Defining Your Personal Style

Is your personal style something that you spend time thinking about?  Since you're here on this, a personal style blog, my guess is that you do.  Do you feel that you have a defined sense of your style?  Do you feel that all (or at least the majority) of your outfits fit this mold you've created for yourself?

Lately I've found myself a bit lost when answering these questions.  Call it the plight of a style blogger who spends way too much time thinking about clothing!  But in any case, I want to have a definition of my style and to be someone you look at think, "Yes!  That's totally her!"

A few months ago during a heart-to-heart with my dear friend, Carrie, we got to talking about these questions and decided to really focus on answering them.  So, for the foreseeable future, Carrie and I will be taking the last Monday of every month to talk about this style journey we're taking!

Today we're both sharing a few thoughts on how to get started in defining your personal style!

Thought #1

Collect photos of yourself wearing various outfits (Carrie has done a great job of sharing her daily outfits on Instagram lately).  Divide these pictures into two categories: outfits in which you really feel like yourself and outfits that don't quite hit the mark.  Then take a look at these pictures and find some common themes in each category.  This will help you narrow done what works and doesn't work for you.

Here are four outfits that feel very me.  What I gathered from these photos is that I like classic and fitted structures, pattern mixing, vibrant colors and feminine details.

Thought #2

Create a Pinterest board for Wardrobe Inspiration (you can find mine here).  This board is where I dump any and every outfit picture that I love.  It doesn't matter if I can recreate the looks with what's in my closet or not.  From there I analyze the pictures in much the same way I look at my own pictures that I like.  What are the common themes?

Thought #3

Find a particular clothing brand or celebrity style that exemplifies the look that you are going for.  I'm particularly drawn to the classic but whimsical styles from Boden and I always love Reese Witherspoon's looks.  Keeping both in mind when thinking about style gives me something concrete with which to compare possible looks that I'm creating.

So friends, this is how I've jumped into defining and wearing my style that I've decided to call classically feminine with a bit of whimsy.  What do you think?  I would really love your feedback on the progress that I'm making and any tips that you might have!