How Do I Find My Personal Style

by Flutura
(Italy)

I am trying to find a style that represent me, but I'm confused and I need help to find the best style that fits to me.

Can you help me?

Thank you!


Flutura, you look like Giselle Bündchen on that picture! And that's a compliment :-)

It is difficult to give you specific guidelines without knowing the details of your appearance, taste, wishes, goals, etc. Like for example, what is your body shape and height? What is your occupation? What are your hobbies? How do you want to dress?

What's really important when it comes to finding your personal style is to maintain your main signature personality trait in the way you dress. Like for example, if you are sporty but want to improve that by looking more feminine, you can create your own unique style by blending both sporty and feminine in one.

By looking at your picture I can imagine you wearing feminine, casual pieces like cargo pants, boyfriend jeans, basic t-shirts, canvas sneakers and even some simple, sporty-looking sandals. But I would want to see you in heels (not tall but more like 5cm) to look more chic.

Here is what I think would look good on you:

Outfits taken from: Promod and Laredoute Italy

If that's not exactly what you would imagine yourself wearing, here are some basic guidelines on how to find your personal style:

How to Find Your Personal Style

Figure out why you want to develop your own personal style

By looking at your pictures, I assume your style is sporty and laidback (with a nice, slim body), but does that say anything about how you want people to perceive you? Or do you want to change your style completely to something that feels more you and help you look confident?

Ask yourself: What is the reasoning behind it? Are you trying to be more noticeable, just for fun and yourself, or for the opposite sex?

You need to have a clear thought in your mind about why you want to develop your style to stay on track when shopping for new clothes.

Assess your personality

You start off by writing down words that describe your personality and characteristics and you will often see a pattern in those traits. Are you traditional? Modern with punk attitude? Fashion forward? Daring? And then decide what "label" you fit in, for example boho, preppy, sporty, classy, tomboy, girlie girl, etc. However it doesn't stop there. You pick a label but you have to make it yours by mixing several styles in one. So if you're known to be outgoing, sporty but with a sweet personality, then you might want to create a sporty-feminine style by wearing both casual and cute pieces.

Take a Fashion Style Quiz

Assess your body shape, likes and dislikes, height and complexion

This is the most important aspect of defining your personal style. Because even if you like a certain type of clothing or style, you should make sure that it flatters your appearance. That means it should flatter your body shape, harmonize with your colorings and height (let's face it, clothes today are made for hourglass, 170cm figures).

And not least, you might want to take some time to figure out what you like and dislike about your features. In this way you know what parts to highlight to bring out the best in your looks and what parts to disguise.

August 2011 Update: I've written a whole series on finding and defining your Personal Fashion Style - here you'll learn how to really assess your clothing personality, fashion tips on how to define it and improve it!

Hope this helps!
Sincerely,

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