What it means to develop a personal style
By Brittney MacDonald, Life & Style Editor
I donât need to tell you that bodies come in all shapes and sizesâthatâs obvious. That fact can also make it extremely difficult when you want to be fashionable, but the current trends sway towards something that may not be flattering on you or something you wouldnât feel comfortable in. However, being fashionable and being on trend are two very different things. It is always possible to be stylish, because style is user defined.
So then the question becomes âwhat is a personal style and how do you develop one?â For the longest time I believed that fashion simply wasnât my bag. My body is fairly disproportionate in terms of the torso to lower body ratio, and I have broad shoulders with a narrow waist. This made finding clothes really difficult, so I kind of jsut gave up on it and relegated myself to hoodies and jeans. The difficulty of dressing myself contributed to an overall self-consciousness that prevented me from fully exploring the wonderful world of fashion.
It wasnât until I began designing costumes for various events that I realized that dressing up and having pride in what I wore made me feel better and more confident in general. I began testing the waters with what I liked, though not things that were necessarily in fashionâstuff that I would find in thrift stores, or randomly in independent shops. I liked the idea of not looking like everyone elseâa remnants of my days as a little punk/goth high schooler. Through experimentation I learned what I wanted my body to look like, and what fabrics I enjoyed wearing. It was all about the personal for me, mostly because I am a baby, and everything I wear has to be comfortable.
What came much later was the ability to adapt current trends to suit what I wanted to wear. Currently, though I appreciate fashion trends, I generally donât employ them unless they fit what Iâve come to realize is my way of expressing myself to the world at large. What it comes down to is âwhat do you feel attractive and comfortable in?â If you like the way you look, confidence can make any outfit workâI know that sounds cheesy, it sounded just as cheesy in my head, but it is true! Also, never listen to people who tell you that you shouldnât dismiss certain styles as things you âcanât wear.â Theyâre saying it to tell you that you shouldnât be so self-conscious, but it just comes off as dismissive.
Wear what you want and what youâre comfortable inâjust donât limit yourself to hoodies and jeans or say that fashion isnât for you. Fashion is for everyone, itâs just that some people havenât discovered their version of it yet!
