Personal fashion sense is something that constantly evolves. If you looked into your closet or wardrobe, you’re most likely going to find a couple of pieces that you use to think were amazing but no longer find attractive. This is normal because of how our fashion sense changes over the years. It’s typically influenced by the things around us such as the weather, our body shape, our interests, our job or even our friends. It goes without saying that a sense of fashion can easily be shaken up. One month you’ll be wearing black outfits and the next you could be mixing several colours into your wardrobe.
Everyone wants to feel comfortable and beautiful in their own clothes. Thankfully, there are many things that can help us define our own personal fashion sense! Of course, it’s important to understand what can help us and what halts progress. No one wants to be wearing the exact same clothes over a long period of time. So, let’s shake up your style and define your own sense of fashion with these game-changing tips.
Defining Your Personal Fashion Sense
Because Being a Copycat is Wildly Uncool
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The Good, the Bad & the Ugly
The first hurdle we have to overcome before we find your personal style is criticism. We’ve all been there before, and perhaps you’ve been on the giving end of fashion critique. There will be people who will call your outfit drab, outdated or even weird. But it’s important to understand that fashion is an incredibly personal thing. One person will see an outfit and perceive it in a different way to someone else. Two people wearing the same top could create entirely different feelings. One of them could accessorize their outfit to create a punk look. While the other could add smarter garments to the outfit to make it more casual.
There are so many ways to wear clothes that there’s no wrong or right way to approach fashion. If anyone ever tells you that you’re wearing something wrong or that you’re not doing the expensive shirt you bought justice by pairing it with cheaper clothing, then ignore them. Learn to deal with the random comments you’re getting. There’s no one that can define your own sense of fashion better than yourself. If someone questions the clothes you wear or tries to make a joke about the types of fashion you put on your body, then learn to ignore them without confrontation. If you personally think that an item looks fantastic and you want to wear it, then do so.
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Gather inspiration for your looks
The internet is a wonderful tool that allows us to share our best pictures and research different types of fashion. Whether it’s on Pinterest or an online fashion blog, save pictures that you love and use them as inspiration for your next outfit. Many online fashion blogs and social media accounts even link to stores where you can purchase the clothing in their pictures—making it incredibly easy for you to find the things you love. It’s a good idea to mention that you shouldn’t simply copy someone else’s style unless you absolutely adore it. The point with gathering inspiration is to collect different ideas that you can mix and match into something of your own.
To practice this, make yourself a Pinterest account or a folder on your desktop. If you use Pinterest, make a personal fashion collections album. Save all of the pictures that you find interesting in either your account or the folder on your desktop to create a large collection of images for inspiration. You can save images of models, patterns or designs you like—or generally anything that looks interesting. It might not sound like much, but you’ll start to see patterns in the images you save. Maybe you realize that you gravitate towards a certain fabric or that you love certain colours. It’s all for the sake of finding your personal fashion sense.
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But don’t get carried away
It’s important that you don’t get too carried away when seeking inspiration. It’s easy to completely forget about your personal style because you’re too occupied looking at the latest “hype” fashion trends on social media. These people, commonly referred to as hypebeasts, typically build excitement around a new collection or item that a label is releasing. Also, they usually purchase products for the sake of future resale rather than adding to their collection.
While there’s nothing inherently wrong with being excited about a product, it does speak volumes about how easily some people can be influenced to follow a trend rather than set one themselves. Or to wear whatever makes them comfortable. Try and avoid being influenced by social media as much as possible and define your own style.
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Learn how to spend
Spending is an art. You need to have a lot of knowledge and creativity in order to spend correctly. Far too many people go straight to the well-known brands and buy items that celebrities or their friends are wearing. While this can work (sometimes) it’s always best to learn how to spend your money properly so you can get the most value out of purchases.
One of the first things to consider is the quality. You want to invest in items that you know will last a long time. You’ll need to wash the clothes, you may need to iron them and they’re going to go through the regular wear and tear that all of our clothes eventually go through. If you want to make the most of a purchase, then ensure the quality of your clothing is top-notch.
You can do this by checking the fabrics and examining the stitches. If there are missing stitches or if you notice the fabric has been distressed during its time in a store, then you may want to avoid it. When purchasing online, there isn’t much you can do to “try” the garments unless you purchase something cheap to sample the quality. However, there’s little chance of the fabric being worn out or damaged because they are usually packaged once they’re constructed and kept safe before shipping.
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Be careful of labels
Something else to keep in mind is where you actually purchase your clothing from. Whether you buy from brands like Versace, Mela Purdie, Gucci or American Apparel, make sure you’re not overspending on brand name and exclusivity. The only exception to this is if you really like a brand and love the previous work they’ve been putting out. Don’t pay $500 for a dress from a label just because your friends told you it was good. And don’t buy into the hype that circulates around social media, either. Buy clothing because it looks great and you enjoy it. Don’t get clothing just because other people say it’s trendy or looks nice.
Lastly, make sure you take into consideration where you can actually buy from. If you’re savvy with the internet and understand how to use services like proxy shipping, then it could open up plenty of international stores. For instance, many Korean and Japanese clothing brands only ship online to domestic addresses. However, a proxy shipping service can make it possible to purchase from those online stores and have it shipped to an address in their respective countries, and then have them shipped to you.
This will open up plenty of more options to complete your style. However, be careful because sizes in other countries will likely be different to your home country! Take care not to purchase something that won’t fit. You may need to alter the size of your clothes to make them fit because the returns process is usually far too much trouble to go through when purchasing abroad.
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Define your own style
All of these points ultimately lead to one purpose: defining your personal fashion sense. By ignoring your peers that criticize your fashion without proper arguments, learning how to stretch your budget with clothing and teaching yourself how to look for inspiration, you can easily find your own style. Whether it’s through the colours you enjoy or the interests that you have and want to show on your fashion, follow what you personally want and not what the trendsetters and Instagrammers are talking about.
At the end of the day, you want to feel comfortable in your own clothes. It’s accomplished by wearing something that is both constructed well and represents your tastes. You can wear things that set yourself apart or you can wear garments that make you blend in with the rest of the world. As long as it makes you happy and you feel comfortable wearing it, it’s not an issue that you need to worry about. Simply pick the clothes that you fancy and wear them out—stop thinking too much about what others will say or how they will act! Who cares?
