{ Defining Your Style }

** As Featured on Nelle Creations:: DIY Fashion **

Hi there! I'm {SS} over at My New Style Blog and I'm excited to be doing this guest post!

A lot of times people talk about wanting to be stylish, but that they're not quite sure how to go about attaining or defining their personal style. 

I've decided to compile a list of tips and tricks to help you define your own personal style.

{ Defining Your Personal Style }

{ Define Your Current Style: What's Working and What's Not? }

{ A peek into my TINY closet. }

Whether you like it or not, you already have a {style}, and before you can create your New Style (NS) you need to identify your current or Old Style (OS). Take a peek in your closet (remember to look in the back: there may be things hiding which could be great pieces to incorporate into your NS). As you look through your things ask yourself questions:  What do you love? What are your go-to outfits or pieces of clothing? Are there certain colors you're always attracted to? Do you like certain patterns or fabrics? Now what is it you don't love? Are their shirts with the tags still on them you just can't bring yourself to wear? Do you stray away from certain colors? Are you afraid to wear patterns?

You have been criticizing yourself for years, and it hasn't worked.

Try approving of yourself and see what happens.

Louise L. Hay

Remember when you are trying to define your current style, that your style goes beyond just the clothes you wear. Clothes are simply a way to illustrate and embellish your style. Look at the art and artists you love, the music you listen to, the perfume you wear, the places you go over and over, the people you surround yourself with... these are all large parts of your style.

{ Find Inspiration } 

{ Source }

This is the fun part! When it comes to creating your NS (something we're always trying to do over at {MyNewStyleBlog}) one of the best parts is searching for inspiration. You can find inspiration in all sorts of places. Of course you can always search on websites like Pinterest or Weheartit for images to inspire you as well as look in pretty much any magazine or catalog to get ideas, but also look to unconventional places like antique stores, libraries, parks, museums, and architecture for inspiration you can incorporate into your own NS. When you're paying attention, you can find inspiration all over your world.


{ Create Your Own Style Board/Notebook }

{ Source } 

With all your inspiration searching you need a place to keep the magazine clippings, photos, sketches and words of wisdom you stumble upon. Personally, I have a binder that I use. I have clear sleeves to slip magazine pages or photos into and I also can add sketches on blank white paper. Though I haven't done it yet, I plan to stick photos of outfits I've worn and liked into the binder to remind me and give me ideas when I don't know what to wear. And if you prefer to do things virtually, have no fear... There are great sites like Pinterest and Polyvore where you can waste spend hours. Pinterest allows you to "pin" images and websites onto virtual themed "boards" that you can revisit and that your friends can view, and with Polyvore you can create collages of items you search for such as clothing, makeup, etc. I often use Polyvore to create theme boards which I can look back on for ideas.

{ Some of my Style Staples (sugar included?!)! }

{ Find your Style Staples } 

Whether it's the colorful bangles you love to wear with your watch, the spoon ring you got on vacation in college, the scarf you always tie around your neck, or the purse that's always at your side... these things began to be your signatures and people start to recognize them as part of you and your style. Make them YOURS and don't worry about following the trends or doing what everyone else does. Having your own style is all about being unique and embracing what you love. So, if you have your great grandmother's engagement ring that you love to wear, make it a Style Staple. Remember, your staples can change and evolve-- that's all part of the process! Have fun with it and don't be afraid to take some risks!





{ Determine What You Need Your Style To Do For You  }

{ Painting is not the time for pretty clothes! }

What do you do? Where do you work? Live? Play? Do you have animals or kids? Though I'm sure there are plenty of people who would disagree on this, I believe that practicality, and functionality are as important to your personal style as looking good is. That means you might not be able to pull off the latest trend or have the same style as someone you admire does, because it just won't work for you... but that's okay! I nanny and babysit a lot. Almost two years ago when I started with the family that I am still with, I learned the hard way that dressing up when you're caring for two infants and their older brother is not practical or smart (think spit-up, buttons being ripped off, baby food, markers, pen, etc...). It's taken me a while to figure out how to dress practically and appropriately without losing my sense of style but I finally have. I've also realized that some days it's okay to take a little break from being stylish.
Your style is yours and no one else's, so make it work for you, not someone else!

{ Source }

{ Create Style Goals & Take Risks }

It's fun to set style goals for yourself... Let's say you've seen a lot of pattern mixing that you love, but are a bit hesitant to do it yourself... start small by doing something like adding animal print shoes to an outfit with a striped shirt! Or maybe you want to wear dresses more but you don't think you "can": Try to wear a dress every day for a week... be creative; this may mean you have to wear leggings under a dress for a job that requires you to move around more, but that still counts! Figure out what you can do to adapt a certain style or trend you love in a way that works for you and your lifestyle. Set goals for yourself and do your best to follow through with them. You might find out you love pattern mixing or decide that even though you thought it wasn't practical for you to wear dresses, you can make it work after all and it's easier and more fun!

{ Don't Let Your Style Get "Stuck" } 

{ Source }

Even though you want to "define" your style don't limit it's definition. As your life evolves and changes you are certain to develop new interests and habits, so allow your style to change and evolve as well. I'm not saying you should constantly be changing your style to follow all the latest trends and fashions, but don't be afraid to incorporate something new to your style from time to time as you see fit. Let your personal style be a learning curve, let it be fun and exciting, not tiresome and challenging. Your style can be as simple or complex as you want it to be and just because it changes often doesn't mean it's not still your "style".



{ Remember: It's Not About The Money } 

{ Doing a little second-hand shopping! }

Despite what many people will tell you, you don't have to spend a fortune to update your style or be "stylish". Use what you have in different ways. Do your favorite jeans have a hole in the knee? Turn them into cut-offs! Did the dress you love shrink in the wash? Wear it as a tunic with leggings and tall boots. If you do want to add new clothes to your closet, shop thrift, outlet or second hand stores or websites, or have clothing swaps with friends. You can also save a lot of money by waiting to buy things until they are on sale or out of season when you can get them for discounted prices.

And remember, to be CONFIDENT!!

Confidence is captivating, it is powerful,
and it does not fade-- and that is endlessly more interesting than beauty.
Nina Garcia

I hope these tips and ideas help you along your way to creating your {New Style}. Have fun!

Fashion fades, {style} is eternal.

Coco Chanel

xo, SS
http://mynewstyleblog.blogspot.com
https://www.facebook.com/mynewstyleblogkk

Rules

Well, I'm packed and ready to leave for 4 weeks (with a quick overnight getaway to Pepin, Wisconsin tonight first) and I know I {SS} said I would have my packing list up today, but I didn't have time to get to it so stay tuned next week!

In the meantime this is sort of a part 2 to my last post about less being more...

After taking a great women and money course (if you live in the area and are interested talk to me, I adored this class and would love to help you get into it!!), I've gotten much better at not being such a shopaholic (I still have my moments) and I'm trying to focus on what I do have and how I can wear and pair it in different and new ways.



When I first started thinking about { my new style } years ago I  thought that in order to create it, I would have to start completely fresh by buying all new things. Well now let's be honest, that's not feasible nor is it fiscally responsible. And, the truth is that  I have a lot of great things in my closet already.

So, instead of buying all new things all the time, I've come up with some ideas and rules:

{TAILORING WHAT I ALREADY HAVE}

After reading some style books which said, "become best friends with your tailor", I thought, hey, I should try that. And so, I set off to my new {friend} Tom The Tailor's to have him fix all the clothes I sort of like but would LOVE if they fit me better. Unfortunately it's NOT cheap but I'm going today to pick up the 3 things that I dropped off and hoping that they turned out great.

{Source}

{BUYING}

1. It's something that will go with at least 3 other things in my closet OR it's a"can't live without" stand-alone piece that could be worn to a number of events (weddings, graduations, etc)

2. I can afford it without using a credit card {cash budget baby} and it's within my monthly allotted clothing budget (no taking it from another budget!)

3. I'm not buying it instead of something else (clothes or not) that I should be buying instead

4. It will hold up well and can be cared for easily (I'm over the dry cleaning bills for awhile)

5. I'm not buying it for the brand OR if I am, I'm getting it for a reasonable price... Anyone who knows me well knows that I love me some Tory Burch and a few years back I was lucky enough to nab a brand new in the box pair of TB Sophie Wedges (which I ADORE) on E-bay for $70. And then recently, I went to sell some clothes at a local re-sale shop and was stoked to leave with a like new pair of True Religion jeans. These are what I call good deals :) 

I'm going to try my best to follow these rules... Being in Europe may be a little hard though... Maybe I'll start when I get back ;)

IN the meantime I'm keeping returning the lovely navy eyelet dress today that I bought @ Anthropologie. I love it so and have gone back and forth on whether I should return it, but I would rather spend my money in Europe...

The next post from me will be from Oregon...

Au Revoir ~

 xo, SS

What's in my {KH's} closet

SS brings up a good topic- closet envy. In an ideal world, I would have an extra room which I could convert to a closet. Everything could be folded, organized, colorized, etc. There would be beautiful seating and impeccable lighting. Oh, and 3-way mirrors which made you look a-mazing. And someone to do my hair because it's summer and it will be a mess. Maybe something like this:

{This closet belongs to Jenna Lyons}

 But, the world is not ideal. I live in an apartment and have an apartment sized closet. Plus an apartment sized budget. That's what this is all about, right? New style without breaking the bank.

How does one make such a thing work? I'll tell you how!

 First, I had to hang my clothes in two places. The shot on the left is what I think of as my "main" closet. From left to right I have:

Button-Ups colorized from warm to cool (thanks retail!)

Sweaters colorized from warm to cool

Silk tops colorized from warm to cool

Blazers

The plastic bins below house "intimates", bathing suits, socks, tights, etc.

The shot on the right is my "dresses and skirts" closet. Again dresses warm to cool followed by skirts first by type, then color. 

{What about pants and stuff?!}

Worry not!

In the red dresser I have (top to bottom):

Long-sleeve shirts

Colored bottoms and shorts

Denim (and overalls!)

Workout gear

The other little guy holds my tank tops and v-neck t-shirts {I did tell SS she can not let me buy another v-neck shirt as long as we both shall live!}.

A drawer in my desk hold all of my belts.

It seems like it would be a lot of work to remember it all but I have been doing it so long it's natural to me. Plus, it's what you have to do in an apartment with a small closet. If you think this is funny, wait until you see how my books are organized!

{Gratitude}

I just want to thank all of you who visit this blog. This may be a "side project" but we are both so so excited to have it up and running. The fact that you all are reading it means the world!