what personal style really means

note: i shared last week about how my personal style has shifted a bit given the shelter-in-place situation, but wanted to revisit personal style and what it means to me. it’s incredibly important to me to have my outside reflect my inside, and i’ll be taking steps to exploring how my personal style is evolving. stay tuned for more style content over here!

i’ve always had this passion for style. styling myself, styling my room (and eventually my home), styling my barbies, styling anything and everything. i love a good ‘feast’ — eye candy and mind food. that’s what style is to me. it’s so much more than just wearing the latest trends (although those are definitely included in my style experimentation), and i’ve finally sat down to try to articulate exactly what personal style really means, at least to me.

it’s your armor.

you know how you feel so badass when you wear that one blazer you have, or like the BEST version of yourself when you don your favorite yoga pants + sweater combo? yeah, that’s personal style at work. it’s that feeling you get when you KNOW you look great, so you are able to be your best self without worry.

it’s important.

personal style is not frivolous; quite the opposite, actually. personal style is how you choose to express yourself through the art of what you are wearing. it speaks volumes about who you are without you saying a word.

it promotes connectivity.

this might be a bold statement, but i’m ok if people assume things about me based on what i’m wearing. i dress for my identity. “she has a backpack on; she must be a mom” {yep, i am!}. “blazer and a graphic tee? i bet she works somewhere professional, yet cool” {nailed it}. “laker wrestling sweatshirt? she must be from xyz town” {i am! let’s make a connection based on that!}

it fuels my creativity.

i will be the first to admit it: i wear the same ratty sweatpants {they’re actually my husbands, but he won’t dare put them on anymore} when i’m bumming around home. most of that is self-preservation since we have a yellow lab and our house is covered in hair, but when i step foot out the door, you can bet that i’m wearing clothes that i hope other people stop and think “oh! i like that! that makes me think of something i could wear like that …” like i do when i see other stylish people out and about. this is the same reason i love a good retail experience and don’t necessarily only shop online — i can see the whole picture when i see clothing IRL.

personal style is something i’m passionate about (can you tell?) for a number of reasons, but the biggest is that it’s that it’s another form of communication. and like any form of communication, it’s something you can change, tweak, fine tune, and perfect over time.