How To… Dress for Yourself

A Guide to Wearing What You Want (and Forgetting About Everyone Else’s Opinions)

When you wake up in the morning, one task that is never forgotten is getting dressed. But if you find yourself trying on outfit after outfit thinking “This looks weird,” or “I wore this shirt yesterday,” then you might be succumbing to Fashion Peer Pressure (an entirely real term.) Rather than feeling stuck in a rut of outside opinions, we are turning the focus on you, the readers, to decide what you want to wear, why you want to wear it, and when you want to wear it. 

Step One: What do you feel most confident in?

The first step is the most challenging. The best way to find out what you feel confident in is thinking about what you wore the last time you felt really good about yourself. Now, we aren’t saying that your confidence comes solely from your clothing, or that the only reason you felt so great was because of your outfit, but if you wearing something you didn’t feel good in you probably won't have a good time.

Step Two:  Why did you like that look so much?

Getting dressed isn’t just about what you wear, it’s about why you wear it. Do those jeans make your legs look a mile long? Are the sleeves on that t-shirt you love the perfect length for your arms? Does the colour of the jacket make your eye colour look a little brighter? Once you figure out exactly what you loved so much, you can look for other pieces that fit the same bill. Try branching out from there into other similar styles that flatter you just the same.

Step Three: Accept that there are no “rules” for style.

Style is what you make it out to be. The most popular style inspirations didn't look around at everyone else for rules, restrictions, and approval. They did what they wanted to and owned a style that others may not have liked. Did that stop them? No way! So don’t let it stop you. One person’s style disaster is another’s style icon. Who knows, maybe there’s a future style inspiration for millions hiding away in your mind. The only way to find out is to forget about the “dos” and “don’ts” and, instead, do what makes you happy.

Step Four: Believe in yourself in a little!

You know your personal style. You know what looks good on you. Trust your sense of style to guide you. People are always going think one thing or another about everyone else; it’s human nature to form opinions. The difference between being crippled by it and growing in spite of it is keeping your chin up. If you think that you look great, you’ll feel great, and other people will see you first instead of your outfit.