STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

shoppink · Nine West

determining my style

Kelly · Hermes

I don't think you have to choose between wrap dresses, JCrew, girly, or sleek. Or anything else. Every day I wake up in a different mood and dress to reflect it - sometimes I want to drown myself in flowers and bows, sometimes I want to look like a pinup girl, sometimes I want to be Audrey Hepburn or be quirky or serious or badass. I definitely have things I like and don't like, but I think it would be hard to choose a style for yourself and then not let yourself experiment outside of it. If you do that, you aren't going to give yourself room to grow or try new things and you'll probably start losing your joy and interest in fashion.

Maybe if you're still unsure, get some good basics that you can accessorize differently to play around with different things?

Elle · Hermes

I don't think there's anything wrong with being drawn to people who look stylish and confident - we all do that! You can try to isolate what exactly it is you're being drawn to though ... Is she really flattering her body and that's what you like? Does she look really sophisticated and that's what you like? Is it the color combo? A particular cut? A detail of the outfit? You can incorporate those things into your style without copying a whole 'look'.

Aside from that, I think there are very few people who stick to one 'style' all the time. I personally think a mix of items looks way more interesting and more individual tha, dressing to look like you fell out of the pages of J.Crew. The most important thing about anyone's style IMO is fit - if it fits and you love it, you can almost always find a way to make it work! Mixing high and low, throwing casual pieces in with fancy pieces and vice versa, wearing 'tough' items with 'girly' items, I don't think it matters if they don't all belong to one style, as long as they belong to your style.

Welcome, btw

!

-- Edited by Elle on Thursday 24th of September 2009 05:16:24 PM

jj · Kate Spade

Welcome! This made me think about my own style and how I would define it - I'm not sure either! I still go through phases...

Kelly is so right about acessories. I have a lot of basics that I change with jewelry, bags and shoes, even nailpolish.

Today I am wearing a grey longsleeve tee with a black full skirt, accessorized with a Jcrew turquoise bubble necklace and leopard heels. Other times I will wear them with a wide belt, gladiator heels and lots of layered metal necklces. Or a flower necklace and ballet flats. Same basic pieces, three different outfits.

I also rip style ideas out of magazines, lay them all out at the same time and identify common threads.

And then there are certain styles and trends that just don't look good on me, so I always buy what I love and what looks good on me instead of buying what's hot.

HTH!

Suasoria · Chanel

Maybe think about your LIFEstyle rather than your style. You might like sheath dresses and 4-inch heels, but if you're a preschool teacher, that's not really an everyday option for you. So first I'd start with your career, activities and other real life issues - what do you need to dress for? Do you go out a lot, entertain at home, travel for business, go to yoga three times a week?

If you work in an office, you need business clothes. If you're a stay-at-home mom, you need casualwear. If you're a swim coach, you need swimsuits. Etc. So this might be a way to help narrow down the types of things you should have.

One of my rules of thumb is that 70-80% of your clothing budget should be spent on things you'll wear to work. It's where you'll spend five out of seven days, it's where you need to impress people most, it's where you should feel most confident and look your best. (This assumes you like your profession/company and want to stay in it...) If your job is totally casual, or you don't work outside the home, it's still good to keep this 70-80% thing in mind, otherwise you might collect too many little black dresses and peep-toed stilettos instead of basic jeans and tops you need to wear most often!

I actually support the idea of "tuning out" blogs/magazines/trends. Sometimes that's just too distracting. We're all drawn to new shiny objects - doesn't mean we have to be influenced by them or own them.

Also, do you have a girlfriend you can trust, sister/sister-in-law, even mother who'll tell you the truth? Sometimes it's really helpful to have a second (female) opinion when you're shopping.

XtinaStyles · Marc Jacobs

Not everyone has to have a defined style that someone can define but usually we all develop signature looks. A friend of mine told me I have such a defined style which consisted of "fabulous wrap dresses and f*** me pumps" ha!

I agree with all above but if you are really unsure of what look you want to portray I suggest you take a few magazines and cut out every look that you LOVE that you could see fitting into your life. Put them into piles and I bet you will find a theme - mostly dresses, more masculine, more trendy, or classic, etc. Go into your closet and determine which pieces are NOT along that philosophy that you like the most, box em up, give em away, etc.

Boots · Gucci

I think that half the fun of clothes is letting them do the talking for you on a day to day basis. Somedays you want to project a certain image to the world (say you have a big presentation to make you want your outfit to say confident and smart while another day you might want to show a more vulnerable side.) It's not only OK to switch up styles on a daily basis, it's good for you. Otherwise dressing in only one style just puts you in a daily uniform rut. And what's fun about that?

When I go shopping, I try on things that catch my eye, even if they are out of my comfort zone. You never know what may look fab on you until you give it a shot. And if I try it on and it just doesn't "feel like me" I know that it's just not for me, even if I admire it on other people. For example, I'd like to wear leggings with boots and a boyfriend blazer, but it just make me feel odd when I try the outfit on. So I know that as much as I like it on other people, it's just not my personal style. It's a lot of trial and error.

I agree with the other girls that accessories are the easiest way to change up an outfit. A good selection of basics and an eclectic selection of accessories (some trendy, some classic, some that just "speak to you") will help you get a handle on what feels most like you. And once you figure that out, you will have a style to call your own.

Welcome to the forum, btw. It's a lot of fun here. smile

fairywings · Dooney & Bourke

You could always take a quiz...I love these things!

http://spiegelsignaturestyle.dja.com/

http://www.lhj.com/lhj/quiz.jsp?quizId=/templatedata/lhj/quiz/data/WhatsYourStyleQuiz_09202002.xml

Just a reminder that fashion should never be taken too seriously :)