how would you wear it. Do this before you even think of spending your hard-earned money. Going out of your comfort zone means that you are risking throwing away good money. So please please – and this is an open plea to all my impulse buyers- think before you spend.

Always be willing to try new things – try not buy. Try it on and ask the store to put it on hold if it’s a small boutique store. Wait a few days and if you are still thinking about it and have figured out a way to wear it and somewhere to wear it to then go back, try it on again, make sure it fits properly and if your heart so desires and your pocket so permits then go ahead and make that purchase. Then incorporate it into your wardrobe immediately. Do this so you remind yourself why you decided to make that brave step out of the box, because when the excitement wears off and you fall back into your old habits it will become a stretch to wear it because lets face it, it’s different from everything else in your wardrobe and beside your clothes at home, it’s bound to stick out like a sore thumb. This is when regret can set in, and you need to fight it, so that you can continue to push yourself to make informed decisions to step out of your box.

When you know what you like and how you like it, shopping and dressing become intelligent and confident exercises. You would have found that you have successfully built your base style.

(If you’ve noticed, I haven’t said anything about weight, size or shape yet. This is because I am not going to be the person to tell someone that because you have more curves than Beyonce then you should avoid this style and that style. I didn’t do that because I don’t believe it’s true. I think anyone can wear whichever style they choose. Your style doesn’t even have to fit your personality, but it would be nice if it did :p. Now I’m gonna have to repeat something said so much but ignored so frequently. Wear only what fits. If you want it plainer than that, Joan’s words should do ‘ just because it zips, doesn’t mean it fits’. Clothes weren’t meant to drown or hold anyone in. Use them for their real purpose, to flatter your body and show your personality.)

Dress intelligently, style yourself, look in the mirror….however you want to say it, just look good, you’re the only one to blame when you don’t.

Style Building – A Guide to De-Cloning Yourself – Part One

Figuring out what you like and don’t like is the first step to doing what I like to call ‘style-building’. If you’re anything like me then you hate looking like a clone of anything or anyone else.

I remember once, someone saw me get dressed and left the room only to return in the exact thing I was wearing. I don’t mean that she had on the same shirt from the same store. I mean the style and the colour, everything! It irked me so much it almost spoilt my night – we looked like the wonder twins. As in really, style is something so individual, why would you want to copy someone else’s? You lose your identity that way. My style is very important to me and clothes, whether gifted or purchased by me, that don’t emit what I think my personality is, always fall to the back of my closet or go into that pile for alteration or to undergo some creative deconstruction.

So yes, style-building is really about what aspect or aspects of yourself you want to bring out that day, in other words it is inexplicably tied to your personality. Now I would like to think of myself as a multi-faceted, diverse individual, so my style changes from sweet, to rocker-chic, to glam to fashion forward, to conservative to a little bit sexy on a daily basis. How did I come to this conclusion? By a simple process of elimination. I looked through magazines, blogs, looked at the television, on the streets, everywhere. You usually don’t have a positive reaction to things you don’t like- some of us know instinctively, and others of us have to carefully distinguish between things that we don’t think we could pull off and things that we actually don’t like.

The easiest way to know that you don’t like something, is if you find yourself asking ‘why would anyone wear that?’ That universal ‘anyone’ is important because if you limit it to just the particular person that is wearing the outfit then it becomes more about whether it is flattering on that person or not. I always always find myself asking this question when it comes on to ponchos or capes. I cannot understand why for the life of me anyone would want to wear a triangle shaped blanket. Granted, all fashion is art and it may look beautiful in an artsy way on someone but when it comes to real life fashion I would never be able to see someone sporting a poncho on the street and say that I like the person’s outfit.

Once you have established what you don’t like, then its time to educate yourself. This is the best way to approach it, especially if you shop. Stores like to separate their clothing into styling categories, and you can save yourself a lot of time if you are able to identify those styles you like. You can take the easy out and buy a style guide from a bookstore or you can chance it via google but this is not for the easily exasperated. Some of the classifications include:

·         Classic – this speaks to basic styles, that are wearable despite trends, and tend to include necessities such as jeans, a white shirt, black dress. These are usually in solid colours.

·         Casual- this usually describes the style of the t-shirt, jeans and flats-wearing individual. This style is very dressed down and usually is worn by persons with very laid back personalities. The girl who will wear a maxi dress to get away with not wearing heels.

·         Glam- dressy, dressed up style, usually accompanied by a sophisticated sexiness

·         Rocker- think black, hardware, leather, and grungy even

·         Girly- pastels, pinks, skirts, ruffles, frill, lace

There are numerous other styles but they usually incorporate one or several of the elements of the abovementioned style and have been given a name to suit the marriage of them. I myself, wear things that are all those styles, though I wear less of casual and rocker.

Once you have identified your style group, it goes without saying that you have identified the types of pieces you like, and depending on your taste and your personality you will begin to mix them all together to create your own personal style.

Personal style is the basis of all fashion. That’s why two designers can look at the same inspiration and come up with two totally different ideas. The colour orange may take an interpretation in the eyes of an Erin Fetherston and she may come up with an orange pumpkin skirt- which because her style tends to be girly which would make sense for her to do something to accentuate the female figure and yet be playful. A Ralph Lauren whose style is far more classic may come up with something like an orange sweater for a fall collection because it reminds him of fall leaves, and a sweater would be perfect because of the drop in the temperatures.

I hope you see where I’m going…

Part Two...in a few hours....