5 Habits to Improve Your Style
Back to School Blitz
Happy day, reader dear!
Welcome back to another installment in our Back-to-School Blitz (or B2SB), I’m sharing basic posts about wardrobing, wardrobe logistics, seasonal trends, and some ruminations on style and the seasons. Think of it as an after-summer refresher and peek forward into the coming style season! (For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere)
When people tell me they don’t have style, I explain that they do, but it may be hiding. Style is simply your personality showing on your outside! And EVERYONE has a personality! Their style might be getting lost in translation from the inside to the out. Getting it there is a skill, and like any skill, it requires practice. Practice enough, and style becomes a habit! Like brushing your teeth or exercising. At the beginning, habits are hard to remember, and we can find more reasons not to do them than to do them, but over time momentum builds, and not doing the habit becomes harder than rolling with it! So it is with style! And your wardrobe. BTW: How are your wardrobe habits? 5 Good Wardrobe Habits are also crucial to good style!
The more you exercise your style muscles, the easier style becomes. That means less stress about what to wear for work, more confidence making style buys, and better communication with others. Yes, our style affects how we communicate!
Selfie a Day
Taking a selfie a day helps you see your style objectively. Here’s a post about all the ways a daily selfie habit can improve your style! (And some tips for how to take them for the best perspective.)
Level Up
The 21st century default is to dress down. Think about the women (or men) with style you admire. They take it up a notch. Tweak one thing to create more polish. Trade your tee for a blouse. Throw on a necklace when you wouldn’t normally. Press your shorts. Try pumps with your jeans. Swap your shorts for a skirt. (Yes, you can wear the logo tees and sneakers with your skirt. It’s street style!) Polish your shoes. It’s the little things that make a difference. Showing up for life overdressed doesn’t require apologies. Underdressed may! If you find knowing what is more or less “dressy” confusing, here are some tips…
There’s an entire world of wardrobing out there that is a level up from shorts (or jeans) and a tee, but not stuffy or businessy! #neverknowinglyunderdressed
Invest in Your Wardrobe
This can be a hard thing to hear. Especially when the economy is rough. But investing doesn’t just mean money. You can have a fabulous wardrobe with less money; it just takes some time to make that happen. That’s a good thing! Your wardrobe is a reflection of who you are and how you value yourself. Do you only buy from the clearance racks? Do you settle for good enough? Unless you are fleeing from a natural disaster, good enough isn’t. Buy better. Buy Less. Make it last.
Stylish wardrobes are build over time. They don’t happen in one or two shopping trips! (No matter what the makeover shows want you to think…)
Separate Outfits
If you buy coordinating pieces (They used to be called co-ords!), don’t let them get too cozy. Make sure they date other wardrobe pieces! That means that a business suit jacket hangs with the jackets, and the skirt or trousers with their other skirt and trouser friends. When we hang coordinating pieces together, they lose their value as separates! Read on for more about that…
Get Mindful
Think about how you feel AND how you want to feel. Use your clothing to boost your mood and support your goals for the day. Where am I going? What am I doing there? Who will I be with? What is the dress code? Are my clothes comfortable and appropriate? Present and intentional. Isn’t that what we mean by mindful?
Habits are mindless, but building habits requires mindfulness. (Annoying, isn’t it?) And mindset. If you want to be stylish. You have to believe you deserve to be stylish. You do. You are worth the investment.
Stylishly yours,
Wardrobe Balance
