CONQUERing Collaboration: 8 Tips to Find Your Personal Style

Tammy Nelson, the founder and CEO of CONQUERing, has a personal life goal to help 3 million people feel empowered in her lifetime. CONQUERing is one way she is fulfilling that mission—inspiring, functional fidget jewelry helps people stay focused on taking control of their lives. 

One part of feeling empowered comes from feeling completely comfortable in your own skin. Loving what you wear and feeling comfortable in it comes with a lot of confidence that can then be channeled into conquering one's day. 

Uncovering your personal style is a great way of achieving those levels of confidence. This month, we asked some of our SuperFans to share how they have uncovered their own personal styles. Before we share their advice, we want to define what personal style is and share 8 tips on how you can find your own personal style. 

What is Personal Style?

There are a lot of misconceptions about what personal style is. Some people think it's what makes your wardrobe unique. Some think it's something that really only applies to models or people in the fashion industry. 

Personal style is actually pretty simple: it's a reflection of how you want to dress. It can be influenced by trends and it can be basics that match people around you. The core components of personal style are focusing on what makes you feel comfortable and what provides a sense of self. We also use our personal style to signal something about ourselves to others. 

It's not always about what you like or even what you wear. We've all worn outfits that make us feel uncomfortable or decided we like a trend while recognizing it's something we'd never wear. When you think about personal style, focus on what makes you comfortable and what you would actually wear on a regular basis. 

Your personal style will evolve over time. The older you get, the more your tases will and comfort levels will change. That's okay! Personal style is meant to evolve with you. 

That's really what it boils down to. Now that you know what it is, let's talk about how you can find your own. 

8 Tips to Find Your Personal Style

There are plenty of ways that you can go about finding your personal style. It can also be easy to overcomplicate the process. We get caught up in color theory, what's seasonally-appropriate, and what we think we're allowed to wear that finding your personal style can become overwhelming. 

Forget everything you think you know about fashion or what you think your personal style should be. Start with these 8 tips and then you can start adding in fashion concepts and theories: 

1. Forget the rules. Fashion has a lot of arbitrary rules that are easy to get caught up in. Don't wear white after labor day, never pair a brown belt and black shoes, and a multitude of other "fashion don'ts" you're probably familiar with. Start by forgetting all of that. You don't have to be a certain type of person or be in a certain season to wear something that speaks to you. If there's something you keep returning to that you wish you could "pull off," just give it a try! You'll be surprised what actually works for you and feels good when you forget the rules. 
2. Understand what you don't like. Remember, personal style is all about how you want to dress. It can be overwhelming to narrow down everything you like and everything you've ever wanted to try. Instead of focusing on what you do like, start setting the framework of what you don't like. Analyze why you don't like something (is it uncomfortable? Do you not like how it looks on you? It just simply isn't your style?) and then apply that thinking when you're trying to decide how you do want to dress. 
3. Mess around with what you already own. The first place you should look when discovering your personal style is your own closet. Go through everything you own and assess what pulled you to buy it in the first place. Try pairing different pieces you rarely wear together to see if you put together something you like. If something is no longer working for you, analyze why it's not before getting rid of it. This is a great way to learn what you like and dislike before going out and buying a bunch of new clothes. 
4. Assess what you frequently gravitate towards. While you're messing around in your closet, think about outfits or pieces of clothing you regularly wear. Uncover why those outfits resonate so much with you. Are there specific occasions you pull those outfits out for or do you wear them everyday? What is it that excites you about what you gravitate towards. That can also help you lay the groundwork to uncovering your personal style.
5. Move away from fast fashion. Besides the environmental impacts that fast fashion has, it's easy to get caught up in trends when you shop those brands. That's not to say that trends can't influence your personal style. With fast fashion, usually all of the clothes are influenced by trends and that can distract you from fully understanding how you want to dress. Shopping vintage or second-hand eliminates those distractions and allows you to focus on what you truly would wear. 
6. Narrow your wardrobe. When it comes to discovering your personal style, less truly is more. You don't want to go out and buy a bunch of unique pieces that have very specific uses. You still wont' have anything to wear on a daily basis and will have an overcrowded closet. When you go shopping, buy things that you can wear in all aspects of your life. Think about what will pair well with what you already own. 
7. Analyze your desire to purchase. Going shopping is a great way to expose yourself to new clothes. However, try going shopping without purchasing anything. Instead, when something sparks a desire to buy, take a moment to think about what is driving you to purchase. Jot that down and then look at everything you wanted to buy. You can use those findings to inform your personal style. 
8. Put your style into words. Once you've done all the work to understand your likes, dislikes, and motivations to purchase, try putting your style into words. Would you describe your wardrobe as comfy? Chic? Maybe a combination of things? Being able to put it into words can make it feel more tangible and can be used to inform future purchases. 

Once you find your personal style, you'll feel unstoppable. 

CONQUERing SuperFan's Advice to Finding Your Personal Style

For this month's collaboration, we turned to one of our SuperFan's to share her advice on uncovering personal style. 

Ellie, who is working with another CONQUERing SuperFan on a Vessel Collection, described her experience uncovering her personal style. She shared when she first started discovering her style that it was very stressful to not fully know what she did or didn't like. CONQUERing actually helped with her journey!

"When I found this brand I was so relieved. I can try out different elements to see which colors or styles I liked the most...Turns out I like to wear darker colors after much experimenting."—Ellie Herbert 

It's all about playing around and trying new things. Ellie was able to find out larger fashion tastes by experimenting with her jewelry. Your personal style isn't just about clothes. Accessories can have as much of an influence over how you want to dress! 

Dress How You Want to Dress

Now it's up to you. Return to what personal style is at is core. Focus on how you want to dress and ignore what the outside world has to say. 

You can experiment with your personal style, like Ellie did, by choosing your own fidget jewelry or by taking this quiz to figure out what type of fidget jewelry is best for you based on your personality!