10 Questions for Finding Your Style

Posted by Jill Chivers in Fashion, Style and Shopping

I’m intrigued by personal style. On this blog, there are many articles and videos about personal style and signature style.

But how do you obtain a style? We know it can’t be purchased in a store, so where do you find it?

I’ve met many women who stumble on this very issue. They want to be stylish. They believe, however tenuously, that they can be stylish.

Even if they’ve struggled with defining their own style for years, they know on some deep level that their style is there to be found.

If only they knew how to find it.

I worked recently with an inspiring entrepreneur who was asking herself this very question. What is my style? And how do I express it?

There are many paths to your personal style mecca, but the process we went through was so helpful to my client, I thought I’d share it with you. It’s surprisingly simple, but wonderfully effective.

Michelangelo was famously quoted as saying: “I saw an angel in the marble and I carved until I set him free”. I love this quote and it is the essence of the process I took my client through to find her style.

I asked my client a series of questions which I’m now going to pose to you.

You can just read these for interest, of course. But if you want to go through the process by taking the time to answer the questions, you’ll experience the simple power of this process for yourself. Just like you can’t learn to swim by reading a book, you can’t find your own style simply by reading about the process of doing it. You actually have to get in the water.

And who knows what you might discover?

10 Simple Style Questions

How would you describe your style right now?
What makes you feel/think those words describe your style?
Who’s style do you admire? Why? What are the core elements/principles of the style of others you admire?
What do you want your style to say on your behalf?
What is your current style saying on your behalf?
How does your current style need to change to say more of what you want it to say, or to say it better?
Has your style/look ever said exactly what you wanted it to say? Think of past experiences and events (no matter how far back you have to go)…
What were the elements of your past/previous style, when it was saying what you wanted it to say?
How did it feel, when your (past/previous) style represented you so perfectly? Connect with that feeling…
How can you use those past/previous style elements to recreate the style you want now?

Give yourself the gift of exploring these questions, or pick just one or two that you really like and pose them to yourself. Allow the answer to surface – don’t force a response. I believe in the power of all that lies within us, and you can use that power to find or rediscover your style – if you’re willing to give it a go.