If you look up “what defines style” the most common answer is something along the lines of a distinctive pattern of dressing. Commonly used as a synonym for ‘aesthetic’ style is known to shift from year to year. Because it exists on such a personal level, style is destined to be idiosyncratic. Finding one’s personal style can be a difficult feat as personal taste shifts even quicker with the increasingly fast trend cycles.

To find one’s style, the first step is to start with what you have. Anyone in fashion can tell you that the best thing to do when you’re bored with your clothes is to cut them up and make new ones. This method avoids waste and gives you the creative outlet necessary to start reworking your wardrobe. If you aren’t the kind of person who wants to alter your clothing that’s fine! However, you should still evaluate the clothes you have and seek to get rid of anything you don’t wear.

Once you’ve cleaned out your closet, the next step is my personal favorite. Find inspiration! I’m a long-time Pinterest warrior ( I have about fifty-something boards). I can confirm with certainty that Pinterest, with the proper searches and feed curation, will become your best friend during your style journey.

After doing some research, the method of style discovery grows apparent. You go through your clothes, find ones you like online, decide which parts of your body to emphasize, and boom, and after some trial and error, you’ve done it. Finding style has a rough formula. But defining it doesn’t. Style shifts so quickly and seemingly without notice, that it’s nearly impossible for younger consumers to stay consistent. Although trend shifts seem abrupt, these widespread trends are strictly curated by the cycles of fashion. The decades of our past haunt our futures as we move further into the age of repetition. I predicted back in June that the 2010s and 60s influences would be the overarching theme of the season. Just a mere two months later, TikTok is appalled by the return of 2012 crackle nail polish. Almost everything is bound to return one day, survived by our inescapable urge to rediscover. But fashion must change, and style must be discernible from one to another. Without even a glimpse of individuality, style loses its meaning. It was Diana Vreeland who said “Style—all who have it share one thing: originality.”. Style hinges on the concept of newness, and is born out of an individual’s zeal.

To embrace individualism is risky. But without risk, style is nothing. We’ve fallen out of practicing risk, growing complacent with the ordinary. If your utmost goal is to look put together, then you can style your clothes. If you want to look good, you can style your clothes. But if you truly seek style, you must avoid the average and search for invention. Style isn’t something you merely curate. It is the curation of who you are, the outermost depiction of who you are. To have style is like curating a museum. The art will be made no matter what. It’s up to you to decide what story to tell. And in order to do so, you must take risks.