YOUR UNIFORM

Updated: Jul 6, 2023

HOW TO FIND YOUR OWN PERSONAL UNIFORM?

Firstly, what does that even mean?

Well, it means what do you gravitate to the most in your wardrobe and in the clothes you wear? What is your signature look?

What do you feel the most comfortable in and keep repeating a lot?

One thing I've learnt in finding my personal uniform is to look at what do I keep buying the same of in different colours over the years and decades?

One major factor is where you live, your lifestyle, and what you do most during the day (whether at work or on your days off).

This is mostly true for people who have an active life and don't just sit around at home on your days off in your pj's, tights or trackies and just veg out on the couch all day.

An awesome way to find your style if you have too many clothes is to declutter straight away the things you will never wear. This will leave you with the things you love and you will start to see your own style emerge.

If you don't want to go so drastic with the declutter, write an inventory of everything you wear for a year and you'll see again what you do and don't wear often.

WHAT DO I DO?

I have just started to realise that since I love wearing accessories, I need to tone the colours in my outfits down, so they don't clash all together. To highlight the accessory, bag or the shoes, I really need to tone everything else down, or it won't be a feature anymore if I don't, it will just be a clown outfit.

As a brunette, I realised watching some brunette YouTubers who wear gold jewellery that it really suits them, when I tried gold again I loved it.

I felt like silver washes me out too much.

I will always wear silver, but I have never tried them both on at the same time.

This is what experimenting is all about. I saw it on someone else and was

fascinated with it. I love seeing what others do first before I try it on me,

this way it saves me from wasting money and resources in trying things that might not work out. But really, it's the only way to work out your personal style

and your own unique uniform, you must try things out yourself.

WHAT ARE SOME TIPS TO DO IT FAST?

There are a few ways to get this process done in a few weeks.

1) Turn all of your coat hangers the back way and each time you do wear a garment, turn the hanger back the correct way (after you have washed and ironed it).

2) Quickly remove items you never use and put them in storage, instead of donating, selling or getting rid of them. And if you need to use it, take it out of storage and you will know if it is a keeper of not.

3) Track in your diary everything you wear in those 2-3 weeks. This could get tedious, but it is seriously the fastest way to see what you wear, and what you don't.

4) Organise your wardrobe in a neat way so you can see what you have and to have easier access to the garments you own.

5) Final tip is to Stop buying anything for at least a month and use what you already own. Best way to save and also see how often you do use your clothes.

WHY HAVE A STYLE UNIFORM?

To put it simply, to make your life easy. And it isn't about owning one top in one size in one colour and having 10-20 of it, like Mark Zuckerberg. Or having the exact same outfit in every colour, like Queen Elizabeth II used to. It's about finding what suits your body type and the type of outfit that you love to wear, looks great on you and most of all comfortable and repeating it with many different looks. What I mean is if you like to wear a blazer, jeans and t-shirt, then you can have 5 different blazers, 5-10 different jeans, and 10-20 different tops. This will make it super easy for you to get dressed every morning since you don't have to think about what to wear each day.

And voila!

IS REPEATING THE SAME OUTFIT BORING?

No, not if you change the accessories, outfit colours, and mix & match what you wear each day. It can be fun to come up with new combinations each time you make an outfit.

Don't forget to get rid of the ones that no longer serve you, or are in bad shape, for example if a white t-shirt is stained from your deo, you can buy a different type of white t-shirt and it will feel like a totally new outfit. A quick tip here, most people don't really care what you wear, they're more excited about their own outfit. And even if they associate you with a particular style, who's to say that is a bad thing?

WHAT IS YOUR FORMULA?

Your formula is whatever you want it to be. You can start with a skirt or pant, add a t-shirt or shirt, then add a vest or jacket/blazer. And then look at the shoes you wear. Do you like heels, sneakers, ballet flats? And stick to the one you wear in many styles.

You might have two or even three formulas to pick from, no need to only have one.

The most important thing for you to think about is what do you want your style to look like. Is it casual, casual chic, boho style, sophisticated, glam, glam rock, smart casual, preppy, gothic, rock, pop, modern, grunge, formal, all white, all black, colourful, neutral, fancy dress, frilly, conservative, suits, dresses, athletic, athleisure, floral, mixed, or other.

Once you've made that choice, stick with it. Your style will evolve over time.

You may get sick of this style as you grow older, your life changes and

also, if your weight fluctuates. None of these are a bad thing.

Google images is your best friend to find where to start.

But seriously, you're not looking for the destination,

it's a journey and it will be ever evolving.

Just have fun with it!

SOME EXAMPLES OF UNIFORMS:

By the way, your uniform isn't the same thing as a school uniform, far from it.

It's your unique personal style you learn to love and cherish wearing most days of your life. And the reason for it is to make life fun again. And remember, you can have as many or as few uniforms as you'd like, it's your life, it's your choice.

Staple outfits need not be boring. Like these: