Fashion and individual identity

If two terms go entirely hand in hand, they are ‘Fashion’ and ‘Identity’. We all know fashion as a popular style of clothing or hair, but if we dig a little deeper you will discover a hidden truth. Fashion is also the art of self-expression. It channels the essence of who you are with the mixing and matching of style, fabrics and different items of clothing. You become the epitome of the fashion and style you choose to embrace. This reminds me of the famous Coco Chanel quote:

“I don’t do fashion - I am fashion.” - Coco Chanel

Fashion and Identity: How does it connect?

Using your personal style and your fashion taste, self-expression becomes the easiest thing ever. You can get as creative as you want to with it, because there are no limits and no boundaries whatsoever. You are able to experiment, look within yourself, develop skills of self-awareness and self-realization, use all your creative juices and what comes in the end is YOUR own personal individual identity. How cool is that?

So I have established that your individual identity can be found through fashion and that fashion and individual identity are inseparable, the only question that remains is how? I am here to provide you with the best ideas and tips to do just that, so believe me, you have come to the right place. Let’s take a look at some burning questions you are probably thinking of.

What is the benefit of figuring out your individual identity?

You become more self-aware, and this skill is essential for every person in the world to develop
Make your relationship stronger with yourself
To experience a boost in your creativity and ideas
You learn to always treat yourself with care, respect and the best of everything
Self-expression becomes easier and you become less anxious
Defines your unique style, making you stand out of the crowd

How do you begin the journey to express yourself through fashion to present your own personal fashion style?

Expressing ourselves is something that we humans have innate and built in us. We have to somehow show the world parts of us that only represent our individual self. There are many ways to do express yourself. Making this self-expression shine through with fashion though, is a creative and fun way to put your unique style into the world which you want to get recognized by. Often times, other ways of expression can get hard and the easiest, fastest way that isn’t anxiety-provoking is through fashion! Let’s see how exactly we can achieve our sense of personal style that represents our individual identity!

Look for inspiration all around you:

The first step that you will ever have to take is getting inspiration from all around you. See it within yourself first, then start asking yourself the right questions. Finally, take help from the vast resources available from internet to magazines to actual stylists!

So, before anything, you need to gather some information about yourself. How do you perceive yourself as? What are you recognized by in your personality? How did you grow to be who you are? I recommend reading old notes and diaries, take a look at your old photos and notice what you chose you wear then.

Try to gain a sense of what you have repeated, what you have felt comfortable in, what you eventually gave up. Now look at newer photos. See what you have carried on, what has recently appeared in you? This can be anything from scarves to crop tops to jewellery and different accessories. Now ask people around you about what they have noticed change in your style. How would these people describe you in, let’s say, three words? How would they introduce you to a stranger about your current sense of style?

Now ask yourself more questions from the information you received above. Connect the dots from what has been your repeated clothing, your favourite pieces and make a list of items you want to continue filling your closet with. I would suggest to start writing this down in a journal.

What do you want to change in your style going forward?
What can you improve?
Why do you want to change your style?
What are you eliminating or doing less of going forward?

Now, you want to go researching. Pick up your phone and go through your Pinterest boards. Clean through and start to search for different styles that bring you joy and pin everything that you would absolutely love to try out. Go look at fashion magazines, mark the pages that seem to be your new sense of style. Don’t care for any trends at this point, just look around everywhere you can for the style that makes you want to try it out. You may even choose to talk to different stylists to gain a sense and perspective from their outlook.

Dress for yourself only:

This is probably the most important and crucial tip to remember, all the time. The only way your new individual identity will form using fashion is when you dress for yourself and only yourself. This means there shall be no mistakes occurred to dress for someone else or for the public. This also means you are not forcing yourself to wear something someone else asks you to.

Your dress should be about you, how comfortable you feel in it and how easy it is for you to wear it. Now don’t worry if this seems a little intimidating, rather it should. This is a process of learning and learning how to dress for yourself takes some time. Firstly, you must recognize that the space in your wardrobe is all about you and nobody has influence on changing that up for you.

Everything that you ever shop for must spark that inner feeling of joy, it should make you feel good when you try it on and you should feel like showing yourself to the world! Arrange the closet space carefully, and only keep clothes that speak to you and your personality. Again, I don’t recommend the following of the latest fashion buzz or trends. This space is right now only about you, what you like, and what you choose to bring out to the world.

Since the clothing you wear is a visual expression of your identity, you must allow it to represent the aesthetic that speaks out most to you. There are many styles from chic to dark academia to bohemian, so you must really dig deep and develop an aesthetic that you fit in. It can be a blend of styles too, there is no limit whatsoever. When I talk about developing an aesthetic, I don’t mean to only limit yourself to who you are right now, I also encourage you to search for aesthetics and styles you WISH to be. It is an entire state of mind, from choosing the style that makes us happy to picking styles that you want to divert yourself in or just try out. You want to be able to get all the chances in the world to take your personal style and present your fashion statements to the world!

Getting a sense of style will allow you to refer to a certain aesthetic when buying something new, when figuring out styles you get stuck on. It is important that you find out the priority and doing this step will make you more self-aware on what to select, what to improve, and falling in love with every item you have in your wardrobe.

Anna Wintour said, "Create your own style. Let it be unique for yourself, and yet identifiable for others." Ask yourself an important question: What makes you stand out of the crowd? What are you doing different that no one else is? This is what dressing for YOU means. It should be about you and it should make you stand out from everyone else. Take a look within yourself and ooze out your creativity. Look at your preferences. You will find your own style in no time.

You might also find it through your surroundings. From your culture, your beliefs and experiences. Some people, for example, want to dress modestly. Some people want to show off with beautiful bikinis and some skin! Both are completely fine. Some people want to rule in the masculine or feminine fashion and stay within the confounds of it.

But these are just expectations wired in from the society around you. It’s on you if you want to take that into account, and it’s on you if you want to ignore it. The key here is: It’s all up to us! It is up to you to allow yourself to express yourself that lines up with your values and your personality. You have to find what it is that blends in your experiences to your clothing as well. This is exactly what I meant when I said there are no limits to fashion whatsoever, this is the main reason why fashion designers are able to express their complex styles and designs using fashion. You are no different; you can do that too!

Wear something that makes you feel happy:

This deserves a separate explanation because it is a step so easy to forget especially when it is so important. Yes, now you know how to dress for yourself. But are you happy with it? Is something pulling you back? Did you let society control aspects of your personal expression and identity? It’s okay. Let’s unhinge that too.

The only thing you need to remember to ask yourself throughout the game of dress up is: Does this piece of clothing, jewellery and accessory make me happy? Is this boosting my mood? Do I want to immediately wear in and take some awesome pictures? Always wear clothes that boost up your mood. If you find out how amazing it is to feel that confidence later, you would never compromise again. Embracing your individual identity will make your confidence ooze out and you will be entirely new, ready to conquer the world!

Look closely and see if there is any certain outfit that has a positive impact on you? Are there some outfits that make you feel dull? Eliminate them. Do not ever force yourself to wear something. Keep trying to mix and match, layer up and bring out new combinations until you feel confident and happy. It does not have to be something glamorous; it can be something simple. All it needs to do is make you happy from the inside.

Look at the new and old buzzing fashion trends:

I've shared advice to ignore fashion trends as a whole in general before. But now that I have covered what are the first most important steps, we can figure out what are things you need to put up into consideration while revamping your style. You can choose to ignore some temporary, dull or quickly changing or fading fashion standards. But what’s important to remember is the classics and trends. These will give your sense of style an extra spark and is a new perspective to add a new dimension to your individual identity using fashion. For some people, wearing classics is their aesthetic in itself.

Keep an eye for old trends that faded away that you think you can still pull off. Similarly, stay in touch with new trends. What’s important here is to remember that no one really needs to follow any and every trend that comes out. You don’t have to follow everyone doing the next new thing. You just have to stay true to you. Have fun with fashion and keep experimenting!

Don’t be scared to explore and experiment:

This is something that many people yet again, forget. We are scared to get out of our comfort zones. If you stay in one lane all your life, you will lose all the chances to embrace styles and ideas that could have looked so much better than you chose to stay in. Thus, experimenting should never be thrown out the window.

It is completely cool playing it safe, especially when it makes you comfortable in your own skin. But if you really want to develop your individual identity through fashion, it will require you to be daring. Because fashion is about being bold, being challenged and accepting those challenges. Be different, wear all sorts of combinations. Wear something completely out of the box. Experiment with new patterns, put in new fabrics together, go for bold colours. In short: You need to take risks. The best thing that can happen is you find your new style as part of the process that you didn’t even expect.

Fashion should never be limiting. Ignore all the ‘musts’ and ‘should nots’. That’s a space you want to get out of. Go pave your own way, with all sorts of unique picks and pieces that speak to you. Pair them up and you’ll rediscover parts of yourself that you did not even know existed within you!

Play with colour, fabrics and patterns:

Colours, fabrics and patterns are 3 things that should always get mixed, matched, shuffled, pulled apart and then together to create the best fashion looks of all time ever. Show off your personality. Use different colour combinations, look for colour palettes that look good together - especially if they are bold and different. Go all black, or go out there looking like a rainbow.

There’s nothing limiting you. Go for neutrals, nude tones and muted greys, go for pinks and lavenders. Go for fall or winter colors all year around. You can use colour in make-up as well! Pair leather with silk, put lace on a blazer and go out there ready and confident with your new style and identity!

Conclusion:

I hope that by now, you realize what being confident with fashion means. The process of learning about yourself and your identity with fashion is one of the best, most fun discoveries you will ever make. Connect with yourself once again, and express your truer most self. It’s time!

“At its essence, style is a complicated, endlessly fascinating human capacity. It is our spirit and what we think, our creativity, our individual way of being, and our intention for our clothes. To nurture a meaningful relationship with fashion, our task is to understand style, to hone it, to carefully craft it and make it our own.” — NADINE FARAG