Hi everyone! It's Justine.
Finding your own style is probably one of the biggest challenges in fashion.
It's also a very ambitious title for our video
I am well aware. Let's say it's going to be an attempt.
You get influenced by trends, by celebrities, by people around you and what they think, by the media,
and at the end you don't really know anymore what to think, and where to start.
When you research article on that topic, they tell you, well, just think of the clothes that you like,
or are you more classic or avant garde.
And I always think, well, if you knew, you wouldn't be researching it right?
So, in this video, I would like to give you concrete tips to help you in the process of finding your personal style,
6 steps to be precise.
And in case you wonder, I would actually use a very similar method for men as well.
But, now its about women.
Let's go.
First of all, before you look anywhere, you need to know what your body type is.
If you don't know that, you will end up with clothes that you don't like to wear that you don't feel good in.
But you won't know why they're not working.
If you have watched my series, about body types, then you know what you are.
If not, look in the description box below, you will find all the links, to find out what you are.
Number 2.
Find your uniform, so to speak.
It's kind of a basic look, that you love to wear, but is not what you would wear at home on weekends.
It has to take into consideration your life and your job.
If you work in business, in a large cooperation, than your uniform, is going to be much more formal,
than if you work in a creative field, for instance.
Fashion designers often have so called uniforms, the way they dress like, everyday of the year,
because it's their style, and they have found that it's working for them.
The uniform can be dressed up or down with shoes, accessories, make up, etc,
potentially endlessly,
That's what I mean with a uniform, and that’s what you need, that’s what you are looking for.
Number 3.
Find one person, potentially a celebrity, who has your body type,
and of whom you would like to wear the clothes.
It's easier if that person is alive, rather than from the past,
'cause you will find easily pictures for inspiration purposes,
it's going to be easier than if you take somebody from a passed decade.
However, for instance for an hour glass body type you might find that the beauty ideal ,
in the 50's fitted better, so you actually will find more examples in the 50's.
The advantage of taking somebody who is a celebrity is that it's easier to collect pictures,
but if you take, let's say Marilyn Monroe, easy example,
than you're going to be stuck with the same 10 pictures that everybody knows and has seen before ,
so you will look like you're trying to look like Marilyn Monroe,
because the reference is too obvious
she’s just too famous.
So I would recommend you go for somebody less famous if you take a celebrity,
or with somebody you know and can talk with, it's even easier to get tips and ideas.
Once you have chosen the person, collect pictures and try to take a helicopter view, above the whole thing
And say ok, how can I describe that style in three words,
those three words from now on are your guideline,
every time you go shopping, whatever you buy, it has to match, those words,
Step 4
Define your colour palette,
for this, you need to know before hand if your undertone is warm or cool,
I did a separate dedicated video on this,
Which I'm going to link in the description below,
you need to know your neutral before you start
and then, pick colours, proper hues
that you like and you feel make you look radiant and healthy
you need both for the colour to be qualified,
to enter your colour palette,
I would start with neutrals, I take for instance,
black or navy,
than white or beige/cream,
and than brown or grey
and then I'd add up to 5 hues, proper colour different ones,
think that prints come on top of that, and they're usual compose of more colours,
so it's already a colourful wardrobe,
I think it’s enough for a start.
When you pick your hues,
remember that you also choose the intensity of it and the value and Chroma,
so it means concretely,
is the colour pure blue or is it mixed with white or black,
is it bright, it is dull, you have a tonne of variations,
there is not just blue, there are a tonne of different of blues,
so you need to be really precise, in that exercise,
and find the blue that works for you,
that will be one of your colours, etc.
Ideally, gather all those colours together,
they can be coloured shape, they can be garments, pictures, put all that together
Take one picture, that you have with you
when you go shopping, whatever you buy,
compare with this bench mark
to make sure the blue is the blue you wanted
the grey, the grey you wanted,
so that you don’t buy, things you thought would match the colour palate but actual you don"t.
Number 5
lets talk about shapes and fit,
very important category,
you need to make a sort of little list, like a guideline.
Examples:
which skirts length do you like and feel good in?
do you like when the fit is skin tight, or tailored in the right places or frankly boxy?
the answer to that question, will influence the kind of fabrics you will natural gravitate towards,
so it"s an important one,
do you like solid colours only or eventually also prints or stripes or pattern etc.?
do not feel like you should maybe try this because everybody's saying it's on trend,
the more important question is always will that fit my body.
Number 6,
shoes and accessories,
usually underrated,
yet they can do a lot to style your uniform up or down,
again an example of question eh can be
like accessories to be big or small,
do you like one statement piece or combination of several accessories including jewellery,
do you like your shoes to be eye catchy,
colour blocking making a statement of their own,
or should they match your outfit.
I can speak for myself, personally my wardrobe mainly looks black, neutral and muted colours,
but my shoes, which you never see on youtube,
I'm aware,
are really colourful, and I love it.
Now that you’ve gathered different ideas, thoughts,
pictures, visuals everything you have so far
the question is always how do I keep all of that together in one place,
so that I can actually draw unto my thoughts and my guidelines
when I need them when I go shopping
I would typical use Pinterest.
Pin pin pin everything you like and see,
if you are not sure, pin it, you can always erase later,
consider that a draft or a living document,
having everything on one page is tremendously useful
for editing and reflecting later
on what you like why it would fit you etc,
it's just a lot easier to compare, when everything is on one page,
kick out everything you don’t absolutely like,
and at the end, you'll have, like what
20 pictures left
those 20 fits on one screen, that’s all you need,
make a screen shot if you want
you can take it shopping with you,
and if you choose more than one person as your style icon,
than you can you put all those people together on one board and compare,
across all those people what do they have in common,
and you get your three words as well its just visually a lot easier,
I think. The advantage of Pinterest not being set in stone
is that its just like your style, your style will keep evolving, forever,
and than new visual will come in and others will get kicked out
that’s all part of the process and as you practise more and more
you’re style self confidence will grow, naturally,
notice that I did not mention trend as a point in finding your style,
trend are suggestions, what matters a lot more is your style
"Trends go, style stays" (Coco Channel).
If you found some useful food for thought, tips in this video,
give it a thumb up, thank you very much,
question in the comments below as always,
Im expecting quite a few on this topic as you go through the process, its really normal,
I do my best to answer as many of those question as I can.
New videos every Wednesday and Sunday on this channel , take care, bye bye.