How I Finally Discovered My Personal Style

October 13th, 2017 at 1:07am

Finding your personal style is not an easy feat. Everyone’s been through the frustrating circus of getting ready in the morning, going through outfit after outfit, and feeling like nothing looks good (I had too many of those mornings.).

I’m a girl who can appreciate a lot of different styles. Boho, minimalistic, preppy, tomboy styles—you name it, I love it. You would think that getting ready would be easy with this mindset, but, ironically, it wasn’t. It came to the point that I was so sick of everything in my closet that I needed to do something about it.

PHOTO: Kayley Meden

My closet purge took me a little over two years. (I know that sounds overwhelming, but I promise it’s worth it. Bear with me.) I began how any good closet clean-out starts. I started with four simple piles: the “keeps”, the “donates”, the “throw-aways” and the “I-don’t-knows,” and I made sure to go through every bit of clothing I own.

About every month I would re-evaluate my closet, go through it all again, and separate everything into the necessary piles. (Pro tip: Some things are hard to get rid of though you don’t use them. Put those items into a box that’s sealed away. If you don’t think about what’s in it after a month, toss everything.)

PHOTO: Kayley Meden

This process was practically rinsing and repeating for the first year, and then I finally got down to the pieces that I loved. It sounds silly, but I asked myself what I loved about each of the things I kept. What it came down to was that they made me feel confident. Taking it a step further, I started to realize what about the pieces made me feel confident, and that was that they fit me well, were in good condition, and had specific qualities unique to my evolving personal style.

The process of consistently evaluating my clothes actually made me a smarter shopper, and in turn, a better self-stylist. I no longer bought clothes that were on too good of a sale price to pass up or things that filled my desire to buy something. Getting my wardrobe down to the pieces I loved forced me to try on everything I bought, invest in high-quality materials, and stick to what made me feel most confident. I hardly ever have trouble getting dressed now; imagine that!

What’s your experience with finding your personal style? Leave a comment below!

Featured photo by Kayley Meden 

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