Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Developing a Personal Style Through Style Intentions

For the past month, I have been using my Stylebook app to calendar my outfits. I once thought this was a mark of insanity, but it's actually not that much extra effort when you have all your clothes logged in the app anyways. What has surprised me most about doing this is that besides the weekends, I wear the same handful of items all the time. And no, I don't technically have a uniform for work. I knew something must be wrong when out of 85 tops and 55 bottoms, only a dozen were being used. Thanks to a flowchart found on Pinterest, I was able to diagnose that my closet does not match my true personal style. Flowcharts are never wrong #science. That's great to know, but the more I thought about this, I began to realize I'm not even sure how I would define my style. Thankfully another pin had the answer. I've decided to blog my way through "6 Steps to Setting a Style Intention."

Here is the link to the step by step guide! If you have a few minutes (10-15) you might enjoy going through the process with me!

Step 1: If you're following along, you'll see that the first step is to list 5 words that describe how you want to feel after you get dressed. I decided on stylish, comfortable, polished, pretty, and confident.

Step 2: Next, I'm supposed to think of someone whose style I admire and consider the top 3 things I love about her style. Although no fewer than ten names popped into my head just now, I'll use Kendi from the blog Kendi Everyday. I like that her style is simple, classic, and feminine. I think she feels comfortable and confident in her outfits, and I really appreciate that she knows how to accessorize without going overboard.

Step 3: This step took me back to Pinterest, so I've decided to share my board with you. Go ahead. Click it.

Follow Stephanie's board Style Intention on Pinterest.

What this helped me realize is that I love neutral outfits with a pop of color. If the outfit or dress is all neutral, I want it to have some other interesting aspect, like a shimmer or a scalloped detail. I also like completing pieces like blazers, cardigans, or awesome shoes so that the look feels cohesive, not like separate pieces.
After this step, I'm starting to feel like things are coming together. I can't wait to see what's coming next...

Step 4: Looking at all the descriptions I've written down so far, it looks like I value details that make clothes visually interesting, as well as comfort for the occasion, and complete outfits that convey polish and confidence.
For this step, my words are: detail, comfort, polish, confidence.

Step 5: When I look at the outfits on my Pinterest board, I feel interested, happy, confident, like people in these clothes are friendly and smart.

My Style Intentions:
I want to feel confident when I get dressed every morning.
At 3 PM I want to look in the mirror and see an outfit that looks detailed and polished.
I want to wear clothes that feel comfortable and combine for outfits that look smart.
I want to wear clothes that make me feel happy, friendly, and interesting.

And we're done! I hope you took this little mini workshop with me. I definitely found it interesting, and I'm no longer on the fence about many pieces in my wardrobe (hint: they'll be in my Poshmark shop soon @ShopCCR). Comment below if you've also found your style intentions and let me know what you came up with!

2 comments:

  1. Hi Stephanie! This is Rosie from The Capsule Project. I'm so excited you found the process helpful. I loved seeing how you worked through it and I think my readers would, too! I also love your teacher wardrobe posts. Please email me at rosie@thecapsuleproject.co - I'd love to do a feature. :)

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