Have you ever looked at someone and thought, “Wow, I love her style!” But when you recreate it yourself it just doesn’t quite look as stylish?
What makes someone have great style and look so effortlessly put together?
There are so many excuses we come up with when it comes to other’s having great style…
“She looks effortlessly stylish because she’s skinny, because she’s tall, because she has the style gene, because she’s…” just fill in the blank!
But I’m going to let you in on a little secret. No style is effortless, even for the most put together women.
Having a style that truly reflects you takes time and investment. It’s not a case of once you find it that’s it – it’s an evolving process.
Life and style are ever evolving
As your life evolves, so should your style.
In my teens to my 20’s I think I had every style personality going. I adopted trends left, right and centre and some clothes didn’t even see the light of day. If neon was on trend, you can bet your bottom dollar I had a version of it in my wardrobe! (I’m happy to say there is no neon in my wardrobe now.) At the time I probably made a lot of style faux pas but, hey, we were all so carefree then.
“Having a style that truly reflects you takes time and investment.”
What I’m pointing you to, is that you need to remember your style should evolve through the years with you. When you look back on photos you’ll see that how you dressed in your 20’s is very different to how you dress now.
If you’re struggling with what to wear and find getting dressed in the morning frustrating and not effortless at all, it’s because your style is not aligned to who you are now (check out my blog How to Create a Signature Style for more on this).
The simple truth is, looking effortlessly stylish is not a complete myth. It does however require time and effort to get the results you want. Yes, it’s much easier to go shopping on a whim and mindlessly buy whatever catches your eye. But when you put in the work to really learn about you and shop mindfully and with purpose, that’s when the magic really happens.
Here are a few things to get you closer to achieving a wardrobe that helps you get dressed with ease and style.
Be You
The aim of the game is for your style to give you the ‘Triple C’ effect…
- Comfort
- Confidence
- Consistency
To achieve this, you need to know how you want to project yourself to the world. Your style should be a reflection of your personality and lifestyle. It should also embrace and enhance your gorgeous physical characteristics (dressing for your body shape and wearing the right shades of colour).
Choose the right clothes
If you’ve been reading my blogs for a while, I apologise in advance as I’m going to sound like a broken record. But this is important so I’m going to say it again. Always buy quality over quantity and remember, less is more!
“Your style should evolve through the years with you.”
You deserve to have clothes that make you look and feel your very best. So, buy the best quality in your price range and think of cost per wear.
For example, a year ago I had a client who always shopped in the sales because she loved a good bargain. When we were going through her wardrobe however, some of the items had hardly been worn. So, even though she’d bagged some great discounts, in the long run her cost per wear was high.
When we went shopping together we bought a few full price essential items, which she was hesitant to buy being a bargain hunter! She recently got in touch and told me she’s worn those items so much that it’s really changed the way she shops. For example, she bought a pair of jeans for 249CHF. Now let’s just say she wore them once a week for the whole year – the cost per wear is less than 5CHF.
When shopping remember my golden rule to ask yourself before you make a purchase…
“Can I style this item 3 different ways with my current wardrobe?”
If you can’t, walk away from it!
Regular editing
Sometimes, no matter how vigilant we are, those pesky items that don’t serve us in any way shape or form will occasionally still creep into our wardrobes (the gift that was given, the impulse buy, etc). So, it’s important to edit your wardrobe every season.
This doesn’t mean you toss out everything and buy something new each season. This is about editing out anything that really has no function in your wardrobe. Items that are showing signs of wear and tear and anything bobbling or colour fading. Then reintroduce essential items with an upgrade on quality.
“I believe your wardrobe should be stylish not fashionable”
If you do this season on season, you’ll find over time that you’re editing far fewer items and your style becomes more clearly defined.
Update your wardrobe
You might think this contradicts my previous two points, but once you know what you like and what your true style is, feel free to update items.
I’m not one to advocate needing to have the latest fashions (I believe your wardrobe should be stylish not fashionable), but some things will eventually look outdated. So, remember, for items that are outdated seek out the updated version of it. Or, if there’s an item you absolutely love in your wardrobe but it’s poor quality, look for a better version of it.
Footwear
Again, I know I’m repeating myself from previous blogs (but you can never hammer an important point home too many times right?) but, for me, shoes are one of the most important and too often overlooked items of a woman’s outfit.
Having a few choices of styles and heights not only helps you create a variety of looks, but they can also take your outfit to the next level. Take the time to shop for great shoes and also spend a little bit of money to ensure quality. We’re on our feet a lot, so it’s well worth taking care of these two little things that continuously carry us from a to b.
So, as I hope you can see, being stylish does involve some effort initially. But, the closer you get to knowing yourself, knowing what works for you and fits into your lifestyle, making decisions becomes easier. And easier decisions results in needing to give less time and thought into putting an effortlessly stylish outfit together.
If you have any questions about your style and would like a professional opinion, I’d love to support you. Book yourself in for a style consultation and we can talk things through together.