I'm a firm believer in personal style and following your instincts. No one truly knows what suits you better than yourself, because everyone—absolutely everyone—has an inner style. If you haven't quite found yours, try the following exercise:
1. Analyse your wardrobe
Set aside the pieces in your wardrobe that you wear the most, that reflect who you are right now, and that you are always looking forward to wearing because they make you feel amazing, comfortable, you!
Can you describe these pieces in simple terms like ‘relaxed’, ‘feminine’, ‘fun’ or ‘colourful’?
Write all of these words down. Try to keep it to just 2 or 3 words that describe the vibe of these pieces.
2. Match your personality
What do you like most about your personality? Your key positive traits should be visible for everyone to see, so try to show those qualities through what you wear.
For example, if friends often tell you that you are fun and energetic, you might want to show this through what you wear by experimenting with colour and textures, adding fun prints to your everyday looks, and finding amazing accessories to match your energy.
Add these words to your list.
3. Your lifestyle
What you do every day makes a massive impact on what you wear. So you need to be realistic and think about how you can wear appropriate clothes for the activities you do during your week.
This doesn’t mean that they have to be boring, it’s about finding the balance. For example, you might love a ‘quiet luxury’ aesthetic or beige everything but if you have kids or a dog you have to walk every day, some of these clothes might not be useful for your lifestyle. How can you introduce this vibe to your style and still look appropriate?
3. Your style icons
A style icon can be anyone; it doesn’t have to be a celebrity, model or influencer. It could be someone in your family or a friend. It can even just be an aesthetic that you aspire to.
Now think of a word to describe your style icon or that aesthetic you like, but remember this is not about copying and pasting their entire look, is about being inspired by them to find your own voice.
For example, it’s no secret that I am obsessed with Sienna Miller, she always looks cool and effortless. In this instance, the word for me will be: effortless.
Add this to your list of words.
4. Go to Pinterest
Take all of the words in your list and type them into Pinterest's search. You can do one search with all of the words or separate them across multiple searches. There are no rules, just mix it all up - we're looking for inspiration!
You can also add more words to give the search more context, like ‘spring/summer’ or ‘outfits’. I like to write ‘street style’ as you get a lot of great looks from some of the most stylish women.
Then create a Pinterest board with the pictures from your searches that inspire you the most. Expand your board with some pictures of yourself wearing outfits you love or items in your wardrobe that you need to find ways to style. Add anything that inspires you - even pieces of art and magazine editorials.
Keep this board handy and check it when you need inspiration, keep updating it as you go.
5. Detox your social media accounts
It can feel very difficult to be ourselves when we are surrounded by external inputs every single second. We all follow too many accounts that, let’s be honest, might not be doing anything good for our mental health.
So just as we clear out our wardrobes every season, oalso detox your socials from time to time.
Stop following those accounts that encourage you to overindulge in buying new things all the time - yes those ‘hauls’ are not good for your wallet, the planet or your self-esteem!
Follow people that truly inspire you, lifting you up rather than putting you down, that give you healthy doses of inspiration and positive vibes, and that ultimately have a style of their own.
Remember: you don’t need to be trendy to be fashionable.
And that's it! In just a few easy steps you've brought your inner style to the surface and given it room to breathe. Now you can refer back to your Pinterest board to give you outift inspiration and a little lift when you need it most.