Wearing Clothes that Reflect You

Developing your own fashion sense requires you determining what styles of clothes you like and why. What aspects drew you to them in store? Was it the colour? The pattern? The shape? The cut? Whatever it may have been remember this as the reason you liked it and try to feature that component in the outfit.

I am going to provide an example. This outfit is one of my all-time favourites. It says a lot about me and is reflective of many things I like.

The colour

First my favourite colour is green. I absolutely love it. Particularly the deep dark green shade seen in the turtleneck and the trousers. I have a very pale skin, dark brown hair and green eyes thus this green is a colour which really suits my natural colouring. This is something important to consider when wearing colours as certain colours suit various natural colouring. For example, I cannot wear light pink or peach as it matches my skin tone to much.

Top

The top in this outfit is a turtleneck and I love turtlenecks. Turtlenecks can be quite a decisive piece. Some people love them, but some hate them. I will do a future post on how to rock a turtleneck and their merits. Here is a brief summary. First, they are warm – which in winter is a necessity. Second, they elide the need of a scarf. I love scarves, but sometimes they can be cumbersome, an issue which is removed with a turtleneck. Finally, when wearing a turtleneck, you do not have to be concerned with showing of an underlayer, by a jumper with a wide neck, something which can be an annoyance.

Jumper

Over the turtleneck is a green jumper. This jumper is wool and very warm. So perfect for a cold winter’s day. I personally love it for those two reasons. Also, it is not just a straight green jumper. It has elements of orange and yellow through it. This brings diversity and interest to the colour palate and helps brings more colour to the outfit as a whole and provides a colour link to the trousers.

Trousers

The trousers are the patterned component of the outfit. The so called “statement piece.” They have a Trojan Horse print. The reason I love this is I’m a classics student. I love studying and learning about aspects of the ancient world – including myth. Arguably the Trojan Horse is one of the most famous motifs of the ancient world.

It pertains to an encounter which occurred in the Trojan War when the Greeks gifted the Trojans a giant wooden horse. The Trojans accepted this gift and wheeled it into their walled city. This was there mistake. The two parties were at war and the Greeks had placed soldiers inside the hollow Trojan horse and deceived the Trojans into believing that they had surrendered, and the horse was a gift of surrender. However, that night the Greeks inside the horse emerged, opened the city gates to their countrymen and won a decisive victory against Troy.

This motif is represented in popular culture. An example being at the 2019 Melon Music Awards, in the introduction to their song Dionysus, BTS’ Jin appeared on stage riding a faux Trojan horse. This demonstrates that this story has permeated popular culture and thus it is a good mechanism for someone like me to use to facilitate discussion around something I love. People see the pattern on your clothes and ask you about it and it allows me to begin a discussion on one of my interests. I kind of view these trousers a bit like a t-shirt of your favourite band. It clearly shows something that I am interested in.

Accessories

Accessories compose an important part of any outfit and choosing the right ones to complement your outfit can make a big impact. They also be selected for practical reasons.

Head band

The head band for this outfit is actual a square scarf which has been folded and tied to become a head band. It has a very distinctive pattern and is honestly quite busy. However, this does not take away from the practical nature of the item. But it is unique and composed of beautiful colours and compliments the outfit. Additionally, head bands can be very handy for securing long hair away from your face. You can wear your hair down and have the bow at the top or the side of your forehead. Or you can choose to hide the bow under your hair. Or you can have your hair in a ponytail. The possibilities are endless, and this is one of the best features of such an accessory – namely there is no set rules or styles to follow. Do what you think works and looks cute.

Purse

Practical and a necessity. Contains all the important things you need. Something used daily. Hence it is so important to choose a purse which you like and one which is practical. It is also important to consider the fashion element of the purse. If you purchase an extraordinarily extra purse will you be able to use it professionally and be able to match it to your everyday outfits.

So, as you can see many of the pieces which compose this outfit somehow reflect me as an individual. Whether that be through colours or patterns. They have some aesthetic trait which drew me to them in the store and then the style of the clothes as well. Style is another important consideration. With time you’ll realise which styles of clothes suit you. For example, I am much more suited to culottes than I am skinny jeans. With time stylistic considerations such as this will become a part of your style. I will write more in later posts about finding cuts of clothes which suit you.

The important thing, the core ideal, is to think to yourself when buying clothes – why do I like this? What is it about the piece which you like? What aspect of it reflects something about you? Whether that be simply it’s your favourite colour, or it reminds you of a memory, or you like the pattern. Pick out things which speak to you. Do not fall into the trap of walking into the shop and seeing the current trend of the mannequin, tricking yourself into thinking that is truly what you like and buying the carbon copy of that. Then taking the outfit home, wearing it once and then within a month the trend has moved on and you question why you ever brought it and it stays sitting in the bottom of your cupboard.

People have often say to me “I love your clothes, but I can’t pull it off,” or “I love your style, but it would look stupid on me.” This reveals the final important aspect of finding your own style – having enough self-confidence to believe and feel comfortable in your own style. This is why picking clothes which YOU like and clothes which are stylistically suited to you is so crucial. If you do this then you will feel comfortable. If you feel comfortable in what your wearing you'll love wearing it and that should be the main objective of any fashion choice you make.