How to Dress the Best You

Each day starts with a choice when it comes to dressing. Are you randomly grabbing clothes and throwing them on or are you styling yourself? One of the reasons I started this blog was because I firmly believe there’s a powerful connection between how we dress and feel. Every one of us can present the best versions of ourselves regardless of budget, body type, or lifestyle. Allow me to take you on a journey to quickly learn how to dress the best you!

Define Your Style

Defining your style takes time and I mentioned the word ‘quickly” above didn’t I? Let me elaborate. Defining your style may take some time BUT you can arrive at that magical place a little more quickly using these tips. There will be some trial and error but it will be worth it in the end when you feel comfortable in what you’re wearing and how you present yourself to the outside world.

What 3 words describe your style?

Take a moment to think of the three words you’d use to describe your style, maybe your ideal style if you feel you’re not quite living up to your potential. I mention this because I often here women say, “I’d like to be able to pull off this look…” or “If I had the money I’d wear…”

If you need help coming up with three words take a look at the clothes you wear most often. Do you notice a theme? Ask a friend or a family member how they would describe your style.

Find Your Colors

I like to think that there are no colors that are off limits to anyone. There is a tone or shade for everyone in my opinion. What colors do you feel your best in? When you wear a certain color or tone do you receive compliments? Lately I’ve noticed a resurgence of color analysis. I remember it being all the rage in the late 80’s and early 90’s and I’m hearing and seeing it mentioned again. This can be very helpful and can make the difference in liking a garment and loving it.

Silhouette

Knowing what silhouette works best for you is imperative. Do you prefer classic and tailored or loose and flowy? There’s nothing wrong with either one, no right or wrong answer it’s a matter of preference. When you know which silhouette works best for you, you’ll notice you are not dressing like anyone else or adopting someone else’s style. You have essentially defined your style and can shop smarter and more discerning.

Create a Pinterest Board

Now that you are armed with your 3 words to describe your style, you know the colors that work best on you, and you have determined your favored silhouette start searching for outfit ideas. Create a Pinterest board of what inspires you and what you’d like to re-create. This will help you come up with a list of essential pieces you need in your wardrobe to dress your best self each day.

My Experience

For years if you asked me what my style was I’d say I’m all over the place. And I was. And I spent too much money and wasted it on clothes that I only wore a handful of times. My closet was exploding with clothes and yet I had nothing to wear. I was constantly searching for “the outfit” or “the jeans” or “the dress” that I could wear anywhere and would solve my nothing to wear problem. Spoiler alert: I never found it.

Oh, these photos below…ugh. They are hard to look at but when I see them I realize I was trying so hard to figure out my style. I did seem to have figured out a pose – the hand on the hip!

#Pattern Mixing — Um, no. Just no. I see this and see someone struggling to find her style.

I’m very impressionable and one of the mistakes I made was finding someone I admired and trying to dress like them. I can look back at old photos and tell who I was inspired by just by what I was wearing. It’s not necessarily a bad thing but in my case I was trying to dress like other people rather than finding what worked for me.

What I’m Doing Now

I’m changing. I realized what works best for me and what I feel most comfortable in. Now when I put on something I pay attention to how I feel. This has led to me weeding out accessories and clothing that just doesn’t cut it any longer. I’ve discovered I really like neutrals. I prefer structured pieces like blazers over the kimonos I once reached for. It hasn’t been easy though. I still have an over full closet and it is taking me time to let go of pieces. The other hard part is that the people around me haven’t completely grasped that my style has changed. That will all take time I suppose but it will be worth it!

I hope you enjoyed reading my post. Now it’s time for the link up!

Welcome to Thursday Fashion Files! Jill and I are excited to have you here and would love to have you link up one of your latest outfits with us at the bottom of this post. Don’t forget to check out our Thursday Fashion Files Pinterest board and email Jill at hello@dousedinpink.com if you’d like to contribute and be added to the board!

Thursday Fashion Files Linkup Guidelines

1 – Follow Jill: Bloglovin’, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Feedly, LIKEtoKNOW.it

2 – Follow Kellyann: Bloglovin’, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, LIKEtoKNOW.it

3. Help spread the word and share our linkup with your community.

4. **By adding your links, you are stating that you have the proper licensing/rights to the images in your blog posts.**

My friend Shelbee who blogs at Shelbee on the Edge is this week’s featured blogger! I just couldn’t get enough of her linen outfit – she looks so chic!

How to Dress the Best You