Find Your Style With the 3-Word Technique
Throughout our childhood dressing was easy. We were dressed by mom or dad and were told we were cute by everybody. Life was simple then. As we grow up we start to become rebellious and want to find a sense of style that we identify with. This is the story of how I found my style and how you can find yours as well.
The search for style
The other day while I was doing some spring cleaning, I noticed that my wardrobe had many contradictory pieces in it. I had a Starwars shirt next to a vest. I had a cat shirt next to my leather jacket. In short, looking into this closet you would either wonder if two people shared it or if I had developed a separate nerdy personality.
As I started to ruminate on what I liked to wear, I realized I picked my style all wrong. The mistake I made was to pick clothing that I thought others would like instead of what I liked. So I was left wondering how I would dress if I dressed for no one but myself. To find out, I made use of a simple technique that would revolutionize my style. This is how it works.
It takes 3 words
To find your style, take three words that you have always wanted to be affiliated with. For me, they were: Adventurous, Rogue, and Gentleman.
These three words, that you pick for yourself, will from now on define your style and everything that goes with it.
Tip: I recommend one of the styles to be fancier than the others. This way when you go out to something more glamorous you feel confident in the clothes you are in. In my case, the fancy one is the gentleman style.
Defining the three words can be a little difficult to express in terms of clothing. That’s why I recommend you create a mood board. What’s a mood board? It’s a random collection of images, words, and other stuff that give you a clear idea of what your style should look like. Here is a good example that I found online:
My personal 3 words
I, for example, ride motorcycles. So, I wanted to look adventurous. What adventurous looked like to me was clothing made of nicer fabrics, e.g., textiles that are water resistant or breathe better. I would spend the extra money to make sure that when I go on a random adventure with friends I would look great but be comfortable as well. Above all else, it meant clothes that when I hop on my motorcycle I would be comfortable on and off it.
Gentleman to me meant well dressed, clean shaven, it even went into hygiene. The day I dress up this level of elegance everything has to be crisp. When I have decided that I want to go out dressed like this my cologne has to reflect it. I usually love haircuts that do not require product but when I am going all out I have a special way I do my hair. Dressing up to be dapper is fun, so when you do it go all out.
Rogue to me is a kind of bad-boy look. Tons of black sometimes denim on denim. Anything that makes people look and go, “Well, he is the only one here dressed like that.” I use this style when I really want to look like the most important background character. The real way to put this in words is, “ I am not meant to be the center of attention but I am dressed for it.
If you need ideas I came up with a few keywords I played around with while trying to find my style.
- Fit
- Hipster
- Intellectual
- Professional
- Outdoorsy
- Beach life
- Suburban country
- Nerdy
- Bad boy
- Strict
Remember to wear clothes that match your favorite activities. If you love reading, then ‘comfortable’ might be a word you want to incorporate. Or if you are environmentally conscious you should go for organic brands. The quintessence of this article is: find the things that drive and motivate you and create a style around that.
Finding your style takes time. I went to the bastion of all creative ideas, Pinterest, to figure out what clothes I liked and then used my three words to make the style my own.
Try the 3-word technique for yourself. It can dramatically alter your style and make you unique.
Good luck!
