Be a Stylish Girl

Being stylish doesn’t necessarily mean following all the latest fashion trends. In fact, most stylish people do the opposite: they wear classic, timeless pieces and do things to spice them up — for instance, adding accessories or rolling up the sleeves of a tailored shirt. Being stylish isn’t so much about what you wear as how you wear it. Confidence is key!

Steps

Exploring Fashion

1. Discover your fashion icons. A great way to develop your own personal style is to explore the style of others. This will help you figure out your tastes — what you love, what you dislike, and what you’d like to try.
   • Fashion bloggers, celebrities, and designers are great people to look to when exploring fashion. Follow them on Instagram and Pinterest to keep track of their looks and interests.
2. Create a fashion scrapbook. This can be online via sites like Pinterest or Clothia, or using a physical scrapbook, into which you could paste print-outs and magazine cut-outs.
   • You might organize your pages according to season (winter, spring), piece (jackets, dresses), or purpose (work, formal, casual).
3. Consider who you are. As you explore fashion, consider whether a theme emerges when you look at your favorite items. Are you often choosing punky looking outfits? Maybe you’re more into a retro style like ‘70s rockstar or ‘50s pin-up, or maybe you’re more of a minimalist.
   • Think about what the things you like say about you, and about how you can express who you are through the things you wear.
   • If you’re an outgoing actor who loves to dress up, you might wear bright colors and chunky accessories, for example.
4. Don’t be a carbon copy. As you start out it might feel overwhelming to put together a great outfit, and it may be tempting to just copy other people’s outfits. Try to keep your look more unique by doing variations on what you see elsewhere.
   • For instance, you might do the same silhouette but different colours or patterns, or the same colours and patterns, but a different silhouette.
   • As an example, you could copy the popular look of wearing a high-waisted mini-skirt and a loose-fitting shirt with heels, but do the skirt, shirt, and shoes in different colors from the outfit you saw on someone else. You can also switch things up with accessories.
5. Pay attention to how people wear things. Ever seen those “who wore it better” photos? People rarely wear the same clothes in the same way. In addition, they’ll often pair their clothes with different hairstyles and accessories.
   • One person might wear a loose-fitting blouse untucked over skinny jeans with a pair of thigh-high boots, while another person might wear the same blouse tucked into the same skinny jeans, with their sleeves rolled up and a pair of chunky ankle boots.
6. Don’t be a snob. Stylish people can put together great outfits no matter what store they’re in. Don’t limit yourself to the big brand stores. Check out thrift, vintage, and discount shops to see if you can find any treasures.
   • A popular thing to do nowadays is to consider the corporate ethics of the stores that you shop in. It can make it a bit more difficult to purchase cheap, stylish clothes, but if you’re politically and environmentally conscious then it’s something you’ll want to consider before entering a store.
7. Stay true to yourself. It’s important to step outside of your comfort zone and try new things, but don’t do so at the expense of your self-confidence. Only wear what makes you feel like the best version of yourself.
8. Be confident. Confidence is as important to style as what you’re wearing. Ever heard the saying “don’t let the clothes wear you”? If you lack confidence, you might not be able to pull off the stylish clothes that you love.
   • Work on feeling good about yourself no matter how you look, and no matter what hangups you may have about your body.

Building a Stylish Wardrobe

1. Choose a few classic staples to build your wardrobe around. Style experts build their closets around a few key pieces — all in neutral colors — that can be combined to make the majority of their outfits. Nearly all of them list the same basic pieces:
   • Slim-legged black slacks
   • Dark blue skinny jeans
   • Pencil skirt in a neutral color (black is the most popular)
   • Little black dress in whatever shape best fits your body type
   • A white, long-sleeved button-down dress shirt
   • A soft crew-neck sweater (cashmere is popular but expensive) in a neutral color
   • V-neck t-shirts in neutral colours like white, grey or black
   • Basic black pumps
   • Ankle boots in black or brown
   • Nude or black ballet flats
   • A black blazer
   • A beige or black trench coat
   • A black or neutral colored motorcycle jacket
2. Have a signature silhouette. Narrow your style down to a set of silhouettes that suit your body. This will help focus your choices and make it easier to buy new clothes and put together outfits.
   • Once you know what you look best in, stick to that silhouette and buy variations on it.
   • Your silhouette might be tight pants with chunky boots and loose-fitting tops, or high-waisted skirts and dainty heels.
3. Consider your daily routine. When buying clothes, shoes, and accessories keep in mind how you spend your days. This will ensure that you actually wear what you buy.
   • A teacher will need a completely different wardrobe (i.e. maybe slacks, pencil skirts, sweaters and flats) than a hostess at a fancy restaurant (i.e. perhaps cocktail dresses and heels), for instance.
4. Clean out your wardrobe. Remove everything that doesn’t match your current style tastes. If something doesn’t fit you properly, donate it or have it tailored. Make sure that you feel great in everything that’s in your closet.
   • Be brutal as you choose what to keep and what to get rid of. Anything that you don’t feel great in is just taking up space and making it more difficult for you to put together stylish outfits.
5. Spice up your outfits with accessories. Belts, handbags, and statement necklaces are a great way to spice up your classic clothing pieces.
   • Take a little black dress from day to night by switching your flats for heels, and adding a big statement necklace.
6. Don’t forget about hats, belts, and bags. Earrings and necklaces aren’t the only things you can use to boost your style.
   • Cinch in your waist and add a retro look to a plain little black dress by combining it with a vintage brown belt and handbag.
   • Wide-brimmed hats have enjoyed popularity for a while now. They’re a great way to dress up most outfits, and are often seen paired with maxi dresses or skinny jeans and blazers. Just be careful not to wear the hat on a windy day!
7. Invest in a pair of sunglasses. Another must-have accessory for the stylishly minded is sunglasses. Generally big aviators and cat’s eye sunglasses have been popular over the past few years, but you need to choose what looks best on your face.
   • Stand at a sunglasses rack and try on all the different styles. Who knows? Maybe you look best in a pair of small circular sunnies like John Lennon wore.

Trying Specific Tricks

1. Keep it neutral. If you’re worried about what colors to go with, start with a neutral palette like black, grey, beige, and white, and then incorporate a few punchy items as you go.
   • As an example, you could buy a vibrant green blouse to go with your black pencil skirt and black blazer, or a chunky, colorful statement necklace to complement that little black dress and heels.
2. Experiment with monochromatic outfits. Monochromatic outfits, or outfits all in one color, can be really eye-catching. Try putting together an outfit in all one color — popular choices are red or white, but really it depends on what looks best with your skin and hair.
   • All black is a safe bet (although maybe a bit too safe!) and can go easily from casual to chic.
3. Always wear accessories. Classic fashion advice is to go minimalistic on the clothing and silhouettes and then amp them up with accessories.
   • As an example, you might punch up a plain, loose-fitting black shirt, black skinny jeans and black chunky ankle boots with a chunky gold chain necklace necklace and diamond (or diamond-like) ear studs. Or you might wrap a colorful scarf around your neck and wear a pair of silver hoops.
   • Some people say that adding accessories to an outfit is like seasoning a meal, which is a great way to think about accessorizing.
   • Adding an unexpected accessory that doesn’t obviously go with your outfit can give it an extra punch — for example, a chunky watch and spiky ear studs with a classic, feminine cardigan and fitted pencil skirt.
4. Play up your favorite attributes. Show off those long legs, accentuate that small waist or full bust, or choose a color that makes your eyes pop (or do all three!). Whatever you like best about your body, choose things that show that off.
   • As an example, you might make your legs look a mile long with a miniskirt or skinny jeans and heels in the same color, or you might wear a lovely blue-grey scarf to draw out your blue-grey eyes.
5. Don’t be too put together. Leave that shirt partly untucked, or wear a pair of casual shoes with dressy slacks and a blazer. Looking too put together might make you look like you’re trying too hard, which can make you look less stylish.
6. Be stylish no matter what you’re doing. Stylish people always look stylish, whether they’re in their pyjamas, having low-key hangouts with friends, or out for a night on the town.
   • With the right styling, you can look stylish even in skinny jeans and a T-shirt. As an example, you might pair black skinny jeans and a simple white V-neck T-shirt with a grey scarf, charcoal ankle boots, a black blazer, and silver hoop earrings.
7. Be well-groomed. Having great-looking hair, eyebrows, skin, and nails will immediately boost your stylishness by making you look more put together.
8. Ensure that you’re comfortable. No matter what you wear, make sure you feel comfortable in what you’re wearing. This will immediately boost your stylishness by making you look at ease in what you’re wearing.
   • Heels won’t matter if you look like you’re drunk or injured while you try to walk in them.

Tips

• Read fashion magazines and blogs for inspiration.
• If you love following the latest fashion trends, consider making the majority of your closet classic basics and then adding one or two trendy pieces per season just to dress those classic items up.
• Experiment with makeup. A minimalistic natural look will always be popular, but you can also play with wilder looks as you explore your style.
• Try different hairstyles to see how they complement your outfits. Loose wavy curls and high buns are popular styles right now.
• If you feel really stuck when trying to build your own personal style, see if you can get help from a professional stylist. You should be able to find listings of stylists in your area online.
• Some experts say that limiting how often they shop actually helps them keep a trimmer and more stylish closet. One supermodel claims to only shop 4 times a year, and to only buy 2 good pieces each season.
• Heels are a great way to add a little instant style boost to your outfit.
• Right now (early 2016) it’s popular to wear shoes that don’t obviously complement your outfit — for example, chunky leather shoes instead of ballet flats with a pair of fitted slacks or a miniskirt.

Warnings

• If you go to school/still live with your parents, make sure that they are okay with the clothes and makeup that you want to wear before you buy it.
• If you love a trend but are on a budget, save money by shopping at cheaper shops like Forever21 or H&M. Trendy items aren’t meant to be worn for more than 1 or 2 seasons, so it doesn’t make sense for you to spend a lot of money on them.
• Only buy clothes and shoes that fit and feel comfortable. If you’re not comfortable in them, you won’t wear them. They’ll just add clutter to your closet and make it more difficult to put outfits together.
• Avoid impulse purchases, which will only clutter your wardrobe and take money away from your fashion budget.

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Sources and Citations

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