Fashion Focus: What's Your Personal Style Sense? 5 Tips to Find Out

The most important thing about personal style is consistency. If you look at all the fashion icons, vintage or contemporary, you’ll instantly observe how recognizable they are. Think of Jackie O. Instantly, her impeccable suits and hat combinations come to mind. Her pearl necklace and her eyewear, her long gloves, and her sensible heels. Now step into the time machine and land in Bjork’s apartment. You’re probably picturing her in a surreal outfit, maybe even the infamous Swan Dress she wore in 2001 at the Academy Awards.

Search, don’t settle

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A well defined personal style starts with the confidence that you’ve found what works best for you. This is often a game of hit and miss, but in order to know who you are, you often have to try more styles on for size. Research a bit of fashion history, or else you risk having a really narrow picture of what you can become. Try to understand your tastes before you settle into them -- if you’re a big fan of capri pants, try to see the reason behind that. Is it because of those 90s videos you love watching over and over again? Or do you think they work for your silhouette? Either reason can give you more insight into what you want to be and what your style is.

Many people go through “phases” only to finally discover themselves, and that’s great. When you’re looking comfortable in anything you’re wearing, you’ve probably found your style and the search is over.

Find your colors

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We often wear the wrong colors all our lives. Some women are more color savvy, which makes them know instinctively what their skin tone works with and what shades they should stay away from. They have a natural ability to mix and match because they understand that color plays a big part in an outfit.

If, on the other hand, you’re pretty much clueless as to what your best colors are, you should start investigating. There are many ways to do so -- going online and figuring it out by yourself or even getting a professional color analysis, which promises to be a better help than any internet-based quiz can be.

Knowing if you’re warm or cold, if you’re summer, winter, autumn or spring will not only help you choose clothing better, but also makeup and hair colors. And surrounding yourself with the right colors will most definitely give you an instantaneous boost of confidence.

Shop For Staples

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Wardrobe essentials sound boring, don’t they? The little black dress, the trenchcoat, and the white shirt have a certain uniform connotation that’s slightly unsettling. Not to mention the go-to shoes -- tennis shoes, boots, and heels.

But it doesn’t have to be like that. The whole point of these items is making them your own and being able to return to them again and again. If you’re a punk rocker at heart, that LBD can be an edgy leather frock straight out of an underground club. On the other hand, if you’re a hippie who loves color, you can find a flowy lace gown that oozes the 60’s.

There’s no need to settle for cookie-cutter clothes when we live in a world of endless fashion diversity. The internet itself is a cornucopia of unexpected goodies and you can always turn to forums to see if you’re missing all the fun.

Trust your gut

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Wanting to look like someone else -- a celebrity or particularly stylish friend -- might be a source of inspiration, but it might not be very constructive. Research is one thing, as it broadens your horizons, but admiring someone shouldn’t always lead to copying them because soon enough we might start admiring someone else. What happens then? Do we reorganize our wardrobe each time we fall in love with someone’s style?

A better approach would be looking at the clothes, accessories, and shoes you already have. Do you see twenty pairs of trousers and one skirt? Do you favor prints over color blocking? Is your jewelry mostly vintage? All of these things might already define your style. Now all you need is upgrading it. If you like wedges, start focusing on them. Find more options, find better options. Be more conscious as you make fashion choices.

Don’t forget about your hair

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Hair is a big part of your look. You know Halle Berry for her short pixie cuts, Kate Middleton for her bouncy, shoulder-length locks, what do people know about your hair? Are you the kind of girl who goes for the ponytail each time they’re going out? Or are your roots forever dark and your hair forever blonde? Think about what picture you’re implanting in people’s minds and, if necessary, make a change. You might even be the person who changes their hair every month, but that’s still a style and a manifestation of your personality.

In the end, style is all about you, not some fashion magazine. Your personality should shine through your clothes, hair, and makeup and you shouldn’t want to hide just because what you are is not necessarily popular right now. Be brave, be knowledgeable, and upgrade your style.