Discovering Personal Style: the cheatsheet
‘Personal Style’ is a phrase we hear thrown around every day in casual conversation, in the fashion industry and across social media, but what actually is it and how can you discover yours?
Definition: personal style
In short, personal style is dressing in a way that makes you feel most authentic; it is a form of self-expression through style that does not use any words but still introduces who you are. It is developed from your lifestyle, passions, preferences and confidence in a way that embodies the values you hold at your core.
Defining your personal style starts with awareness and self-discovery, builds with experimentation and ends with intentional execution, 3 important but simple steps.
1. Discovery
The start of the journey involves exploring who you are and what you like. This may range from what you like about yourself now, to things you used to enjoy as a child and also what styles you’d like to achieve in later life. When partaking in self-discovery, you must dip into the past, present and future embodiments of yourself in order to reach the full potential of your creativity. Scroll through old photos, reminisce over the ‘cringe’ outfits you wore as a teen and embrace the nostalgia. Emotional responses to memories and situations often lead to a rise in creativity and an even bigger influence in self-expression. Find inspiration in yourself!
After considering your personal preferences, discovery can also be applied to what’s around you. Look at other creatives! Explore new styles on Pinterest, search different aesthetics on Tiktok and scroll through your Instagram feed. It doesn’t all have to be digital. Have you ever been out and about, seen someone with incredible style and WISH you’d have said something? Personal style has a great way of embedding confidence into the way you hold yourself. Be the person that compliments others and see how the words come back to you.
2. Experimentation
Experimentation is where personal style starts to take shape. The entire process of trying something new, adjusting, and even getting it wrong is all a part of the journey. Playing with different aesthetics, combinations, colours, textures and even moods helps you understand what makes you feel empowered and what doesn’t. The Killer Muse, offers a great platform for experimentation as you can compose new outfit ideas, rework existing ones, and push the potential of ‘style’ without any pressure. The more you experiment, the clearer your style becomes — confident, intentional, and completely authentic.
3. Delivery
Finally, accept that you are allowed to change your mind as much as you want and whenever you want.
Going back to cringing at our old outfits…when you think about that idea, you must remember at some point in life that was your personal style. When we are younger, limitations and pressure to conform have little power over us, which is why we get nostalgic over ‘freedom in youth’ (and also why we had crazy outfits).
But there is something to admire in that fact alone. Discovering your personal style isn’t about finding perfection. It is about intention, self-discovery and freedom.
After finding what makes you feel most like you, build on it. Don’t ever stop searching for more because as you grow, so will your style and The Killer Muse is right by your side to weave into every new routine you get.
Written by Haleema Ghani