personal style
Helen Tansey

Why Don’t I Know My Own Style?

The key is to think about how your clothes make you feel

Ask The Kit is the real-talk advice column you never knew you needed. Every week, writer Leanne Delap answers your pressing beauty and style questions. How can I find good plus-size options? How can I get shiny hair? How do I define my personal style? Send your Qs to [email protected]

“Why do I have drawers and closets full of things I don’t like? I think I like it online or in the store and then two weeks later I’m asking, ‘Why did I buy this?’ My wardrobe is SO BASIC and depressing, neutral, blah. I kind of hate pattern but LOVE colour, but in small doses. Why don’t I know my own style?? —Cherie, Etobicoke

Hmm. I needed to drill down a little further here, so I contacted Cherie to ask her who whose celebrity style she admires. This info is like a verbal Pinterest board shorthand that stylists use to begin to understand someone’s style persona. Cherie replied with names that show she loves classic style, with a cool-girl factor and a louche, ’70s-meets-Parisian vibe: legendary model Lauren Hutton, French It girl Caroline de Maigret and Gwyneth Paltrow (with the proviso “as much as it pains me to admit because she is so annoying, I like her style when she’s not veering too preppy.” Cherie says she wants something “a bit disco, a bit sexy, a bit flowy, but always fitted because I’m petite.”

Armed with these details, I reached out to my secret outfit slayer, Roslyn Griffith Hall (I called her in a lather about an hour before my wedding a couple years ago and she helped me match shoes to my jumpsuit; basically, I needed a dose of her confidence to bolster my decision wear old Gucci sandals instead of the pointy new Balenciagas that were like mobile prison cells for toes—not a good metaphor for starting a new life, really). Griffith Hall is a Toronto stylist, an artist, a film and TV costume buyer, a jewellery designer and a street-style photographer: So, she’s an expert on self-expression, perfect to help Cherie clarify her fashion identity and build a road map to move forward with in the change rooms of life.

Fashion is emotion,” says Griffith Hall. “What is important is how you feel in clothes.” When Cherie says flowy and sexy, “I see a Breck Girl with breeze fluttering through her hair, lips glistening. It’s a mindset.”

To get into that headspace, you have to first get down to work clearing out your closet of clothes that don’t make you feel great. “Glean, wean, get rid of things that don’t fit, things that don’t feel great. The blah has got to go,” she says. “Try every single thing on and have a full mirror conversation with yourself.” Bring in the style police, she says, a fashion friend who will give you honest answers. “Let it all go,” she says, “that’s how you find your style, with what is left behind.”

Fashion is changing all the time, says Griffith Hall, and so is our personal style. “We don’t want to feel like hamsters on a wheel, we don’t want to fall into the trend or the trap of the It bag or the It shoe.” Growing into your current personal style means recognizing we change over time, especially right now. “We aren’t the same people anymore,” post pandemic, she says. Thus, “you aren’t alone in doing a re-evaluation of what pieces in your closet no longer reflect you.”

Once you’ve purged your wardrobe of the noise of what is not on brand, “build your uniform, your armour. The common factor shared by women that Cherie reveres is confidence—what we really admire about stylish people is their confidence. And they have that confidence because they have a foolproof uniform plan. They put the work in.”

Those women also borrow heavily from the boys. They are all committed blazer wearers, and a blazer, Griffith Hall says, is the backbone that will hold a uniform formula together. “It is a signature,” she says, a signifier that quietly conveys someone is pulled-together. “It can be day to night, it can be thrown over a dress or worn on your shoulders, over jeans or a white shirt.” Keep the blazer neutral, then add a pop of colour in with a pocket square, or a bright scarf spilling out of the pocket, she says. Getting used to a blazer can be a challenge, if you associate it with business attire. But, says Griffith Hall, “Chic women have taken it out of the office.”

“Spend money on investment pieces, a great blazer, a great coat for each season. You want things that are made of great fabrics, that have substance, something that feels great on and has a better fit.” A blazer will make you feel protected, in your power. To add the flow Cherie is craving, “put a sexy, flowy blouse underneath a men’s-style blazer.”

On the bottom, the Caroline de Maigrets of the world are wearing trousers to sit in the cute Parisian cafés, and the style right now is wide legged. “That can be a tricky silhouette for people, especially if you are petite. But it will give you that cool factor. I think this style looks best worn long, puddled on the floor, with a fitted waist to keep the proportions balanced.”

Accessories are key to the Parisian-woman look, as is the art of editing. “Less is more here.” If you have a uniform—good pieces with clean lines—the details you add in will stand out. When you go out shopping, she says, take a list, and take a friend, to get the right belt, the right shoe, a great cuff for your arm, that you need to complete a number of variations on your uniform.

As for colour, Griffith Hall says go for it. Adding a colour pop to a neutral wardrobe foundation is a process of trial and error. “Don’t beat yourself up when you make a mistake. It’s okay to buy and return. Impulse buying is fine, but when you bring it home, make sure it passes the try-on test so it works with what you have in your closet.” And if it doesn’t work? For goodness sake that it back!

 

Shop the Advice

Define your personal style by investing in the backbone of your uniform (blazers, coats, good trousers) and edit your accessories down to pieces that really make a statement

MangoMango blazer, $100, mango.com
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This fitted blazer is a great choice as a uniform anchor, as it can be paired with almost anything, dressed up for work, or down with a T-shirt and jeans.

 

ba&shba&sh jeans, $280, ba-sh.com
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Great wide-legged jeans that flatter at the waist are hard to find; this quintessential French label has been doing wide-legged cut trousers for years and now have it just right.

 

ZaraZara blouse, $36, zara.com
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The disco feeling in this elegant going-out top will give your classic uniform some flow with this sexy neckline.

 

NordstromKarine Sultan cuff, $78, nordstrom.com
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A substantial cuff is the right touch this summer, when we all are craving an Elsa Peretti bone cuff but don’t have the designer budget for one, just yet.

 

Hudson’s BayDune London Shoes, $160, thebay.com
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You can never go wrong with a cap-toe spectator shoe; this one has an elegant kitten heel to boost your glam factor.

 

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