Finding your personal style when you love different looks

It’s easy to save a photo of a floaty dress and, a few swipes later, another of an oversized blazer with very serious shoulders. Both appeal to you. Put the pictures side by side, though, and they seem to belong to completely different wardrobes.

That can make the advice to “find your personal style” sound like a request to pick a team. Romantic or minimal? Colourful or understated? What happens if the answer depends on the day?

There’s a lot to enjoy about having mixed taste. You get to appreciate a beautifully cut jacket without losing interest in a skirt that moves when you walk. The difficult part is working out which of those things you actually want to wear, and how much of the surrounding look you want to bring home with them.
Look closer at the outfits you save

A saved image doesn’t tell you exactly what caught your attention. The clothes take some of the credit, but so does the setting. A long skirt on a sunny terrace can be particularly persuasive when you’re looking at it from a desk.

Before deciding that you’ve discovered an entirely new style, look at the picture again. Perhaps you like the open neckline, or the way the skirt falls below a boxy knit. It might be the bag tucked under the wearer’s arm. Those are quite specific preferences, and they’re easier to use than a broad label such as “romantic.”

The same applies when browsing bags. The shoulder bags and structured top-handle styles at DOKIBAGS give you different shapes to consider. If you’re drawn to a particular bag, pause over the detail that keeps bringing you back. Is it the rounded outline? The handle? The fact that the front is fairly simple?

That detail may already appear elsewhere in your wardrobe. Someone who likes clean, unfussy clothes might also appreciate a simple bag in a colour they rarely wear. The colour is a departure; the preference for a clear shape is familiar. Once you notice that connection, the choice starts to feel less random.
A new interest doesn’t need a new wardrobe

One appealing outfit can come with a surprisingly long imaginary shopping list. The skirt needs the blouse, which seems to need the jacket, and suddenly the shoes you already own look wrong as well.

It’s worth slowing down at that point. Try imagining the piece without everything that made the original picture so convincing. A pretty blouse may still appeal with your usual trousers. Or you may realise that you loved the photograph more than the blouse. Either answer is useful.

This leaves room for a smaller experiment. If you’re curious about softer clothes after years of wearing sharp tailoring, a blouse with a gathered sleeve is enough to explore that interest. You can wear it under the jacket you know well. You don’t have to decide whether you’re now someone who wears florals.

Some interests will last. Others will make sense for a season, or for one occasion you’re looking forward to. It’s easier to enjoy them when every purchase isn’t expected to announce a permanent change of taste.
Leave a little difference in the outfit

When pieces come from different style references, the temptation is to make them agree on everything. A delicate skirt gets an equally delicate top. A tailored jacket gets formal trousers. The result can look good, although it may leave the more interesting clothes waiting on separate hangers.

Try letting two pieces meet before deciding they don’t belong together. A fluid skirt under a plain sweatshirt is an easy place to start. Keep the sweatshirt’s hem visible and see whether you like where it sits against the skirt. A small change in length can make the pairing feel quite different.

A more decorative bag can also sit happily beside a plain, practical coat. There’s no obligation to add jewellery that repeats its hardware or find another decorative piece to explain it. Let the bag be something you liked enough to carry.

Some combinations will feel awkward. If the sweatshirt covers the part of the skirt you liked most, it may be the wrong sweatshirt for that skirt. That’s a useful observation about two garments. It says very little about whether your overall taste makes sense.

The aim is to become more particular about what you enjoy wearing. You might discover that you like loose clothes but always want a clear shoulder line, or that a very pretty dress feels better to you with a substantial shoe. Those preferences can carry across several different looks.
Make room for days when you feel like dressing differently

There’s also a difference between liking a look and wanting it every morning. A carefully chosen outfit can be enjoyable on Friday and feel like too much effort on Monday. You still chose it for a reason.

Shoes make this especially obvious. The heels, sandals and boots at ROSATINA cover several ways of getting dressed, and it’s reasonable to be interested in more than one. You might like the slim strap of a slingback, then find yourself looking at boots with a much heavier sole. You can consider each pair on its own terms without appointing either one your signature shoe.

Of course, liking the appearance is only part of the decision. You still have to want to wear the heel height and feel comfortable with the shape on your own foot. An outfit that requires you to tolerate your shoes all evening is a fairly expensive way to maintain an aesthetic.

Over time, pay attention to the choices you make freely. Which jacket do you put back on after trying the alternatives? Which bag do you miss when it’s packed away? Those answers can reveal more about your taste than a folder full of outfits you haven’t worn.

Keep saving the occasional look that surprises you, too. There’s room for curiosity alongside the clothes you reach for every week. When you next open the wardrobe, you can decide whether that means the familiar jacket, the floaty dress, or trying the jacket over the dress to see what happens.