What is style? Most of the people I see want to have style and look stylish – yet they will all dress differently. Style is not about a particular look, but the way you put together your clothing and accessories that suits your unique personality.
To be stylish there are elements that need to work together to create a cohesive appearance.
Here are the following elements to help you become stylish.
S is for Silhouette – the shapes, proportions, scale and balance of your outfit that flatters your figure.
T is for Together – Looking put-together means good grooming
Y is for Your – your personality expressed through your clothing choices
L is for Lifestyle – what you do, how you live your life influences what you need in your wardrobe
I is for In Vogue – fashions change, staying current and up-to-date are important to let the world know that you can deal with and embrace change
S is for Size – finding the right size, getting alterations if clothes don’t suit, making sure the quality of your garments enhances you
H is for Hue – colours communicate and the colours that flatter your complexion will make you look more vibrant, alive, exciting, youthful and harmonious.
My style is different from your style. We may like some of the same things but will put them together or wear them in our own way. Your style may be completely different, but it doesn’t mean that you’re not stylish and I am.
When I’m working with a client, it’s never about my personal style (though of course my taste will come into it to an extent). It’s about my client, what they love, who they want to be, how they want to be perceived, the fabrics, the colours, the patterns, the details that work for them. This aspect of style was one that I realised is super important, after (in my pre-image consulting days) trying to emulate the dressing style of a friend who I thought looked super, but on me was all wrong. I realized then it worked for her because it was a true reflection of her personality and worked with her body shape and colouring, not mine.
Discovering this made me realise that when I did my image training I wanted emphasis on discovering who the person is inside and how to express that authentically on the outside. It’s all very well to know your body shape, but if you don’t know who you are and how you can express your personality with your clothing you’ll only ever be part way to style.
How would you describe style?
Want to discover your style? It’s the first step in my 7 Steps to Style program and is one of the most important elements. Within the program is a quiz that will help you define and understand your style.
Style to me is being true to who you are. I realized that back in middle school when I carried a purse shaped like a pig. I gave it up because I was told I shouldn’t carry it by “friends” yet when I conformed and stopped carrying it I sure didn’t get the acceptable I thought I would.
Nowadays I dress for me, I don’t care if you don’t like my red wedge sneakers with the flower print they make ME happy and are a (admittedly rather dramatic) reflection of my personality.
At the same time I think style is also recognizing the message you send to others and being flexible. My style can be tailored to be more conservative or it can be zany like my sneakers. I can tailor my outfits to reflect the message I want to send to others.
I also think style is being aware of current trends but not slavishly following every “new” trend on the market. If you still own a 1980’s one piece pantsuit it needs to go no matter how much you love it. But you don’t need to run out and buy colored ankle pants to replace it either if you don’t like them. Take what you like about the pants suit and find yourself something more modern that makes you feel just as good.
I think I’m casual chic. Wish you could come to my closet in Colorado and make me more stylish. 🙂 Love your blog.
For me it’s rather straightforward. The most essential element/result of looking stylish is to look good. And to look truly good one needs to get all those aspects you listed above right…
Great post – your description of the letters of stylish is right-on!
For me, your last paragraph sums it all up. Style is about dressing to suit your own personality, and this is where many young girls go wrong. They wear the latest fashions, even though the message they are sending is at odds with their true self. Of course many older women make similar mistakes, when they try to look smart and sophisticated, even though at heart they are casual and sporty. I think that when women dress to express who they truly are they do in fact look very stylish.