What is Style?

‘Style’ is a term that’s used a lot nowadays but have you ever stopped to think what is ‘style’? What makes someone ‘stylish’? Usually when it is used it’s to refer to a person’s outer appearance. But personally I believe style is much more than that, it’s not just about what shoes you wear or the hair cut you have. Style in essence is about expression.

Style for me

I also believe that each individual has their own unique twist and belief on what they think style means. That’s why I’m going to share what ‘I’ believe in this article but also open it up for discussion. If you agree with what I think constitutes to ‘style’ then let us know, on the other hand if you believe style to mean something else then post a comment below.

For me style is a combination of the way you dress, talk, move and do anything. It’s how you express yourself as an individual. Whether that be your interests, values, emotions or thoughts, it’s a projection of your inner self. If you think about it in real terms, have you ever seen someone and thought to yourself ‘they’re stylish’ or ‘they have something about them’ but never quite been able to pinpoint what it was. Sure they have nice clothes and a good hair cut, but there was something else that meant even if they were in a plain t shirt and jeans they’d still have style.

I’d sometimes hear in the personal shopping suite or on the shop floor ‘oh you can definitely pull that off’. So why is it that people say that? or ‘I could never pull that off’. Essentially there is nothing stopping either party wearing the same clothes, both those statements though imply there is something else at play. Something deeper than fabrics something that not each individual has the access to. See that underlying difference comes down to the individuals beliefs, values, thoughts, emotions as well as their body language and non verbal communication.

You see I believe while fashion probably makes up about 80% of one’s first impression the remainder is made up of non verbal communication, your grooming, values and beliefs. The good news is just like you can change your clothes and improve your grooming, your external style, you can also develop your non verbal communication and your values and beliefs, your internal style. You can develop that je ne sais quoi although it may take time to really get it down.

• Create a folder of who you are now as a person, fill it with pictures and preferably film yourself as well. This will develop your self awareness. Watch it back and see what instantly strikes you about yourself. Is it your voice? The way you talked? Your posture or your gestures and facial expressions?

• Send the pictures to friends and get them to send you some information about what they would think of you if they did not know you. What would instantly come to mind, you can try it yourself. If you can look at yourself objectively then jot down what you’d assume about this person if you viewed them for the first time.

• Have a look at the information you’ve received and check if it’s in line with who you want to be and what you want to be communicating to the rest of the world. Now you know, write down what you need to develop to get you to who you want to be.

• Surround yourself with people who have values and beliefs that you want for yourself and model them. Make sure you choose carefully, they don’t have to be real people you know on a personal basis, although the effects will be greater if they are. But you can model celebrities, sports stars, fashion icons, the list is endless.

The beauty of it is we are all learning, the key to it is to continuously take steps towards improving yourself. The better we become the more this improves our self esteem which has a knock on effect improving our confidence which allows us to take on bigger challenges and achieve our potential.

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