Embrace Your Style

Style is an essence. It’s a feeling. It’s a catch-your-eye-can't-look-away look. To have a style is to have a presence.  A presence that is remarkable. Strange. Decidedly normal. Consistent. Style is a person’s wearable calling-card – their visual nomenclature. 

You can have cyclical style. Wear navy blue on Monday and Wednesday; black every other day – except on the weekends. Or, there is also uniform style: Khakis and polo shirts. Every day. How about brand style? Only The Gap jeans. Only Hanes t-shirts. Only black Converse.    

Audrey Hepburn
in Breakfast at Tiffany's

My favorite style, though, is YOU style.  Clothes that make YOU feel good about yourself. Clothes that define YOU, enhance YOU, compliment YOU. That is the kind of style that is perpetual and memorable. It’s the style of Coco Chanel, Audrey Hepburn, Katherine Hepburn, Grace Kelly, Jackie Kennedy, Madonna. These women found a look, a designer, a silhouette that enhanced themselves. Their fashion choices didn’t dictate who they were – their clothing was merely a means of expressing who they already were. 

That is what style is all about. Finding what makes you happy, what makes you sparkle, and what exudes the essence that makes you YOU. 

So, when you are deciding what to wear tomorrow, think about who you are and what your clothes say about you. Maybe you like your khaki pants and converse shoes – they define exactly who you are. Or, maybe you’ll think…hmmm…that bright orange top hidden in the back of my closet needs a fresh start with a new pair of Wednesday-only black pants. 

For some inspiration at some great prices, here are some calling-card style staples that can help anyone start chiseling away at their own masterpiece style.

1. Tricolor Dress, Zara, $89.90. 2. A Whole Neutral Outlook Dress, ModCloth, $77.99. 3. Camille Dress, J.Crew, $99.99. 4. Striped Unstructured Blazer, Gap, $69.95. 5. Good as Goldfinch, ModCloth, $58.99. 6. Floral Lace Henley, The Limited, $39.90. 7. Convertible Cruise Top, ModCloth, $32.99. 8. Rivington Trousers, Madewell, $54.50. 9. Palette Trousers, Madewell, $79.99. 10. Ivory Dragonfly, BaubleBar, $36. 11. Ocean Bauble Bib Necklace, Anthropologie, $68. 12. Nomad by Mia, Piperlime, $39.99.