A conversation I’ve been having a lot with my husband has been about figuring out his style. Not the style of clothes he felt like he should wear for this thing or that, but the items he feels the most himself in.

It got me thinking about how overwhelming it can be to want to pin point what we like—and to have no idea how to do that.

Even if we’ve been incredibly intentional with our wardrobes, we can all get to a point where we get bored with the items we once loved. It’s no secret that change is inevitable. Our bodies, lifestyles, and tastes change over the years.

So how do we begin to find (or redefine) our personal style?

I took to the internet to see what others had to say. I think Ashley from bestdressed does a great job of addressing this in her video. She doesn’t upload much these days, but her content was always really fabulous and informative. I’ve added my own spin to her ideas below.

TIPS FOR FINDING (OR REDISCOVERING) OUR STYLE

1. assess your current closet

This is where I’m going to tell you to have a declutter of your closet. If you have decision fatigue and need some gentle guidance on what to keep and what to let go of, you can sign up to get my closet declutter flowchart here.

2. notice notice notice

This is a big one. Decluttering is a great first step, but the key to figuring out what you like is to tune into what you reach for, how you feel in your clothes, and which outfit formulas you wear all the time. My best advice on how to notice? Take outfit photos!

Taking photos can take make finding our style less of a nebulous concept and turn it into an analytical one. Thanks to our phones, we can compile data to help us decipher our taste. I highly encourage you to take photos of your outfits, especially on the days you feel fabulously confident and the most like YOU! Doing it everyday will give you more data to work with and might make it easier to identify patterns of what you like to wear.

3. Find Inspiration

We all have our favorite style creators whose outfits we love seeing. Look over (or start using) your Instagram Saves. There’s no rush to pick it apart just yet. Just let yourself save anything and everything that catches your eye. Leaf through fashion magazines and fashion books, and see what pops out to you. Watching your comfort TV show or movie? Pay attention to the costumes and see if your favorite character’s style.

You can do this on Pinterest, too! It’s my personal favorite way to compile images. Make yourself a mood board and have a ball. Dive down the rabbit hole of different aesthetics you think you’d like. I recently did this with Light Academia and Parisian inspired style. The idea here is to just let your imagination go wild without much thought to the practicality of what you’re saving. We’ll figure out what actually works with our lifestyle later. Right now, we’re envisioning our ideal wardrobe.

4. Identify Key Elements

Let a couple of days go by before revisiting your mood board. Take a look through the images you’ve saved. Grab a piece of paper or make a note on your phone and start picking apart patterns and trends you see in your mood board. Make a list of these things so you can have it handy.

Some ideas of what to look for:

Is there a particular piece of clothing (like a tailored jacket, certain cut of denim, a specific style of shoe, etc.) that keeps popping up?
What colors are the most prevalent?
Is there a cut of clothing that you’re really drawn to? Maybe a wrap dress, or midi skirts, or high waisted slacks?
Is there a brand you’re finding yourself really drawn to?

5. Create a shopping list

Using the list we made when we broke our mood board down, pick three elements of your ideal style to incorporate into your wardrobe and start shopping. Shop your closet, see if you can thrift some items, and get used to window shopping!

And while you wait to find the perfect closet essential for your ideal style, start putting together outfits inspired by your mood board. Get yourself in the mindset or Parisian chic, or Light Academia, or Punk, or Cottage Core, or whatever aesthetic inspires you, and practice evoking that feeling with the clothes you have. I promise that it’s less about having the perfect wardrobe and more about how you put things together!