Some of the hottest stars from around the world have a signature look. Audrey Hepburn had her casual, Parisian chic look, Janelle Monáe has her quirky androgynous flair, and Kim Kardashian sticks to tight-fitted pieces that emphasizes her curves. A signature look is a mark of personal style. It represents the essence of your personality and sense of style, all in one outfit.
In order to design, shape and refine your signature look, you must first start with a well-curated capsule wardrobe. A capsule wardrobe generally consists of 20 to 30 key pieces that will help you express your personal style through mixing and matching. [Learn more about creating your capsule wardrobe]
1. Define your personal style
The first step to developing a signature look is to define your style concept. It will a while to develop your style concept, but it should be fully-formed and suitable for every season. It’s basically a certain look that won’t go out of style. You can start by making your own moodboard of looks that inspires you to form your sense of style. Your mood board should represent the aesthetic feel of your style concept, the colour palette, and the elements that drives your look. A simple example could include various ways to style a pair of red jeans.
2. Plan the contents of your wardrobe
You signature look should not only be tailored for your style, but it should also fit your body shape, colour choices and even your lifestyle. The climate should also play a role in your signature look – from fabric choices, to colours. Start by creating a list of your fashion likes and dislikes, and items that will flatter your figure.
Start with five key pieces you intend to work with (like a bag, a pair of shoes, pants, a top and jewelry). These five keys pieces will be essential with it comes to representing your style, especially if you’ll be wearing it a lot.
When putting together a look, you need to start with the basics. The components of a look includes proportion, colour, accessories, hair and make-up, and details. First, start by deciding on what your choose for each for component. Then, decide whether your choices suit your lifestyle, body shape, or colour choices. The process will take a while as you’ll probably need to tweak things up and fine tune the style. You can create a virtual moldboard on Polyvore to help you create your looks.
4. Try out your signature look
After all the planning and the design, here comes the fun part – implementing and trying out your new signature look. Start with one full look at a time – combine your chosen pieces together to start with a basic look, and include components like hair and make-up, and experiment with a couple of details (e.g. tucking in your shirt, adding a belt, and more).
Since you’re already trying out your look, trying complementing your look with the other pieces you have in your wardrobe and note it down so you can refer to it. If you own a polaroid camera, this would be a great time to make good use of it!
5. Stock-up your wardrobe
Once you know what your chosen looks are, it’s time to include a few items in your wardrobe to help you mix and match. Your additional pieces do not have to cost you a lot of money. Before you spend, do some homework by surveying prices and quality, so you know where you can do your shopping. When looking for specialty items and accessories, try vintage or thrift stores for unique, one-of-a-kind pieces.
