HOW TO FIND YOUR PERSONAL STYLE

Style is unique to each and every one of us. It can be built over time. Style can be achieved by drawing inspiration from various sources. It is important for us to know what we like and what works for us. 
Looking good is good business. It also takes a lot of learning and growth to get to where you want to be, style wise.
Whenever you put on a piece of clothing you love, it shines through. It is important to know this and have it at the back of your mind.
This is because fashion/style or any form of clothing is an armour for us. It brings out the best in us and it also brings a feel good factor.
Personal style can be found, it can be improved and built over time.
If you are still trying to find your personal style, do not despair.
I love fashion, I have my own style, I know what works for me, fashion and style wise but I am also improving and learning everyday. It is the same for most people, who are into fashion/style.
Nobody is perfect. We learn everyday, you will find your personal style by putting in the effort.
How do you find your personal style? How is this achievable? What do you look out for? Will you be able to find that style that is unique to you? The answer is a resounding yes. I know this can be daunting, especially if we are confused about it all. And don’t know how to start. I am here to tell you that you can do it. Today, it is easier to achieve than never. So let’s dive into some key points that can be of immense help to us in finding our personal style.

Outfits You Feel Comfortable In:

Style is unique to us. It is also about what we love, gravitate towards and feel comfortable wearing.
My advice is, wear pieces/outfits you feel comfortable and confident in.
How do you know, that it is going to be a good fit? By what means do you find out, that it’s going to be for you? How do you know you will love them? This can be achieved by trying on various outfits that you find interesting and gravitate towards.
The truth of the matter is – you will never know if an outfit is for you, if you don’t try them on. So go ahead and try on those pieces you’ve been looking at and wondering if you will really like them on you. This is how you get to know if it is a perfect fit and your style.

Style/Outfits You like On Other People:

We see people wear outfits/pieces we love all the time. We sometimes wonder what it will look like on us. This curiosity is normal. Especially if we love looking good ourselves. 
This also tells us what we may or may not like/love for ourselves when styling an outfit.
I always say to people. Look out for the things they love about other people’s fashion/style, try to replicate that same thing to see if it works for you.
You can learn so much about what you like fashion wise, from your everyday life and the things you see around you. There is so much beauty in the world for you to do so.
You can take inspiration from everyone around you. The people you encounter on a day to day basis. Like your parents, friends, siblings, colleagues, acquaintances, coworkers, and teachers to name a few. They may have something about their style that you can take onboard to elevate your own personal style. It is called learning. No one is born knowing it all.

Outfits That Made You Feel Good:

We’ve all worn a particular outfit that we feel wonderful in. That makes us feel like this is it for me. 
I love the way this style of pants or shirt feels and looks on me. You have to ask yourself these questions; – Do I feel like a billion dollar in this? Do I feel like I want to go out in this? Do I feel comfortable in this? Does it make me happy wearing an outfit like this? Does it make me feel good? If the answer to these questions is a resounding yes. Then you are on the right part to finding your personal style.
You have to listen to yourself when an outfit feels good on you. The truth of the matter is, you will know if it’s right for you. You have to also act on this.
The outfits/clothes you feel good in, nine out of ten is your personal style. This is a journey we have to navigate to get to our destination. Which is our personal style. This can take some time to perfect, but you will get there eventually. It takes a lot of observation, learning and understanding of what works for you personally.
Nobody starts with their personal style from day one. They build it over time and this should be the same for you.

Style You Gravitate Towards:

Like we get attracted to humans we also can be attracted to fashion and different styles.
There are particular styles and outfits we see on other people, magazines, television shows and social media channels that we gravitate to. We sometimes know we do and other times we are oblivious to this and don’t even know we are leaning towards them.
What are you gravitating towards? How do you know what you favour? There is not only one answer to this question. But as humans, something happens to us when we see something we like or love and it is no different to fashion.
You can easily tell if this is a style you will like for yourself. If you see an outfit and it does something to you in a positive way. It means you are attracted to that piece of clothing or fashion. Meaning, you will love it as your personal style.
Style and fashion is unique to us.  What works for A may not work for B. But you can easily take a few things you like about A’s style and incorporate it into your personal style to make it better and achieve what you want for your own style. Building and achieving your personal style requires continuous effort, tweaks, new ideas and inspiration from every aspect of your everyday experience. This is important in achieving the desired unique personal style for you.

Get Inspiration From Social Media:

We live in an era where accessibility has become a reality for almost all of us. All you need is a mobile phone or a computer.
We now have social media platforms like YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, blogposts, Twitter, and Pinterest where you can get a lot of inspiration.
There are a lot of style inspiration on these  platforms.
You can follow fashion and style influencers you gravitate towards. The ones you like or love how they dress/style themselves.
“Everyone gets inspired by everyone“ We learn from each other on a day to day basis. 
There are a lot of “Get Ready With Me“ on these platforms so take advantage of them.
Save a lot of videos and photos. Create a mood board to help with what you are trying to achieve. You can always go back to these saved videos and your mood board for inspiration.
The mood board serves as a general idea and presentation that can always be of great help.
Make sure that the mood board consists of the styles that you love and lean towards.

Watch Fashion Shows:

Fashions shows are so important. You should never miss watching them. This will help with the latest trends. Please don’t just follow trends because it’s trendy. Follow trends that work perfectly well for you and towards achieving your personal style. Trends you can continue to wear for years to come, after they are no longer trendy.
You can watch fashion shows like Milan, Lagos Nigeria, London, New York, Paris, Berlin to name a few. These will  help towards developing your personal style.

Have An Open Mind:

A lot of people are not open to new ideas or things. You have to have an open mind when it comes to fashion and style. 
The number of times I have heard people say things like- “This is not for me or this is only made for women“  baffles me.
Fashion/style is genderless to me, I shop and get inspired by everyone. Gender is not a criteria. I buy women clothing that are unisex enough for me.
Why am saying this? Am saying this to you today – Have an open mind and try new things when it comes to your  fashion/style. 
I will tell you a story. I wore this particular jacket and a friend was obsessed with this jacket and wanted it. When he asked me where I got the jacket from, I told him it was from the women’s section of a particular fashion brand. You know what? He did not believe me. So I said try the jacket on and see what you think, he did and loved it.
He now shops everywhere. He was able to do this because, he had an open mind about the situation.
You can improve on your personal style in so many ways. Never pass on the chance to do so, by not  being open to new ideas that can elevate your personal style and wardrobe.

Be Curious/Adventurous:

Personal style growth requires a lot of curiosity. Ask yourself questions like- Why does he or she like this bag? Why do some of these men love this particular kind of pants? 
That curiosity can help with your personal style growth. Because you are asking the right questions in your head. When answering these questions, be adventurous and try those styles you would otherwise never go for.
I just think that some people are a bit too critical about certain types of styles, without even giving it a try to see if it works for them or if they will like it.
For your personal style growth, you need to be curious and adventurous. You also have to try new styles and trends.
All it takes is one try and you will discover if it’s actually for you or not.

Go Outside Of Your Comfort Zone:

To get to where you want to be on your personal style journey, you really need to step out of your comfort zone. Style outfits you will normally not wear.
You get to discover a lot about your personal style by doing so. You get to start loving styles that you may not really have liked before.
An example would be to try something that may be overly flashy for your taste or try some accessories you have never worn before. 
You can also try wearing bags (like a tote), crossbody bags, if it’s outside of your comfort zone to see how it matches with your personal style.
Taking risks is part of life, so it should be in fashion and style.
I have taken a few risks myself with my personal style. In doing so I discovered what works for me. Those risks I took by going outside of my comfort zone has helped in my personal style journey and growth. This should be the same for anyone who wants to develop and grow their perennial style.

Shop With Intention:

Do not shop for shopping sake. Shop for pieces that will elevate your personal style and make you really stand out.
Shopping with intention means you know what you want and how it’s going to be incorporated into your wardrobe.
Don’t just throw money away on outfits you will never wear. Or the outfits that will never be easily incorporated into your wardrobe or help with your  personal style journey.
Please never spend your hard earned money on a piece of trendy outfit you see on other people without trying them on. Make sure it’s the right fit for you. I will advise not to buy a particular outfit because it’s popular. Buy it because it aligns with your personal style and what you love to wear.

Wear The Things You Love:

This is pretty straightforward, especially if you’ve found what you love.
If you already know. You can try the outfits you love on other people to see if you love them for yourself.
Always try on outfits before spending on them. Clothes look different on you in comparison to the way they look on hangers and clothing racks. They also look different on every one us.
So be intentional with your decision on this.

Visualise Wearing The Outfits:

You have to see yourself wearing the outfits that you love or like on other people. You should also visualise yourself wearing the pieces you like yourself.
We all have colours we like, the things that we love or like etc. You have to follow through on that.
Remember that being confident and comfortable in whatever you are wearing plays a massive part in dicovering your personal style.
If you visualise it, feel that you will be comfortable and confident enough in wearing the outfit you visualise. It’s a major step in the right direction.
You should never care about what anyone thinks about you when you’ve found this out and are wearing them.
The business of looking wonderful and stylish is personal and unique to us. 
So do you! You don’t want to be like everyone else on the street. You get to be you and want to be you.
You have to have your own signature to it. That everyone who knows you, will be like that is their personal style.

In Conclusion:

With personal style we have to work towards what we like/love even when we are not sure of it.
Do you like comfort, tight outfits etc? Once you know this you can then work from there. This is absolutely key.
Finding your personal style is a journey that takes a little bit of time to get to your destination. Don’t be in a rush to  get there. It can’t be achieved in a day.
The most important thing to do is, improve on your personal style on a day to day basis by getting inspired from what happens around you.
You have to be on the look out for ideas to help in elevating/improving your personal style and your wardrobe.
My advice is. Keep yourself informed and up to date. You have to know what is popping and trendy.
As mentioned earlier, watch fashion shows, follow the right people. Read about fashion/style, follow fashion influencers you gravitate towards. We all learn from each other. Nobody knows it all. Stay in your personal style lane. Do what feels right for you. Everyone has it in them to know what they like when they put it on. Work from there, use that as a base to grow your personal style. Life is a learning curve. We learn everyday, as well as in fashion and style. We evolve as humans, so does our personal style. Continue to be inspired. Continue to dress well as always, in the best way you know how to, and your own kind of way.
Finding your personal style does not end here. The journey continues, as we evolve.

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