How to find your dress style in 6 simple steps

Would you like to have a look that fits and makes you look good? Buy clothes to actually wear afterwards? No longer spend hours shopping without really knowing what to buy? 

I'll help you out. 

As a fashion enthusiast, the issue of clothing style is essential to me and deserves some time. 

In fact, finding your own style is not only about being comfortable in your clothes, it's also a way to gain confidence, to feel beautiful, but also to save a lot of money, by buying clothes that you will really wear and enjoy for a long time. 

Today, I'm offering a simple guide, which will help you, with concrete tips, to determine your personal style and find clothes you'll really like to wear. 

To find your style, you're going to have to initially look at your wardrobe, to isolate the clothes that you really like and that you wear regularly with enthusiasm. Then try to find their commonalities: this will serve as a starting point for your inspiration research, which you can do by analyzing the style of a personality you admire and creating collections of favorites on Pinterest and Instagram. From there, you can then sort through your closets by donating or reselling clothes that don't fit. Finally, determine the key elements of your style (prints, types of clothing, materials, accessories): they will allow you to know where to head during your next shopping session! 

Want more details? Read on to find out: 

• How to define a style, and what that means in fashion,
• An easy way to analyze your dressing room and sort through your closets,
• Effective tips for defining a style that fits you, 
• Tips on how to find clothes you'll really like during your shopping sessions,
• And finally more info on thebohemian chic style that characterizes the spirit of our site, vie de bohème, so you can see if it could fit you!

What is having a style? 

To find your sartorial personality, it is first and foremost necessary to understand what it is, and to deconstruct preconceived notions of what a style would or would not be:

• It is a way of showing who you are, whether it is through the way you dress, write, or even decorate your home. Your style matches your personality and taste: it is unique. 
• In the world of fashion, it is a way that an individual reveals who heis through his aesthetic choices in clothing, accessories, hairstyles, and especially the way he chooses and assembles the elements that compose his outfits. 
• A style is temporal. Someone who has style does not necessarily follow the latest fashion, but the way he dresses is always consistent and obeys the same aesthetic. Having your personal style is being able to choose your clothes according to your character and preferences, it is not following fashion blindly.

In the following lines, I will propose a simple and effective method to help you find your style, that is to say to : 

➡️ wear clothes that you like and in which you feel good,

➡️ know in advance which clothes you will be able to wear many times without ever getting tired of them. 

Step 1: Analyze your dressing room

To start, you're going to have to open your closet to look at your clothes, accessories, shoes.... Choosing a style is something very visual, which is why I encourage you to really do it concretely, with all your clothes in front of you. 

Some clues that you're still looking for your style ...

First, sort through and look at clothes you've only worn a little or not worn at all. Sometimes you buy your clothes for the wrong reasons:

• Because it's really cheap,
• Because they were on sale and the discount was great,
• Because that's what was on the mannequin,
• Because a friend urged me to take that garment. 

Do you recognize yourself? Then you may need to define your style to finally buy clothes that you will wear many times. By analyzing your clothing personality, you will additionally save money, as you will no longer clutter your closets with very little worn, or even still new, clothes! 

How to find what really fits you? 

Now that you've identified the clothes you don't like too much, focus on the ones:

• thatyou've worn plenty of times,
• thatyou always look good in,
• that give you confidence when you put them on,
• thatyou can easily break in. 

Once you've identified them, sort through them and place them so that they're all visible, on your bed for example. You'll then be able to do a little analysis, asking yourself

➡️ What do these clothes have in common? 

To answer this, look closely at:

• The types of clothing: pants or skirts? Shirts or t-shirts?

• The patterns: plain or printed? Animal? Floral? Polka dots or checks? 
• The cut: loose or close-fitting? Long or short skirts? 
• The materials: natural (cotton, linen) or synthetic (polyester)? 
• The colors: warm? Cool? A dominant hue? 
• The brands: all different? Does one stand out in particular? 
• The accessories: what type? What material? How do they enhance the rest of your clothes? 

From these findings, you can already start to see a style emerge that really suits your tastes and what you like. 

Step 2: Get inspired by your role models

For the next step, I suggest you take a cue from inspirational people, in order to take things further. 

➡️ Among the celebrities or influencers on social media, are there people whose dressing you admire? That you would like to emulate on a daily basis?  

For example, for my part, these include:

• Vanessa Hudgens
• Vanessa Paradis
• Kate Moss

Vanessa Hudgens / Vanessa Paradis / Kate Moss

Once I was able to identify them, I just had to ask myself what they had in common to understand that they actually had a bohemian chic style, which indeed fits my tastes. 

👉 Sometimes there are people you admire and appreciate for their out of the ordinary style (Diane Keaton, Helena Bonham Carter). However, this does not mean that you would want to dress like them. The idea here is to find people whose wardrobe you would like to steal, whose wardrobe you feel close to. 

Step 3: Visualize your style! 

The technique discussed in the next few paragraphs is definitely worth paying attention to. It is inspired by the methods used to carry out the interior design of his home, and applies them to fashion. In two simple steps, you will thus be able to create a real shopping guide, which will help you choose clothes that fit you. 

Create your own moodboard!

Spend some time on social media, especially Pinterest and Instagram, which allow you to make collections. Then, create a collection titled "personal style" and put your inspirations, the outfits you like, that you could see yourself wearing. 

Here's how to do it:

 

Afterwards, feel free to go back and sort through it. Keep only the clothes you really like. 

Analyze the results

Once your collection is starting to look a little full, it's going to be time to move on to reflection. For this, you can ask yourself the same questions as when analyzing your dressing room, in order to succeed in isolating the materials, cuts, types of clothing or even prints that come up regularly. Don't hesitate to take notes!

Then use this collection as a guide for shopping. Before you buy a piece of clothing, ask yourself if it will help you achieve the look you are going for. 

Step Four: Sort it out! 

Once you've made your collection, you'll then be able to use it to sort through your closet or dressing room. 

Donate or sell a garment if it doesn't fit into the style you've defined. 

Don't be discouraged if a lot of clothes don't fit...this is often the case when you are looking for yourself. But it's better to get rid of a lot of clothes that don't make us happy, and wear the same ones more often while you redo your wardrobe than to fill your closet with clothes you don't wear. 

Step 5: Choose a few "signature" pieces

Also while analyzing your collection of inspirations, try to determine what would be the recurring items, that is, those that come up several times and easily match with the rest. This could be a type of shoe, a bag design, an accessory (hat, belt), an animal print, or even a simple piece of clothing like a plain white t-shirt. 

Consider these garments asbenchmarks for building your wardrobe. They are what, when you wear an outfit, will make it look and feel like you. When you go shopping, wear them when you try on. 

Step 6: Use the rule of three

Our wardrobes and style tend to get lost and disjointed because we don't always take the time to think about what we're looking for when we shop. 

A simple tip when shopping for something is to always choose something that you can wear in at least three different outfits. 

For example, a t-shirt with a zebra print, for someone who would have more of a rock and roll style, could be worn:

• With a perfecto and black jeans,
• With a short leather skirt,
• With a long tulle skirt,

Of course, some clothes can't always be worn in three different outfits. But the ones that can will help define your style and will be the central pieces of your wardrobe. 

Focus on ... The Bohemian Chic Style

In order to give you a better understanding of what a style is, I'll give you an example, with the Bohemian Chic style. This trend is the one that inspired the creation of our site, Bohemian Life. 

The bohemian chic style (also called hippie chic or boho chic) has its origins in the 1970s, with the cultural and social revolution led by the hippie movements. It was then about freeing oneself from the shackles imposed by society and clothes quite naturally became the instrument of this emancipation. 

The legacy of this trend today is a very feminine style, characterized by: 

• loose cuts and light clothing,
• natural and pastel colors (white, ecru, pale pink... ),
• long dresses and tunics,
• lace inserts and embroidery,
• floral and vegetal prints...

Bohemian fashion is very versatile and can adapt to your tastes and personality. It flatters most body types, with its flattering and harmonious cuts. 

👉 If you would like to have more details, I suggest you read this article which will explain in detail thesecrets of bohemian chic style. 😉

👉 I also give you an appointment on the online store of Vie de Bohème, to have an overview of our collections. If you fall in love with some of the clothes, don't forget to add them to your moodboard of inspirations! 

I hope this article has helped you define your style and understand your taste and personality. Whatever happens, trust your instincts and only buy clothes you really want to wear! 😉

To go further, check out our fashion tips on our bohemian blog!