What is your personal style? How would you define it if you had to? I’ve been asking myself these questions a lot lately… and I feel like I don’t have good answers to them. Sure, I like to be stylish, but I wouldn’t say the outfits I choose to wear have a specific style, or in other words, are consistent in any way. Sometimes I like to wear edgy outfits, and other times I opt for something more feminine. But I also like to look preppy, and I even go for boho looks every now and again. So is my style just all over the place?? I think the best word to describe it is eclectic, or as my dystopian-loving middle school self would’ve said, “Divergent”—not fitting into one specific category.
It boils down to this: I feel like I am having a style crisis (dramatic, I know). I’ve spent a lot of time during this weird summer reassessing my blog and growth, and most importantly, how I can do better. For years I thought the reason I wasn’t experiencing any growth was because my photos were poor quality or because people just weren’t stumbling across my little corner of the web. But then it dawned on me… What if the fashion itself, or my style, is actually the problem?? What if the outfits I put together aren’t interesting or cool enough? I’ve always known I’m not a particularly trendy fashionista (since I like to focus on re-wearing old pieces), but the thought has only just now crossed my mind that my style may be the reason I’m not attracting much of my target audience.
As you may know from my monthly round-up posts, I’ve spent the last couple of months devoting a lot of time and energy to engaging on other blogs, specifically those of college bloggers or teen/college-age fashion bloggers like myself. And through this process, I’ve realized that I don’t really dress like them… Which is totally fine, of course I shouldn’t feel like I need to conform to what everyone else is doing. But I do really love their styles, and I would absolutely dress like them if I owned items like theirs.
So it makes me wonder… Am I dressing too old for myself?! I’ve always known I had more of a “mature” style because in high school I loved to dress up every day, wearing items like nice jackets and chic trousers. I also grew up dressing rather modestly, always looking for skirts that touched my knees and pants that weren’t too tight, so I assume this modest background has contributed to my more mature style as well. It’s not often that I wear crop tops or super short shorts!
But should I wear items like that more?? Afterall, I am in college, but I don’t often dress like it. Should I make the most of wearing certain items now that I won’t be able to wear when I’m older? Should I start picking shorter, ‘cooler’ skirts and rock a trendy one-shoulder crop top? Should I be having more fun with my style?!? As my grandma always used to say, “If you’ve got it, flaunt it,” and I’m starting to realize that maybe I’m not flaunting it.
I wanted to do a blog post about back-to-school outfits (which I still might do), but as I was combing through my closet looking for ideas, I came to the conclusion that there are very few looks, if any, that I can put together that a cool young college girl would actually want to wear her first week back at school. And for some reason that made me discouraged. And it made me think my style isn’t young or cool enough. It’s always been very important to me that I make the most of my college experience, and I’m starting to think that my outfits and style choices should be apart of that.
Anyway… that’s what I’ve been noodling on lately. I do really love this black corduroy skirt though, as it’s one of the few pieces I own that I DO think is college-appropriate and that my peers would wear. I actually wore this look with a jean jacket in the fall of last school year (seen below) and I thought it was SO cute. I was disappointed in how these photos turned out because I don’t think the outfit is nearly as cute in today’s pics… I guess the jean jacket is really what pulls it together. But hey, at least my blue nails match the flowers on my top!
(Original Post: (Fall)ing for These OOTDs)
What are your thoughts on personal style? Do you feel like you have one? And have you ever gone through a “style crisis”? I’d love to hear your thoughts on all of this stuff below! Thank you for swinging by today, and I hope you have a great Thursday and weekend.
Miles of smiles,
Grace
Black Floral Tank: Cabi, $79 // Black Corduroy Skirt: Francesca’s, $35 // Black Wavy Sandals: Macy’s, $28 // Pink Polka Dot Purse: Kate Spade Outlet, was a gift