3 ways to refine your personal style

My style journey truly began when I ditched fashion magazines and found inspiration in blogs. Don’t get me wrong; I still pore through local magazines to learn about brands and products I can buy at the nearest mall. But in terms of figuring out my own style, I don’t find magazines particularly useful. I can certainly wear what fashion editors tell me to wear, but the trends they hand-pick rarely ever mesh with my personality and tastes. And while distilling iconic looks (e.g. glam, bohemian, rocker) makes it easy for anyone to emulate a style they like, I feel trapped by the limitations of these rigidly defined aesthetics. For a while, I just went with whatever clothes struck my fancy, except piling on a hodgepodge of different pieces still made me feel raw and unstylish, like a little girl playing dress-up.

Over time, I managed to claw my way out of a boring shirts-and-jeans wardrobe and into outfits that are a little more me.  If you were in the same boat I was three years ago, you can start refining your personal style with the exercises listed below. Don’t treat them as hard and fast rules. Instead, think of this article as a starting point to the exciting and deeply personal process of finding your own style.

Find a style icon (or two)

When you don’t know where to start, it helps draw inspiration from a personality whose style you admire. Celebrities are an obvious choice, because they’re trendy and impeccably dressed, yet their outfits tend to stay on the safer, more “classic” side of the fence.  Look through gossip websites and magazines and find a sartorial muse you can relate to. Do you like Katie Holmes’ laid-back style? What about the classy ensembles of Emma Watson? Or is the disheveled look of the Olsen twins more your thing?

If it’s easier for you to relate to “real” people, style blogs and style communities like Chictopia, Lookbook and Weardrobe provide a wealth of fashionable icons. These websites contain thousands of photos of well-dressed girls, and it won’t take you long before you find someone whose style you covet.

As soon as you’ve identified your style icon, identify the key pieces that will make your look more similar to hers. Poke your head into your closet and look for items you think that icon would wear.  How do you think she’d style a dress or necklace that isn’t normally part of her look? But don’t go copying her outfits from head to toe. Make her style your own by finding aspects of her style you’d like to change.  

Create a mood board

I learned this useful trick in styling class. Once you have a good idea of what kind of look you’re aiming for, making a mood board will refine this look and help you decide what pieces you’d like to invest in. What is a mood board, you ask? Basically, it’s a collage of images and objects that present a concept or sets an atmosphere. A mood board can contain more than photos of clothes, accessories or your fashion icon; if a wallpaper pattern, a piece of textured ribbon, or a movie quote inspires you, don’t hesitate to throw it in!

The easiest way to create a mood board is to log on to polyvore.com and start putting together the clothes available on the website. Polyvore also has a nifty feature that allows you to clip photos from the internet to add to your board. If you want to do mood boards old-school, get an illustration board and start cutting up your magazines, if you have lots of magazines to spare. I like how Tavi the Style Rookie creates her boards using bits and pieces of her favorite items.

Take daily-outfit photos

I think my style wouldn’t be what it is today if I didn’t make a habit out of taking semi-daily photos of what I wore. There’s actually a practical reason behind this – I don’t own a full-length mirror, so I never get to see what my outfit looks in its entirety unless I shoot it. At the same time, seeing my outfits on my own blog challenges me to be more creative and adventurous with what I wear. I also pick up other lessons from doing this exercise. For instance, I learn that I look kind of boring in plain-colored tops, and that high-waisted A-line skirts don’t look so bad on me.

If you’re shy about showing your outfits on the Internet, you can keep your photos to yourself and create a style diary using a notebook. I suggest making short notes about how your outfit makes you feel, as this can help you refine what you’re wearing next time. For instance, you might feel gorgeous in your new outfit but as you walk to the MRT station, you discover that your new wedges chafe, your cardigan is itchy, or your dress makes you shiver in an air-conditioned room.