Having your own personal style is like having your own trademark.

I firmly believe we should never pigeonhole people or judge a book by their cover, but that’s not what having personal style is about. Finding a style that you feel suits your personality and helps you to express yourself is a joy. This guide will help you!

Know Who You Are and What You Want

It’ll help if you know who you are in life and what you want. Lots of people dress for the success that they envision themselves having. This means you shouldn’t wait to dress like you’re a supermodel or a business woman; fake it until you make it! Dress like you mean it.

Think About Your Lifestyle

Think about the kind of lifestyle you lead to come up with clothes that are suitable. You need to be able to live your day to day life comfortably. High heels look very nice, but if you do a lot of walking then they aren’t suitable at all. You can still look glamorous even if you do need to dress casually and comfortably.

Take Inspiration

Take inspiration from people you like. When you ask a celeb how they’d describe their style, they’ll nearly always say something like, ‘a hint of Marilyn Monroe, pinch of Debbie Harry, and dash of Alexa Chung’. It’s always a mix of people that they admire. Never copy just one person, or you’ll risk looking like you have no imagination. Start a board on Pinterest and see if you see a pattern forming.

Dress to Show off Your Good Points

Find the good points you love about yourself and dress to show them off. Maybe it’s your legs, arms, or even your tummy. Enhance your good points and you’ll always feel good about yourself.

Only Wear it if You Love it

If you love something, then wear it! That means it’s perfectly ‘you!’. Don’t wear something just because somebody else is wearing it. I love this [amazon template=product&asin=B00KYJUMP0] so I wear it often!

Find a Signature Item

Your signature item could be anything from a necklace, to one of the handbags by Alexander Wang. This is what people will begin to associate with you and your style if you wear it often enough!

Consider the Whole Package

It isn’t just about the clothes; personal style is all about your hair and makeup too. Practice hair and makeup techniques to go with your style so you always look on point.

Experiment

If you like something but aren’t sure if you can wear it, try to experiment. Try things on that you’re not sure about, and think outside of the box. Experimenting with different items is the most fun part of finding your own personal style.

Don’t Blindly Follow Trends

If you love a trend, then follow. But don’t just follow a trend because it’s a trend. This won’t get you anywhere! You want to be the trendsetter, not the trend follower.

image from Flickr