A signature style is so important in expressing yourself to the world around you and can be so much easier than you may think. When we talk about a “Signature Style” your mind may immediately flick to icons such as Marilyn Monroe or Elvis Presley but these are at the extreme ends of the spectrum. Their looks have become stereotyped and generalised by mainstream culture and so when wearing outfits like this it is more comical than anything else.
When we talk about a signature style we mean the more day-to-day steps you can take to both look unique whilst keeping in touch with the latest fashions and trends. Styles like Audrey Hepburn or John Mayer are both noticeable and yet they suit the time, some would say they are timeless because of how you can imagine people wearing these clothes both right now and fifty years ago. The tricky part comes with walking the line between overt and covert use of clothing. A scarf or hat are more likely to be adequate ‘features’ than chaps and cowboy boots. Our own personal styles need to be taken into account as well. We are always evolving as people and with this comes the evolving nature of what we wear to better suit what we want to convey. Jeans and a T-Shirt are all well and good but having some sort of indecent joke plastered across the front may (obviously) completely change how people view you.
Firstly, we need to come up with a list of what we definitely DO NOT like. Just because horizontal stripes may make you look slimmer in some way, no one wants to see a zebra walking around. Although this may go against previous info on keeping in touch with the latest fashions and trends, sometimes you have to just follow your gut and find the things you adore that make you go against the grain. Be prejudiced when it comes to your clothes. Pieces you may have experienced happy memories with or that genuinely suited you fifteen years ago are likely to be more relics than riches. Once you understand what you don’t like you can begin to fit together what you do like. Most of us have that favourite piece of clothing we could wear every day but we don’t because it would look weird to everyone around us if we literally wore nothing else; if you have this feeling when looking at a piece of clothing, congratulations, you have successfully found the start of your style. Whether just for one outfit or for many.
An aspect to consider is that you must understand your body shape. You are beautiful no matter whether you’re large, small, short or tall however certain silhouettes can show your body off better. A good way of finding this is to pay close attention to celebrities with similar shapes to you, and to see what works for them. You can try this body shape calculator to better understand what may suit you best. This can also be applied to colour in your costumes. Reading up on expert tips and colours that suit certain skin tones can help make you look less washed out or get certain fades to work with your look instead of against it. Also, seek inspiration from celebrities or figures you look up to. Browsing Pinterest or Instagram are also useful platforms to find an array of outfit inspirations. The style you are likely to want will probably have been done before, so researching and scouring the web are good ways of identifying others that reflect that style.
To sum up…
- Find out what you don’t like.
- Think objectively when it comes to picking clothes.
- Understand your body and skin tone.
- Find those styles you like and begin to combine and refine.
- Best of all, experiment!
Don’t stick with something ordinary and boring but don’t just focus on the newer clothes, vintage has been coming back for decades and the styles that weren’t so popular twenty or thirty years ago may be coming back into fashion. Find those fashion brands that make you feel your best and be loyal, as suggestions and recommendations they give you open you up to styles you may have originally thought you wouldn’t suit. Play around with your look, of course there are some classic outfits you can begin to assemble such as the uniform (for jobs and work events) home wear (for snuggling up in bed) sportswear or street wear which are common options but with thousands of possible combinations for you to choose from the sky’s the limit when it comes to your style. Remember the famed words of Yves Saint Laurent – “Fashions fade, style is eternal.”