Your personal style doesn’t need a category, body shape or colour wheel. It needs more of you. Your personality, your perspective and your point of view.
Many years ago, I completed a course in styling. I loved exploring body shapes, colours and style personalities. I learned the systems, but realised real personal style is much messier and much more interesting than the systems suggest.
I worked in fashion for fun alongside my marketing and communications career for over a decade. What I realised later was that real people don’t fit neatly into predefined style personalities or colour wheels, and they don’t always want to dress for their body shape.
In personal styling, it’s easy to spend a lot of time boxing yourself into categories. It feels productive to figure out if you’re a classic, romantic, dramatic, pear, hourglass or warm autumn. It’s not to say these ideas aren’t useful. Certain clothing will complement certain body types more than others. Certain colours may make your skin tone glow. These frameworks can absolutely be useful. But there's a difference between understanding what technically flatters you and understanding what actually feels like you and makes you feel your best.
Most style advice starts by telling us what category we belong to. But what if you stopped trying to fit your style into a category and instead created your own? Because with your personal brand in mind, your personal style isn’t just about what flatters your body. It's a visual expression of who you are. The more clearly you can articulate it, the easier it becomes to decide what belongs in your wardrobe, what doesn't, and how you want to confidently show up in the world.
As Rachel Zoe said:
“Style is a way to say who you are without having to speak.”
So, let’s create your simple style statement. Because ironically, putting your visual style into words might be just what your personal stylist self needs.
1. Your Own Style Language
Traditional style frameworks can be useful. They describe you from the outside in. I'm more interested in helping you define your style from the inside out.
For example, if I had to group my personal style into categories using conventional models, I would likely be a ‘classic’. I love timelessness, quality fabrics and a muted colour palette. However, I also love a backless moment, sneaky sheer or shoulder, or an oversized addition. These small details quietly rebel against the classic stereotypes, and if I followed the style standards too rigidly, I would miss communicating this part of not just my ideal personal style, but also my personality.
So for your own personal style, ask yourself:
What do I actually want my clothes to communicate?
What visual qualities do I repeatedly gravitate towards?
What combination of qualities feels unmistakably me?
2. Your Style Files
As I’ve shared in my earlier blog, Level up your visual brand: Creating a signature visual style identity for your personal brand, moodboarding will help you make sense of your style. Pay attention to:
Repeated elements, themes or vibes
Your emotional reaction to images or key details and what element exactly is causing it
To explore the nuances of your style even further, see my earlier blogs:
6 Quick Wins for a Signature Personal Style That Reflects Your Personal Brand
How to create a signature colour palette for your personal brand: Elevating your visual identity
Start to brainstorm taglines and sum up what you’re seeing and feeling.
Compare your moodboarding with your current closet. Pick up a few pieces or outfits you constantly reach for and assess why they are the go-tos in your collection. What is it about each piece of the ensemble that makes you feel your best? Give each outfit your own quick headline.
No, not:
"Black blazer, trousers and heels.”
Instead think:
Quiet authority
Classic with a twist
Model Off-duty
Minimal attitude
Romantically bold
After-dark corporate
Creative meets CEO
Polished rebellion
Or for some slightly longer statements:
Classic with a rebellious streak
Tailored and slightly unexpected
Minimalism with a touch of drama
Old-world elegance, modern attitude
Corporate polish with a creative edge
Romantic details, strong silhouettes
Understated style with unexpected details
I personally love the approach of adding tension and contradictions. We all have multiple sides of our personality and play different roles in different parts of our lives. So often we try to tightly keep our out-of-hours style separate from our 9-5 visual personal brand. You don't necessarily need a work style and a personal style statement. You need a style that can adapt to different contexts. You might play different roles, but you are one whole person.
Adding contradiction to your style statements allows you to blend more of your personality into one style statement. One decision-making mantra that ideally applies across any context.
It’s this tension that creates personality. The contradiction doesn't weaken your style identity. It can actually make it more distinctive.
3. Your Statement as a Filter
Your style statement shouldn't sit in a Notes app and look pretty. It should actually change and inform your decisions.
You can use it when:
Shopping
"Does this actually fit my style statement, or do I just like it?"
Getting dressed
"Which version of this outfit feels more like my visual identity?"
Decluttering
"If this doesn't belong to my visual language anymore, why am I keeping it?"
Getting dressed for work
"How can I express my style statement within a corporate context?"
Getting dressed socially
"How does my style statement translate when I have more freedom?”
A Style Point of View
A strong personal style for your personal brand isn't about presenting the same version of yourself in every context. It's about expressing who you are and having enough consistency that people can recognise your point of view and personality.
