How To: 5 Tips to Help You Build a Personal Style

Within the past couple years, building my aesthetic/personal style has been an important process to me. I know that may sound silly, but it has truly helped me express myself and mature in a way I have never been able to. Like most, I have gone through many trials and errors in my style, so here are a few tips that can make finding your unique look a little easier.

Introspection:

To find a style that feels “you”, it takes some introspection. What are your passions, interests, and philosophies? Your style is an expression of self that reflects your personality, and therefore you should align your wardrobe with pieces that reflect these aspects. Forget the trends and others for a while and figure out what you truly like.

Go Through Your Closet:

Next, go through your closet, find what pieces like, what make you happy and think about why these pieces make you happy. Finding the pieces you currently own that align with your dream style is a good starting point for physical inspiration. The things you do not wear are simply taking up space in your closet, so put together a box for donation or sell them on Depop or Facebook Marketplace for others to enjoy!

Inspiration:

After looking within, find things that inspire you – whether it be people, places, ideas. My style inspirations have come from various things such as my childhood, hobbies, and other people. Something that had inspired greatly in building my style was the now defunct YouTube show, PAQ. The hosts had distinctly different styles, and even through the filter of television politics I realized their styles truly spoke on who they were.

Visualization:

Once you have found your sources of inspiration – catalogue it. What are the specific details you envision in your style? Find example of these and save them so you are able to turn to it for reference. Save posts on Instagram, Pinterest, etc. – make a mood board. I love making mood boards for any creative project I intend to take on, as I said above it allows visual reference for the specific details you are looking for when it’s finally time to find the pieces that will be incorporated into your wardrobe.

Experiment:

As we go through different times in our lives, we will certainly change, along with our styles. It is important to experiment with different pieces to keep your style relevant to your lifestyle. Step out of your comfort zone, there is no harm in trying something on that you would not normally wear and you will be surprised with what you can come up with. 

 Discovering my personal style has not only helped me grow as a person, it has saved me money as I am not worried about what’s new and what’s trending, it is also sustainable because I rarely buy pieces that are outside of my style and would not wear. I hope these tips can help you on your style journey!