On Finding My Personal Style

 

Who said new year, new me? I have got to raise my hand and say me too! Well, that may sound a little way too cliché but 2024 is not about being a new me but rather about becoming a better and improved version of me, before even getting started, once again, I hope you all have had a great start of the year. Thus far so good for me and also, I really can not believe that January is over, how? Every new year time speeds up so fast, days go by so quickly and they feel like they are no longer 24 hrs long but fewer! Very shocking, I know but it shouldn't even surprise me at this point. 

Back to today's topic, it's no longer new news that I've been going through changes, and said changes also mean, having a slight minor and small "wardrobe change". A goal of mine since mid-2023 has been become that woman I have always wanted to and for me, she has to dress 'properly' aka a lot better if I say so, not only for her personal, professional/work life but also for Church. I didn't want to keep wearing jeans and don't get me wrong, there's nothing bad about wearing jeans but I just want to dress a little differently to feel good about myself and what I wear because what we wear is a reflection of who we are as well as of our mood, depending on what we choose to wear for the day, at the same time I have reached that age/point in life where I simply do not want to wear any more tight clothes, JUST NO! 

A couple of weeks ago, I went through old photos of me whilst I was in my teenage years, I could see I had several styles and wore as many colorful clothes as I could and let me tell you, I was really surprised when I saw my younger self wearing vibrant colors. I looked at me and then I looked at her, my old self, and wondered, what did it change? what happened? Why do I dress because I have to but I no longer have fun in the process as I used to do it back then? 

THE WHY? As a fashion designer myself and personally, I have not yet found my style. It's been years of me feeling so trapped in my 'student' era, meaning I would wear a pair of jeans, put on either a t-shirt or decent blouse, my go-to crossbody bag and flat sandals and I would call it my outfit of the day and that went on for years, from the moment I graduated high school, 2011 to 2023, a very long time indeed and quite boring and to that point, nothing still feels or speaks 'Melissa'. But then there began to be this longing in my heart of wanting to dress properly, not only to go to Church but also because I wanted to dress for myself. If as a kid or my younger self enjoyed wearing clothes, why not go back to that and have fun with it again, right? I felt so inspired and motivated after having gone through those photos. Thanks, past me. 

WHEN DID I START EXPLORING WITH MY STYLE? I don't know if this was it but after clearing out my wardrobe and giving away clothes that I wore only a couple of times, or even felt like were not my 'style', and kept the pieces I felt comfortable with the most or was going back to back wearing them over and over, I then ended up with a very 'small' and when I say small is because it's small, capsule wardrobe and this was around and after pandemic. I bought 4 pairs of jeans, one actual pair of blue jeans, and the others were cream/ivory, beige and black and I think it was then when the fun began. It was challenging, a lot of thinking went into every single outfit but it was then that I was starting to explore a little bit more with my wardrobe pieces and also personal style. 

HOW WOULD I DESCRIBE MY STYLE? Before I used to say it was minimal but if I go back in time and think of it again, there was nothing minimal about it. lol. I would describe my style as classy, elegant, casual, a bit romantic, and feminine, in other words, something similar to the images shared in the photo below. It's not my current style however that's how I would love to dress.

WHAT ABOUT COLORS WHEN IT COMES TO CLOTHING? I used to have/wear clothes in these vibrant colors in the past from bright yellow to cobalt blue, emerald green, and more. When I was in University I opted for 'wearing' more color again to give it another try but kept it 'simple' but then, it was around 2018-2019 I started to lean towards neutral colors aka blacks and browns (beige/camel) and a hint of color here and there and I have not looked back ever since. Think of my wardrobe so far as an Autumnal palette. I feel comfortable wearing clothes in these colors and the best thing is, I love it!

WHAT HAS WORKED / HAVE I LEARNED SO FAR?

• Having a small capsule wardrobe: Believe it or not, I love the amount of clothes I have right now, yes, my inner child has dreamed of having her walk-in closet but then I feel like that'd be just too much for me. I love it so far because I've learned I don't need to have a lot of clothes and not know what or how to wear them, instead a small and smart capsule wardrobe with the right pieces gives me endless possibilities and it does spark my creativity and that's what has made it so fun lately. 
• Knowing my wardrobe: By this I mean, what pieces I have and what I am missing and/or I should get next time as well as my preferred color palette, what styles of tops/bottoms/dresses I love to wear, what types of fits, etc. 
• Having a 'copy' of my wardrobe but in digital form: This may sound like a lot of work, and time-consuming as well if you own lots of clothes, but to me, it's been what has made my outfit selection process a lot easier and quicker. Again, when I started this, I did not have that many clothes and still do not, so that was a good start, but I have made slides with actual images of every top/bottom piece I own, as well as jewelry (go-to) shoes and bags, if not the same, I research and browse until I find a similar one.
  
  When it comes to 'style' or rather knowing what to wear, I'll go to the slides first and try it out to see how many options I have. I also do the same thing every time I'm about to buy a new item, see if it matches my current wardrobe, that is if it has some kind of connection with what I already have. It's like having my collection of clothes and I design a new piece to be part of it, and in the end, everything has to flow and be very harmonious. As I was taught, everything has to have a common thread. So, once again, I'm a very visual person, so this works best for me. But most importantly doing this playing around before getting a new item helps me not to be an impulse buyer. (I have learned my lesson, or I think so)
• Using images as inspiration: If I have a certain piece, I'll go on Pinterest and find a different way to style it that I have not yet tried, another thing is trying to copy that image (outfit) to see if it's exactly what I'm looking for or if it's my style or not. That's been very helpful to me and it's worked because - this is a spoiler - but I've got similar pieces to the ones in the images above. 
• Quality over Quantity: Look for shops that offer great quality material clothes, this meant, that I was going to pay a little bit more than when I would buy from a fast-fashion brand, but I knew said item would last a lot longer and that's what I am looking for. Longetivity in my wardrobe items.
• Not falling in the trap of Trends: Thank God, I don't go shopping quite often nor fall in this trap of trends and what's considered to be on trend, which mostly tends not to be 'my' style. 

WHAT HAS NOT WORKED YET? 

• Not being able to find shops where I can find pieces like these: This one is very frustrating because even despite my weight, body type, etc., considered to be a 'slim' person, I can not find clothes that are proper for me. For example, if it's a dress with the perfect length, I then start to look closely, it either has cutouts, an open back, or a very deep V-line or slits of the side and I am just like why? So shopping for myself is getting quite not almost to the point of it being impossible yet but rather very challenging. 
• Quitting almost entirely fast-fashion shopping: As much as I try and would love to support local and Colombian fashion brands, I haven't gotten to that point yet. Although, instead I've reduced the items I buy in said fast fashion stores. I've never had problems with their jeans since I lean towards to high waisted slim/mom-fit jeans, and they offer me that whilst in this other local store, I've never been able to find them instead offer me a bunch of jeans that are too tight and I said I won't wear anything tight anymore. So, it depends on the item itself and also, how you take good care of your clothes plus how often you wear them too. This is a slow and mayhap a long journey, but slowly I'll be getting there too. 

WHAT WILL I DO TO CARRY THIS OUT? 

• I won't go desperate I will slowly go baby-steps instead until I feel like I've achieved the goal of  dressing nicely, even though so far, I've been enjoying it and having fun with it - another spoiler alert: expect some upcoming 'outfit' posts and my thoughts on 'each' look. But I know for sure this will also be a long journey ahead.
• Keep on exploring more fashion sites where I can find and get staple pieces that I can get to incorporate into my already existing capsule wardrobe.

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If you've made it this far, thank you, and do let me know in the comments: How long did it take you to find your style? How has this fashion journey been so far for you? Any tips you would also like to share with me are welcome. Until next time! xx

Just a little heads up: Blog posts for February are already schedule to go up on Feb 7th and also on the 29th. Please look forward to them. I'm still thinking if I should make a 3rd post or not, or if I should make two posts (one at the beginning and another at the end) or only one per month. I'll figure that out as days go by. But this is what I think will work best for me. :)