Style yourself!

There are any number of ways to style a white button-down shirt. Knotting is just one! How would you style it? Photo courtesy of Anton Mislawsky on Unsplash.

Fashion designers design the clothes.

Manufacturers make them.

Stores sell them.

You buy them.

... And sometimes after you've bought them, they never leave your closet because you can't figure out how to make them work on you.

So get into the stylist mindset. What would a stylist do? A stylist would show you how to wear the clothes you bought, how to adapt them to suit your shape, your personality, your style.

Very few items suit us perfectly, as is; they usually require some tweaking. When I try something on in a store, prior to buying it, I'm already imagining what I will pair it with and how I will wear it: rolled, tucked, untucked, half-tucked, zipped, unzipped (ahem... not flies...), layered under, layered over, with this belt, with that belt, take it in, take it up, get it tailored...

The big clothing manufacturers produce hundreds of thousands or even millions of units of the same item, to fit the masses. Theoretically, everyone could be walking around in the same clothes, looking the same. Thankfully, we don't! For one thing, the clothes fit each person slightly differently, depending on body silhouette, and sometimes even require a bit of nipping and tucking. But for another, most of us want to express ourselves through our clothing, show our own uniqueness, make the item our own, wear it our way.

Not sure how to style that? Need some inspiration?

Go to the store website and see how they dressed the model in that item you bought.

Search Pinterest for your key phrase (example: "high-waisted pants" or "moto jacket"), and save the looks you love to a designated board.

Google your keyword and see what comes up in the pictures.

Search YouTube for "how to style [fill in the blank]".

Take selfies and store them in easily accessible albums for when you're in a pinch! Photo courtesy of Noémi Macavei-Katócz on Unsplash.

And then, using those images for inspiration, approach your closet.

It's about imagination, about trial and error, about playing around with your clothes. Have fun with it!

And when you find a winning look, take a picture of it and save it somewhere easily accessible. On the days when you're at a loss for what to wear, or in a rush, flip through your album to locate a ready-made outfit you already know will work.

Follow these instructions, and I promise you, you will find your look, your signature style.

And as always, if you need help with that, that's what I'm here for!