Personal style is a journey. My understanding and my personal experience is that your style changes as you move in life and this is Ok. Many times in my life I felt conflicted about this “Am I changing? Am I being true to myself? Will people judge me?”
The answer to all these questions are:
Yes you are changing, every single day of your life, this is how people evolve. If you are stuck with the same outview on life, you are missing out.
Yes you are being true to yourself, because you are listening to your inner desires, to your core self. You are a living being, ever changing and your style should reflect this.
Yes, people will always judge you, you will need to deal with this and not let it stop you.
As a child I wore hand me downs, all the clothes that would not fit my older sister and my older cousins.
By the time I went to high school, my mother started to buy some clothes just for myself. If I was with her I could have an opinion if I liked it or not. I hated when she would show up with something she bought, without me being present. I was between 10 and 13 years old.
Later in my teens and craving so much to have a personal style and personal identity, I found a way of buying cheap clothes that my mother would buy for me. Flea markets! I would go to one every month and I would always return with a huge bag, full of items.
It was a win-win situation because I would get items no one in school would have, I would have my own personal style and I didn’t have to ask my mother for expensive clothes that she definitely would never buy for me.
By the time I went to University I started to have random part-time jobs, where I would get some pocket money to buy my own clothes and shoes. Throughout University I was definitely a hippie kind of girl, wearing vintage t-shirts, always tennis shoes, scarfs around my head or my waist, long hair and pallazo pants.
When I started working, I finally met people that had amazing personal style and showed me we can have an office job, look professional, wear “adult clothes” but not be boring.
My first years working was also the beginning of a process, where I started to explore androgyny. I cut my long hair into a very short haircut. I started playing with being super feminine or being masculine.
Right now, I still keep the short hair (I highly doubt I will ever grow my hair that long again). Working in a Fintech start-up in London, this allows me to have a more youthful professional style. I definitely embrace colour with less fear.
Where will my style go? I have no clue. The only thing I want to make sure is I have fun. Clothing is supposed to help us and inspire us, not be a burden. Enjoy it.
Franca Personal Style Consultancy 