I have been making little discoveries throughout this year about my style. And it's super fun! I love clothes, but I feel like any time I liked my outfit in the past it was a happy coincidence that it all came together. I think maybe I've learned that there's a little bit of science to the art of getting dressed and that's what's helping me (for the first time ever!) define what I like and why.
First- I love to check out the pleated poppy's blog on wednesdays. She does this "what I wore Wednesday" post every week, and lots of real life girls link up photos of their outfits and you can get real life inspiration from real life girls. (Did I mention, real life?) Way better than a magazine if you ask me. I have so much fun looking at outfits and finding people whose styles are similar to my own, or even seeing an outfit and realizing you have similar pieces that you never thought to put together before. (I secretly want to join in, but I just don't know if I can do it without feeling totally silly... I'm glad they go out on a limb though!) Mentally identifying what I tend to like over and over again was the first discovery.
Second- I read a series on having a "no brainer wardrobe" right after I started cleaning out my closet. I posted a link to it here in this post.
Third- Kind of mentioned it above, but I cleaned out my closet. And I don't just mean I rearranged what I had. I put everything through a set of criteria and really asked myself if I loved it, and got rid of what I didn't love. This was a huge discovery. I now am convinced that a clean, organized closet is the first key ingredient to confidently getting dressed. (ok, maybe not totally clean, maybe not totally organized, but at least to the point where you know what you have, things are not buried, and there is some type of logic to where you keep things)
Fourth- I cleaned out my closet for the first time this year in January. I just cleaned it out again yesterday. And I made another discovery. I pretty much dress in neutrals (white, cream, brown, black, gray), shades of pink (anything from coral, to salmon, to hot pink to plum. and "reddish" is included in pink for me) and shades of blue (from turqoiuse to navy to baby blue to teal...) Every now and then some green makes its way in there. But I don't typically wear yellow, purple or orange. Not hard and fast rules, just observations of my normal tendencies. Beyond color, I noticed that I love floral prints and stripes and ruffles and, somtimes, toned down polka dots. Lots of each of those. I like longer tops, tighter pants, flats and boots. Again, not rules, just observation of what I already have. So, that's the most recent discovery. Look at what you have and love, and figure out what it has in common. (Side note: I think I might have figured out how to organize my jeans.... Dressy pile, flare leg pile, skinny and boot cute pile... from largest to smallest so that as I keep losing baby weight I go down to the bottom of the pile. We'll see how it goes)
Now I don't really know where I was going with all this, other than to say that I have begun to discover that I actually do have a style. And it makes me happy. Maybe because I love art, and getting dressed can be an expression of art in and of itself. No pressure though, pressure and art don't mix. If I'm feeling creative my outfit may or may not reflect it, cause sometimes you just gotta wear a sweatshirt and messy hair and do what you gotta do. ;) All that to say that an expression of who you are is a beautiful thing, whether it's in clothes, art, written word, song, dance etc. Be who you are, you are beautiful :)
Have a lovely Wednesday!
Your posts are always insightful! I really love reading them and being inspired :)
ReplyDeletethanks sierra! :)
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