.png)
I hear a plethora of different reasons why women don’t think investing in their personal style is a worthy one. So, I wanted to spend a little time discussing them. While I completely understand where they are coming from, I believe that leveraging your style can not only be a complete and total game changer, it’s one of the easiest paths to you can leverage for a serious boost to your confidence. And if you’ve followed me for any length of time, you’ve heard me say a time or two that I am a firm believer in living your most confident life because when that’s happening, the magic unfolds in all aspects of our lives.
I don't feel good about my body....
One of the main things I hear from women when it comes to embracing their personal style is that they don't want to do it UNTIL they feel better in their bodies. It’s like we have been brainwashed to believe that we aren’t allowed to feel good about ourselves until we have the perfect body and shape. What a load of BS. NO ONE has a perfect body or shape. They may appear to in the overly airbrushed and filtered images taken at specific angles in specific articles of clothing, but perfection just doesn't exist. If you can start to really embrace that idea, it can open the door to the possibility that the right clothes are out there, RIGHT NOW, for YOU and the body you are currently living in. The key is to largely ignore the number on that dang tag and pay closer attention to how the clothes lay on your body. If they hug in the right places, provide structure where it’s needed, and flatter parts of your body that you actually like, they can do wonders for how you feel. And if you are reading this thinking I don’t like any part of my body, we need to chat stat. I bet I can help you shift that mentality by showing you clothes that were designed for a body just like yours. You just haven’t found them yet! I wanted to share this side by side images to demonstrate this point. I took them one right after the other - meaning it’s not a demonstration of my body changing, rather the cut and shape of the clothes.
Style doesn't fit into my budget.....
The second most common barrier I run up against when it comes to personal style is budget. Budget seems to be at the forefront for almost everyone right now and I get it. Just because you may have had to tighten things up a bit doesn't mean you have to sacrifice your style. In fact, I believe that you can have fabulous style when you apply these two concepts to your wardrobe. Number one: decide what is worth investing in. What items of clothing do you frequently gravitate towards? Those are the pieces that you should consider spending a little more on because they are going to live in your closet season after season and get worn a bunch. For me, those are things like jeans, shoes, tees, and sweatshirts. I will spend more on them because they are timeless and the cost per wear is very low. The rest will be items I tend to spend less on and will update seasonally from a more budget friendly standpoint. Things like tanks, trendy tops, one off items that are for special occasions, and accessories. I don’t tend to get these types of things from higher end retailers because they go out of style more quickly and/or I wear them so much during a season they get worn out and need replacing the following year. The other rule I like to follow is finding ways I can achieve a look that I really like that may be super high end by finding similar items from less expensive retailers like Old Navy, Target, and Loft. I like these 3 stores a lot because they offer well made clothing for really doable prices. I try to stay away from fast fashion as often as possible because the clothes don’t last! Using these two rules on the regular helps me stay within a comfortable budget zone and keeps my wardrobe feeling fresh each and every season. Here’s an example of two very similar outfits, at very different price points!
Outfit 1: $246
Outfit 2: $48
Style takes too much time....
Another popular objection I hear is that style takes too much time. Listen here friends, I have almost 7 year old twin boys who, on a good day, sleep til 6am and hit the gate at 98 every. single. day. Time is not something I ever have extra of, but I do always find a way to incorporate style into my day because I know it makes me feel better and when I feel better, I AM better. And I do it largely by using this rule of thumb: Outfit formulas. An outfit formula is simply a combination of pieces that you can rinse and repeat. The key is to find some that work for your particular body type. Once you do that, getting dressed is something you can do in almost NO time!
Today I am sharing a couple wide leg outfit formulas because they are so popular right now.
Here's the formula for these outfits:
Wide leg pant
Close to the body top - this creates balance in the proportions
A shoe with height or fun detail
Denim jacket if needed
If this formula works for you, then you can mix and match a bunch of different tops and shoes with it to make a home-run outfit every time! Hence, outfit formulas saving you time and effort on the style front!
I hope this gives you some ideas on getting started or coming back to the idea of personal style. I promise it’s an extremely worthy investment! If you are looking for some easy, budget friendly items to your wardrobe for the summer season, grab my free guide here!