Every once in a while, I get an email from a complete ladies’ fashion style. Someone who has never been interested in clothes and never really paid much attention to what they wore but now wants to change that and improve their sense of style or simply just dress better.
They usually mention feeling excited, yes, but also completely overwhelmed. If you are starting from zero, the fashion world can seem like a hugely complex and strange place with millions of unspoken rules and way too many options.
One new reader, who used to wear nothing but band t-shirts and jeans for years, wrote, “Getting started with style ladies’ fashion feels like being in a foreign country where you don’t speak the language.” Everyone else seems to instinctively know how to put together outfits that look great and find clothes they like. But how do they do that? I have no idea.
Style Development for Beginners:
I love the comparison between dressing well and speaking a foreign language. The great thing about developing a sense of style is that it’s not something you need to be born with. It’s a skill like any other that can be learned like any other. All it takes is a little practice.
So, if you feel like a total beginner, it may seem like everyone else has a natural eye for fashion, but in reality, they have just been practising for longer than you have.
Most people start paying attention to what they wear pretty early on. I remember caring a lot about my clothes in middle school, and most of my friends did, too. If you have zero experience in the style department, you just have to catch up! In this post, I’ll show you four concrete techniques to help you do just that.
Fashion Accessories You’ll Want to Wear
Your goals at this stage should be, above all, to observe and develop a better understanding of the different aspects of an outfit and how they all work together, plus get a feeling for what kinds of things you are personally drawn to, so don’t worry too much about defining your personal style or streamlining your wardrobe just yet. Wait, you feel confident about putting together outfits and know what kinds of things you like and why before you tackle a full-on wardrobe revamp (check out this 10-Step Wardrobe Revamp or the INTO MIND workbook for help).
Become an expert observer:
The number one thing you can do to improve your sense of style and train your eye is to look at how other people are doing it! What types of pieces are they wearing? Which colours do they mix? What shoes do they pair with their outfits? How do they accessorize, and so on?
Pretend you are a researcher in a foreign culture, trying to learn as much as possible about the local customs.
Use your everyday environment as your lab. Sit in a cafe and just watch people passing by. Pay close attention to your co-workers and friends’ outfits, and check out what your fellow commuters are wearing on your train ride to work (in a non-creepy way, of course
Use Pinterest and fashion blogs to supplement your real-life studies and expose yourself to a broader range of styles.
The key throughout this whole process is to be as precise as possible. If you see an outfit you like, figure out what makes it so great. Is it the overall vibe of the look (e.g., preppy, bohemian, or minimalist), the colour scheme, or a specific piece? Let us say the two pics above caught your attention. Was it because of the neutral colours? The simple lines? Do you just like big sunglasses and black tote bags?
That is how you train your eye, by observing and paying close attention to how other people wear clothes and what types of things resonate with you and which do not. It’s super basic, but if you ask them about it, people who have a great style and are ‘into style ladies’ fashion’ will probably tell you that they do this already and have been doing so for years
Over time, you will better understand what kinds of clothes you like and how you like them to fit. You can then use that information to update your wardrobe by wearing your existing clothes differently or adding some new pieces.
Imitate, imitate, imitate:
How do students in art school learn their craft? Correct: By studying and copying the styles of other artists.
I know, I know. I’m usually about ‘developing your unique style’ and ignoring other people’s rules. For a beginner, imitating others can be a super helpful creative technique because it gives you a concrete blueprint to use as a starting point. Most style ladies fashion newbies who email me mention feeling overwhelmed and just plain confused. They know they need to experiment but don’t know where to start.
My advice is always the same: Imitate! Pick one outfit and copy it. Then assess what you like/don’t like about it, rinse and repeat.
Imitating helps you on two levels:
By trying to copy an outfit as perfectly as possible, you are forced to really pay attention to details, like the fit of the pieces and how they work together to create an overall silhouette of the outfit. When it comes to fashion, details like that matter. For example, the two outfits above consist of a white t-shirt, jeans, and a brown belt. However, the cut and fit of those pieces, as well as the silhouette and overall vibe of the outfit, are different.
Get out of your comfort zone
Here on INTO MIND, I talk a lot about defining your own personal style and building your wardrobe around it. That may seem impossible if you are a style ladies’ fashion newbie.
