Fashion is thriving in the death of the comfy COVID trends and as much as we loved wearing sweatpants, it’s time they stay home. Coming back to school and learning how to juggle classes, meetings, midterms, and just about whatever other loose end that manages to slip through the cracks hasn’t been easy on a lot of us, but there’s one basic aspect that can improve our productivity: getting dressed. Getting ready is correlated to productivity–you’re literally getting ready for the day. In an attempt to make it easier on you, here are six questions you can use as a starting point to help guide your dress this school year!
- What’s your favorite outfit you’ve worn?
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The simplest of questions is not always the easiest. I pushed this question forward because everyone has a general sense of what they’re into whether they’re aware of it or not. You can find that in the clothes you already own. Think about your favorite outfit, ask yourself what worked and what exactly is it that you liked. It might be the color palettes you used, maybe it’s the way the clothes fit you, it might even be as simple as I just really liked this purse with this jacket. Whatever it may be, hold onto that and try to replicate it in your next outfit, maybe you use the same jacket but with a dress, or maybe you try it with jeans; the key here is to be open to experimenting.
- What clothing shop do you gravitate towards?
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This is probably one of the easiest ways to find your style. If you have a certain clothing brand you really like to shop at, nine times out of ten they’re already pushing forward the style that you like. For example, one of my favorite brands is H&M’s “Divided” section which currently targets an edgy and preppy consumer audience. Thus, I tend to go in there and look at the mannequins they have to see the latest trends, or if I’m online I’ll skim through their lookbook and Instagram page for inspo. Likewise, you can do the same for your favorite brand.
- Are there any trends you’ve been meaning to try?
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One of the most common questions I’m asked is how I manage to stay on-trend. The answer is I am constantly trying new and old things. If there’s a trend that peaks your interest—the latest being brightly colored outerwear—then you should just go for it. It’s easy to think that a trend simply “won’t look good on you” because it’s only for this imaginary “other” you’ve made in your head. The truth is you’ll never know unless you try it yourself.
- Who is your style icon?
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It’s important to have someone you look towards for fashion advice because otherwise, you might use all your brain cells before class trying to figure out a fit on your own. Maybe it’s a celebrity like Olivia Rodrigo who executes the YSL punk aesthetic, or maybe it’s a character from a movie like Cher from Clueless. Whoever it may be, it’s nice to have a blueprint and ask yourself if it’s something they would wear.
- Do you feel better in warm, cool, or neutral tones?
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You might’ve heard someone say “green is totally my color”. Well, it’s actually true, there are certain colors that “compliment” our skin tones best. They’re broken into three sections which you can find more details about here. In a nutshell though, if you have a warmer undertone then you may want to get into warmer palettes, if you have a cool undertone then cooler palettes and etc. This question is just for starting points sake, you are of course free to wear whatever, whenever, regardless of skin tone because as I will never fail to mention, experimenting is what helps you grow.
- What is your fashion aesthetic?
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I saved this question for last because finding your aesthetic is not as black and white as it may seem. There is a whole conglomerate of aesthetics out there. My suggestion would be to start small. Find a website, like this one, which lists out a bunch of the main aesthetics, and depending on how you answered the questions above figure out which one works best for you! Once you find the one or two that you like –or as many as you want because aesthetics are fickle— you can then look into Pinterest or TikTok to help you with examples of specific dress forms.
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I hope this article helped you gage a better understanding of what style is for you.
