How do I get started with completely rebuilding my wardrobe?
I’m looking for advice on how to get started developing a personal fashion style. I went to a stylist a few years back and they built a few tailored outfits, but I’m looking more for a personal style guide that can govern my buying decisions over time.
Any ideas on where to start?
9 Replies
Start an inspiration folder. Use Pinterest, tumblr, or whatever microblogging site of your choosing. I’d say that’s the very first step
there's some solid stuff in #fashion-guides like this personal style journey from bchanx https://malefashionadvice.substack.com/p/an-outfit-a-week-one-year-later-finding
plus a more general guide https://malefashionadvice.substack.com/p/developing-personal-style
there's also some good threads in the forums here about the regulars who found their own personal styles and how theirs evolved over time. i'll see if i can pull those up in a minute
i second imbadatusernames' advice: figure out what you like and what you want to do and start building up slowly from there. you already recognize that this isn't going to happen in a day, so I think you'll do fine
https://discord.com/channels/1116793467654381685/1130222370179793076
here's a post from unfashionable_me where a lot of the regulars posted their fits over the last few years
Gonna second the advice of starting slow. There’s no need to reinvent your style overnight and you may find if you go too fast you spend a lot of money on stuff you don’t like 2 years from now.
https://discord.com/channels/1116793467654381685/1132026529468137534 here's another good one
It’s one thing to assemble a mood board full of fits I like on other people. I’m trying to understand what actually looks good on me and why. Are there any guides around that?
the short answer is that many things can look good on many people if styled right. there aren't strict rules as to what you can and cannot wear to look good. it depends on what you want, not what some prescriptivist guide tells you will look good on you. experiment with single pieces that lean towards different styles and see what feels good to you. if you want a good starting point, look at the basic bastard guide in #fashion-guides
“If styled right” is the essence of what I’m trying to do. Less about looking for a prescriptive guide and more trying to understand theory, or a pattern language behind how to style for myself.
For example, I always look bad in horizontal stripes, but vertical stripes work really well. Same with baggy vs slim fit clothing.
“See what feels good” is like giving the advice “just be yourself” to someone who has terrible luck with dating. If my instincts were good, I wouldn’t be here asking for advice
“See what feels good” is like giving the advice “just be yourself” to someone who has terrible luck with dating. If my instincts were good, I wouldn’t be here asking for advice
A good start would be posting some pictures of some of your own outfits here along with some inspiration photos of how you'd want to dress. Without seeing that it's going to be very hard for us to give you specific advice
There’s also no foolproof way of dressing better. You are going to buy things that will end up not being right for you - those are opportunities to learn more about what you feel comfortable/confident in. You could always play it safe forever by following a basic fashion guide, but no one can develop unique personal style for you, you have to get uncomfortable / try new things. What we can do is help identify what to do next in response to your trying new things
Like I went through a phase where I bought a lot of streetwear bc a bunch of people looked good in streetwear, but then I realized it wasn’t for me. Same thing happened with americana. Ultimately I discovered what I really enjoy for myself is a monochrome workwear style with some tailoring influence, but that took a very long time. I don’t think there was a way to skip those intermediate fashion phases - you can do a little reflection on your own lifestyle and personality to get a general sense of direction, but a lot of it will be trial and error