Changing your perspective on styling will be a lot of mental deconstruction. To discover your personal style, you must get to the root of your perceived limitations, be critical of media, and identify which parts of your spirit you want your clothing to amplify.
Today we’re tackling media. Why? Because in this hyper-consumerist country, the media landscape is designed to sell to you. This undeniably influences how you dress and shop.
Social media’s impact on the fashion industry–advertising, to be more exact–has been exorbitant. Influencer culture is so efficient that it has been cited as a significant contributor to the shortening of the fashion trend cycle. In fact, it is becoming increasingly common for corporate marketing departments to have an influencer-marketing subdivision.
You’re being convinced to buy pieces that aren’t authentic to you.
The Problem
When your personal style is undefined, you aren’t as strategic with your shopping. You’ll buy clothing simply because it’s cute, on-trend, or solves a small, hyper-specific outfit dilemma. And as a result, you wind up consuming more than you need to.
Then what happens? Three months later, you’re looking at the garment like, “why the hell did I buy this?” Friend, you got got. This happens when you don’t have an outlined-whether mentally or physically noted–personalized styling guide.
Let’s save our money, individuality, and planet by breaking this habit and developing a personal sense of style.
To begin, you must free yourself from the confines of aesthetics and learn the difference between emulation and inspiration.
Emulation v Inspiration
Your lived experiences affect your style. For this reason, you have to become comfortable with the fact that your style will most likely evolve over time. You’ll gain new experiences and world views, have different priorities, and find new inspiration.
Truthfully, your personal style is unlikely to subscribe to a fixed aesthetic. Subscribing to a specific aesthetic may be why you are dissatisfied with your closet. In this age of social media, there is always a popular look. In fashion media, the prized look has a shelf-life of a few months, if you’re lucky. Avoid falling into this trap.
Mimicking your favorite influencers hurts your personal style. Make your fashion an expression of yourself–center yourself. You have to know what’s authentic to you. Dress to be you, not an ideal.
Try not to put your style preferences into a box. Use aesthetics as inspiration. Analyze what components you specifically like and why. Consider how the different pieces would complement your existing closet so that you’re building your style brick by brick. This is the crucial difference between emulation and inspiration.
“Ok, now I have an idea of what elements I want to add to my closet. How do I approach shopping with this new information?”
Begin to Build
To start building a wardrobe that you are proud of and comfortable in–one that echos your spirit–you have to be deliberate.
Approach shopping like you would a treasure hunting or hidden object game (such as Where’s Waldo.) This makes building your closet a process. It’s one of the more playful parts of self-discovery.
Also, don’t strive to buy in bulk. I can’t stress enough how important it is to take your time. Your closet won’t realistically–or sustainably–overhaul itself in one day. Keep an eye out and an open mind. You’ll be surprised where you may find your next buy.
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