How I Found My Personal Style
A non-scientific process.
A few weeks ago, a reader asked if I’d write a piece about how I found my personal style. People have asked me this question before and to be honest, it’s always left me a little stumped. How do you begin to describe something that has evolved — and continues to evolve — through time and age? Something that, while some of it conscious, a lot of it feels like it just… happened?
But, I like a challenge and this question made me really stop and think about how and why I dress the way I do. In thinking about it, I broke down a few key elements that I believe play into my style most:
Location
Lifestyle
Career
Inspiration
Location
There’s no denying that where I’m from has played a big part in my style. I grew up in the north-west of England, right on the coast sandwiched between north Wales and Liverpool. Rain and blustery winds that come off the Irish Sea are the norm. That, combined with the draughty Victorian house that was my childhood home and my parents’ aversion to putting the heating on, led to a need for big jumpers, layers, practical coats and, more often than not, scarves indoors when winter really set in.
Dressing for the cold is my default and those big comfy layers are something I’m naturally drawn to in summer too, even if those pieces are loose linen rather than heavy wool.
The takeaway: Clothes’ basic function is to cover our bodies. It may sound obvious but think about the climate you live in and what clothes are best suited to that. Do you need a lot of layers and knitwear? Or cool fabrics and loose, airy pieces? This can help form the basis of what you wear every day. The building blocks of your wardrobe, if you like, before you start putting your own spin on them.
Lifestyle
This is another big one. By day, I’m a freelance writer and content strategist. I mostly work from home, at my desk, and I’ll make sure I go out for a walk and Pilates/yoga class every day to move my body. When I go out, I tend to go to bars and restaurants that are relatively casual and, as a 34-year-old who loves her sleep, I’m rarely out past 10pm.
This means that I don’t have much need for fancy dresses and heels (although I do own a few for the various weddings I attend each year). Instead, a lot of my wardrobe is based on comfort. Tight jeans are not what I want to spend 7+ hours at a desk in, so I go for trousers that have comfy waistbands and loose fits. I prefer to walk somewhere than hop in the car if I can, so I wear trainers or flat boots a lot. If I wear a shirt (which is often), I go for styles that are loose and oversized because I hate the feeling of a tight collar. I wrote about how I found my capsule wardrobe and my summer capsule in previous posts, which touches on this further.
The takeaway: A wardrobe full of certain items may seem exciting but think about whether that’s how you genuinely get dressed every day. Does your lifestyle sway to a more casual wardrobe? Do you work in a corporate office that needs something more polished? Or are you regularly RSVPing ‘yes’ to Black Tie events? Having a wardrobe full of clothes you actually wear can help stop (or at least reduce) that uninspired, “I have nothing to wear” feeling.
Career
I’ve worked with fashion brands in various guises throughout my career. That access to the industry has definitely widened my knowledge of fashion and exposed me to different brands and styles that I may not have come across otherwise. It started with a job as content marketing manager at Coggles, an online and physical store that stocks men’s and women’s luxury fashion, as well as homeware. It’s a bit like Matches was but on a smaller scale.
When I was there, we stocked quite a lot of Scandi brands as well as British, so I was lucky enough to attend Copenhagen Fashion Week, London Fashion Week and London Men’s every season. I found myself drawn to menswear a lot, so that started to influence my style (as seen in my unexpected style icons this summer), as well as the Danish brands. Since then, I’ve worked with clothing brands large and small in my freelance career, and as a content creator on Instagram. Through that, I’ve learned so much about quality, fabrics, fit, what I feel good in and what I feel most energised to style and wear.
The takeaway: Obviously, not everyone works with fashion brands or has anything remotely to do with the industry. But the main thing I would say here is, to be curious. Read up on fabrics, look at different shapes and items, and to the best of your ability, explore fashion from other regions or outside what is marketed to your age and gender.
Substack is a great place to start, as there are so many writers from different parts of the world, with different lifestyles and perspectives. This is by no means an exhaustive list but I recommend starting with
from In Moda Veritas, from Magasin, from No Wardrobe, from The Molehill, from Consider Yourself Cultured, from Presentable, from The Inside Pocket and from The Wardrobe Edit.Inspiration
One thing about working in the industry, and just having a general interest in fashion, is that I consume a lot of imagery. I watch the shows whenever the fashion weeks roll around, I follow (probably too many) brand and style accounts on Instagram, I scroll Pinterest daily and I have brands that I’m always drawn to in the ways they style their pieces.
The brands I like the most are the ones that aren’t particularly trend-driven. Brands whose decades-old imagery I could look back on and still feel inspired by, rather than it looking outdated. Studio Nicholson, Margaret Howell and Toast are three such brands. They’re all British and tick my ‘location’ and ‘lifestyle’ boxes listed above — lots of oversized shapes, utilitarian pieces and items that are cold-weather friendly.
One of my favourite layering techniques of leggings under cropped trousers came from a Studio Nicholson image I saw about 6 years ago, and I can never get enough of how the Margaret Howell models wear their shirts. It’s simple things like this that can influence your wardrobe and your ways of wearing certain pieces of clothing, shaping your personal style.
The takeaway: Do your research and seek out the style images that don’t appear too dated. What is it that you like? What is it about the look that still feels as though the image could be current or if it’s a recent image, do you think it will stand the test of time? This will help you start to figure out what you genuinely like in a style, rather than purely being drawn in by trends.
I’ll finish by saying that style is ever-evolving and while it’s great to have a strong personal style, it’s also fun to step outside your comfort zone and experiment now and again. Some of my favourite pieces are the ones I took a risk on. So explore, and enjoy the process.
Any items marked with * have been gifted by brands. All thoughts, picks and reviews are my own.
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“my parents’ aversion to putting the heating on” 🤣🤣🤣 same, and the Apple doesn’t fall from the tree! Why waste energy when you can put on warmer (winter) or lighter (summer) clothes?
I especially love the details and proportions of your Toast outfit on the sea 👏🏻.
Love the scarf!