How to Find Your Personal Style: Start by Photographing Your Outfits
Style should help you feel more like yourself, not someone else.
I've spent a lot of my life trying to figure out my style.
I spent my 20s trying to find it.
And now, as a 30-year-old, I think I've finally found it.
I've always loved clothes. And I've always been very good at shopping.
But being good at shopping and knowing how you want to dress are two very different things.
It wasn't until the last couple of years that I really started to understand how to dress for myself.
And it was a loooonnngggg process.
Along the way, I found tools that helped. I started noticing patterns. I developed little frameworks for thinking about clothes, outfits and what actually made me feel good.
And eventually I realised:
I could use what I'd learned to help other people do the same thing.
That's what led me here.
Because I don't think finding your personal style is about finding the right aesthetic, copying someone else's outfits, or suddenly becoming the person who always knows exactly what to wear.
I think it's about paying attention to you.
And one of the simplest ways to start doing that is to:
Photograph. Your. Outfits.
Seriously.
It sounds almost too simple, but photographing your outfits can give you a surprising amount of information about your personal style.
And you don't need a fancy camera, a perfectly tidy home or an Instagram account.
Your phone is more than enough.
If you missed my last post about why you probably don't need a whole new wardrobe to find your style, you can read it here.
Why photographing your outfits can help you find your style
When you're trying to figure out your personal style, it's very easy to get stuck thinking about individual clothes.
"Do I like this top?"
"Should I buy these trousers?"
"Does this colour suit me?"
"Would I look better if I dressed more like them?"
But personal style isn't really about individual items.
It's about how all of these things come together in an outfit, and how you feel wearing them.
Photographing your outfits gives you the opportunity to step back and actually look at what you're wearing.
I've seen lots of fashion influencers talk about how starting their accounts helped them find their style. And I reckon part of the reason is that they started looking.
They were photographing their outfits, looking back, and noticing what they liked and what they kept reaching for.
You can do exactly the same thing without posting a single photo online.
Instead of analysing your wardrobe, you're analysing your outfits.
Woohoo!!!
Now you have data to start building from 🎉
How to start photographing your outfits
Don't overcomplicate this.
For the next few weeks, whenever you put together an outfit that you feel good in, take a quick photo.
That's it.
It doesn't need to be a good photo.
The background can be messy.
You don't need to have your makeup done.
You don't need to pose.
You don't even need to look at the photo straight away.
These photos are just for you.
The goal isn't to create a record of your best outfits.
It's to create a record of what you actually wear.
And that's important.
Because sometimes the outfits you think should be your favourites aren't the ones you actually enjoy wearing.
And sometimes the outfits that seem really simple turn out to be the ones you wear again and again because they just work.
After a few weeks, look for patterns
This is where it gets interesting.
Set aside a little bit of time and scroll back through your outfit photos.
Don't judge them.
Just get curious.
Ask yourself:
What do you keep wearing?
Are there certain outfits you seem to repeat?
Which outfits make you think, "Yep, I like that"?
What is it about them that you like?
Are there colours that keep appearing?
Maybe you're wearing far more yellow, navy or green than you realised.
Are there shapes or silhouettes you keep coming back to?
Maybe you always feel best in wide-leg trousers, oversized shirts, fitted tops, dresses, cropped jackets or a particular combination of proportions.
Are there certain shoes or accessories that finish an outfit for you?
Are there combinations you keep repeating?
Maybe you have a favourite formula that you hadn't even realised was a formula.
And perhaps most importantly:
Are there things you thought you loved, but never actually wear?
That can be useful information too.
You don't need to force yourself to wear something just because you think you should like it.
Your actual wardrobe habits are giving you information about what works for you.
Your outfits are data
I think this is one of the most useful ways to think about personal style.
You don't have to figure everything out at once.
You can collect information.
You can notice what makes you feel comfortable.
You can notice what makes you feel confident.
You can notice what makes you feel like yourself.
And over time, those little observations start to form a picture.
You might realise that you love certain colours.
Or that you feel most comfortable when your clothes have a particular amount of ease.
Or that you prefer simple outfits with one slightly unexpected element.
Or that you keep reaching for the same three pairs of trousers.
Or that you actually don't enjoy wearing something you have bought lots of.
None of these observations are rules.
They're simply clues.
And the more clues you have, the easier it becomes to make decisions about your wardrobe.
This can be especially helpful when life has changed
I recommend photographing outfits to quite a few of my clients, including anyone who has gone through a big life change recently - becoming a parent, moving into a new chapter of life, or simply realising the person they are now doesn’t quite match the wardrobe they’ve been holding onto.
When your life changes, your wardrobe often has to change with it.
Your body might change.
Your routine might change.
Your priorities might change.
The amount of time you have to get dressed might change dramatically.
And sometimes, in the middle of all of that, your sense of personal style can feel a bit blurry too.
When you're busy, getting dressed can become something you just have to get done.
Taking a quick photo gives you a small way to start noticing yourself again.
And you don't even have to do anything with the photo immediately.
Take it.
Get on with your day.
Then, when you have five minutes one evening, scroll back through.
Ask yourself:
What am I noticing?
What do I enjoy wearing?
What makes me feel like me?
Those questions are much more useful than asking yourself whether your outfit is "good" or "bad".
Finding your style isn't about becoming someone else
There is so much style inspiration available to you now.
Instagram. TikTok. Pinterest. Magazines. Celebrities. Influencers.
It can be brilliant.
But it can also make it very easy to look at someone else's style and think:
"I wish I dressed like that."
And there's nothing wrong with taking inspiration from other people.
But your personal style doesn't need to look like anyone else's.
The goal isn't to become the best-dressed version of someone else.
It's to understand what makes you feel good.
That's why I believe:
Style should help you feel more like yourself, not someone else.
And sometimes, the first step towards finding that style isn't buying anything at all.
It's simply paying attention to what you're already wearing.
So grab your phone.
Find somewhere you can take a quick photo.
And start photographing your outfits.
You might be surprised by what you discover.
Want a little more help finding your personal style?
If you're reading this and thinking "Okay, but I still have absolutely no idea where to begin!", I've created a free guide for exactly that.
How to Start Finding Your Personal Style (When You Have Absolutely No Idea Where to Begin)
It's a practical starting point for figuring out what you actually like, what makes you feel good and what you want your clothes to say about you.
And yes, photographing your outfits is one of the tools I recommend in the guide too.
Download the free guide here →
And if you'd rather have some support figuring it out, I also offer inclusive personal styling for people who want to feel more comfortable, confident and like themselves in their clothes, without the pressure to follow rules or completely replace their wardrobe.
You can book a free 15-minute Style Reset Call and we can have a chat about what's feeling difficult.