AUTHENTIC ME

5 STEPS TO DISCOVER YOUR TRUE FASHION PERSONALITY STYLE When you purchase clothing in the store, you might ask yourself, that some of these styles are really not you, but, that is what you are presented with so you end up buying what is on the rails and what the shops are offering, and leaving you feeling your purchase was a ‘mediocre’ buy, not really something you can go home and shout out loud ‘look at this amazing item I just bought” right? Another thing is we tend to buy clothes or styles our mother or oldest sister insisted we SHOULD wear or buy, which means it is not truly ‘our’ authentic style, would you agree?

Here are a few suggestive tips you could follow starting your journey of discovering your true authentic style and to implement this over time, only wear what makes you feel beautiful inside and out, and buy or sew your true style that complements the rest of your wardrobe and shouts out to the world this is really me and I love my look, and I rock it with confidence.

DECLUTTER: “This would be a great place to start, remove all the clothes that you do not wear, and be very honest with yourself, what you haven’t worn in the last year should tell you something, right?” Which means these items of clothing are not very loved, wanted or worn, and just taking up precious wardrobe space, which you could let go of and make space for new precious items of clothing that you will actually wear.

IMAGE THIS, YOU OPEN YOUR CLOTHING WARDROBE DOORS, TO CLOTHES, SHOES, ACCESSORIES & UNDERWEAR THAT ALL LOOKS INCREDIBLE ON YOU AND YOU ACTUALLY WEAR. Statistics say we only wear 20% of what is in our wardrobe.

THAT SPECIAL LIST: I must assume after the decluttering exercise to your wardrobe, there will be items that need to be replaced, but this time with proper planning, better fit and colours, to fill back some of the gaps allowing you to create those versatile looks and a functional wardrobe that you actually wear. You should have an immediate list for items you would need to purchase as soon as you can, and also a future list. Your immediate list could be replacing underwear that fits you correctly to replace the worn-out ones you threw out, perhaps a few tops and so on. Your future list could be items you do not need right now, like boots, coats, belts which you might need for the following weather season. Put your list on your phone as this is an easy reference for you. If you are sewing for yourself, then you can also decide which items you want to sew and which you would prefer to purchase from the shops instead.

COLOURS: Your fashion colours should suit your skin tone, your hair and eyes, enhancing your natural beauty not making you look ill or dull. Think back, when you wore a certain colour or colours the number of compliments you got from people around you. This will give you a quick reference of which colours look fabulous on you, besides you would also know what looks good or not on you, well I hope so. Let’s get back to your colours, select 3 to 4 colours that you love wearing and add to your list these colours and items you would need to purchase or sew, as well as adding accessories to match or complement these clothing items to create that finished look. If you love lots of colours keep in mind to have basic colours or neutrals to pair with all the colourful items, that will still allow you to have a functional wardrobe.

STEPPING OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE: It’s time to try on different styles of clothings, from designs, lengths, cuts, colours, prints, plaids, florals, plains, and creating totally new looks that you perhaps thought wouldn’t look great on you. Go to your favourite mall, and select the clothing retails shops that stock styles you like, go in with an open mind. Take full outfits with you into the change room, for example jacket, trouser, blouse, shoes, handbag which gives you an complete full outfit, tell the fitting room assistant you busy doing a style make over and need to decide which styles suit you best, that is why you are taking so many items of clothing. Ask a friend to go along with you, if you need moral support, keep in mind that possibly your friend doesn’t have an identical body shape or proportions or lifestyle that you have, which you need to dress. Take photos of your garments, and the looks you created for your future reference of styles to purchase and ones to totally avoid. By your photos you can tell which suits you best.

PLAYTIME: Try on the clothing items you have left in your clothing wardrobe that you still have, but this time pair them up with different items of clothing, accessories and shoes which you didn’t wear as an look before, experiment with alternative colours, and matching items together, take photos and keep the ones that really look great on you for your future reference. Look at the photos of styles you tried on in the clothing cubicles, draw up your list of items you want to purchase.

VERSATILE CREATIVITY: Take one or two items of clothing and see how many different looks/styles you can create, you will soon see with less you can so much more when you have planned the items of clothing, accessories and shoes to all complement one another. Your wardrobe is an investment, make it work for you, not against you.

RESEARCH: After you did all the practical steps, of decluttering, trying on different styles, making up your lists, do more research on styling your body shapes and fashion looks that you love, this is all about investing in your self-image and boosting your inner confidence

 

Free eBook on my website “Styling with confidence” giving you loads of tips. www.taniasutherland.co.za