How can your clothes reflect your distinct personal style?

A guide to discovering your individuality through what you choose to wear

How do you find your sartorial style? It’s neither a rhetorical question, nor is it an abstract one. At what point did you figure out that the clothes in your wardrobe represent you the best? Are your choices based on trends, or the level of comfort the clothes provide or because they might have sentimental value? Italian fashion designer Gianni Versace once said, “You decide what you are, what you want to express by the way you dress and the way you live." To understand what defines a person’s individual ways of dressing, we spoke to experts to help decode the question of how to find your style.

Finding your personal style is a feeling

Here’s the truth: you’re not going to wake up one day and suddenly have an epiphany about how you’re going to dress for the rest of your life. Leave these makeovers for movies and reality shows. In real life, your style is evolving as you grow and change, and more often than not, is determined by your moods and your lifestyle. That distressed denim mini-skirt you wore with a tank top as a teenager may not necessarily be your style now. “It’s over a period of time that you come to know what works for you, what doesn’t, and develop a certain kind of liking towards similar pieces, styles or designs,” says Kunal Rawal, the go-to fashion designer of Bollywood actors like Shahid Kapoor, Ranbir Kapoor, Varun Dhawan and Anil Kapoor, among others.

Identify your personality and your interests

Trying to know your personal style is trying to know yourself. Fashion might be a medium of self-expression, but what it means is that your clothes should be a part of your identity, of who you are. It’s not about mimicking runway looks or imitating your favourite influencers.

“With social media showing us new trends, new styles and new influencers, we constantly want those things and [feel the need to] be like them, without understanding if it works for us or not,” says Shikha Dhandhia, personal stylist and wardrobe consultant, who has previously styled celebrities like Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh. Think of it as a journey to understand your core identity with the help of clothes. For Karuna Laungani, one half of clothing label The Jodi Life, it’s about starting with the very basics: what do you like? “Your personal style stems from your interests, be it what you eat, what you watch and what you consume. Your interest in pop culture, books or movies will reflect on your personality and the way you dress as well,” she explains.

Be honest

When you look at yourself in the mirror, what is your intention behind wearing a particular outfit? Are you wearing it to look like someone you aspire to be or are you trying to incorporate something you really like? “People often don’t focus on what they like, but instead look at what they enjoy on someone else,” says Gauri Verma, the other half of The Jodi Life. There’s also the question of whether you’re dressing up to impress someone or dressing up for yourself. When you are in the process of discovering your style, it comes down to trusting yourself and going with what you feel looks good on you, be it a pair of leather leggings or baggy pants.

Feel confident in what you wear

An unpopular opinion: confidence is a manipulative feeling, especially in the Insta-world of “fake it till you make it” digital personas. In the Instagram- and TikTok-influenced world of fashion, how do you figure out if a trendy look or an item of clothing will actually work for you? It’s one thing looking at pictures of clothes online, and quite another to be wearing them.

Content creator Rasna Bhasin has a simple answer for this conundrum. “Look at the garment, touch it, feel it and wear it. If you think that you can carry it off and if you like yourself in it, then go for it. You might want to wear a tube top, but if you’re heavy on the top and not too confident, you can add a blazer over it. But it doesn’t mean that you can’t wear a tube top,” she explains. If you feel more confident in your mother’s saree than in an expensive gown you bought to wear at a friend’s wedding, it’s better to feel good in what you are confident in than being conscious and uncomfortable.

Don’t limit yourself to a certain type of clothing

While we are not advocating to turn your wardrobe into basics in neutral shades, in order to understand what works for you, try giving different silhouettes a shot. Unless you try things on, you’re not going to what looks good on you. Think of it as a process of elimination when you’re attempting something out of your comfort zone. “Fashion is wearable art but in the end, wear clothes that make you happy,” says Rawal.

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