For our last blog post of 2019 and to finish our 15th year of business in style, we’re talking with Style Doctors CEO Elin Mai to find out why she thinks it’s important to develop a unique sense of personal style.
What exactly is personal style?
Personal style is both fun but complicated, endlessly fascinating and a creative output for all of us. It’s essentially our spirit and ultimately how we want to be seen by the world through our clothes. Personal style is something you hone and carefully craft it and make it your own.
More often than not personal style is thought to be for people who are fashion conscious, whilst in reality, clothing affects everyone from all walks of life.
Every day we wake up and put on clothes to wear throughout the day, so we should be making our clothing choices work for us and our environments.
Do you think you are born with personal style or is it something you learn?
Personal style is a combination of both. Some people are more creative than others and other prefer a more regimented approach to style. It’s all to do with our own makeup and you often find that people who are creative are more adventurous with colours, shapes, textures and silhouettes. This is often to do with how the brain sees items coming together. Much like an artist putting colours on a canvas, creative people tend to work in the same way.
For the more formulaic people, there are ways to discover and evolve your personal style – however this will never be quite as organic as people who naturally put outfits together. That’s not to say that you can’t learn personal style, it’s all about how far you take it.
Is there a formula to creating personal style?
Your Life, Inspiration, Confidence and Creativity
Your life: The first step is to take a real look at your life. You have to be honest with yourself about what your lifestyle is and what is most practical for that. I can’t tell you how many wardrobes I’ve seen that are filled with items that are not reflective of someone’s life.
Inspiration: By taking inspiration from the world around us, we are able to hone in on what specifically makes sense for our wardrobe. Reading magazines, taking notice of what others wear and identifying what we like on others all helps us build an idea of what we like and dislike.
Confidence: Now that you’ve dreamt up your perfect wardrobe, and brought it back to reality, it’s time to find confidence in the style that is all yours. Once you find items that feel right, and a style that feels comfortable, there’s nothing that can stop you! Select the items you gravitate towards and that you have determined to be suitable for your life.
Get creative: The last step in creating your personal style is to get creative. After finding what is right for you, and makes you feel confident, there’s room to be experimental. Discovering your personal style doesn’t mean that your wardrobe is now stuck in time and can never change. We, as humans, are always changing and so too will our style.
Why do you think it’s important for everyone to have a style of their own?
Most certainly. Whether we like it or not, our clothing choices sending a non-verbal message about who we are. Before we even greet someone, our outfits have conveyed a message about us. That is why it’s so important that our clothing choices are a true reflection of who we are and how we want to be seen and ultimately treated by others.
Developing your own personal style is such a powerful tool in helping you express yourself in the correct way.
Describe your own personal style.
I have an eclectic personal style. Not one day is the same and I dress for how I want to be perceived and what I’m doing. I think about where I am on any given day, who I’ll be meeting, the surroundings, how much I need to walk, how long I’ll be indoors and outdoors, what’s appropriate for the occasion.
There are many factors that go into deciding on an outfit for any given day but at the core is comfort and confidence.
If I feel confident in what I’m wearing, it allows me to get on with my day with ease without having to worry about my style.
The reason I call it ‘eclectic’ is that I don’t follow a formula and dress for the day but always plan ahead.
If someone is wanting to improve their style, how do you suggest going about this?
Book a session with Style Doctors of course! Aside from that, following the 4 steps above is a great place to start. Don’t put pressure on yourself either, personal style is a work in progress.
If you would like some assistance in developing your own personal style, get in touch with us. There’s no better investment than the one you make in yourself!
