I wrote a personal style manifesto 6 years ago. It started with ‘find your style’ and ended with ‘find your muse’. After a lot of forced effort, I have learnt that what you like and wear the most becomes your style. It’s ‘way of being’ more than ‘something to find’. The women of a certain vintage knows her style. Going on a quest to ‘find your style’ is for the girls. Buying and culling on repeat is for the girls with a wavering mind. A woman who has grown into herself knows her mind. She knows whats works for her. She isn’t your average vulnerable consumer looking for external influence and validation. She has mastered dealing with expectations – internal and external. She has embraced her femininity and masculinity. She knows her body. She navigates the world with a certain ease that comes from a well oiled past. Her closet is a reflection of the human she wants to be. She tells her own story. It’s time to write a new manifesto.
1.Take care of your body.
I have learnt that what ever be the garment, it looks better on a healthy body. Exercise gives you a toned body. A balanced diet gives you the energy to live your best life. Stress control and cultivating your intellect leads to a well rounded life that doesn’t rely too much on clothes as ornaments to feel good about one self. Meditation paves the way to live a more mindful life. You don’t react to impulses and whims. You observe them, process them and allow them to pass. You train your mind to calm down. Work on the foundation and everything else will work itself out.
2. Have a personal style. Stick to it for an extended period of time
Fashion is what the world offers to you as a choice. Personal style is what you choose from your options and can stay content with. I do not want to live in constant temptation of everything the fashion world offers. I don’t want to chase variety. I don’t want to allow every interesting garment to come home with me. I want to choose what I invest my resources in. I want to have my own style – a color palette, a few silhouettes, my own definition of flattering, what works for my lifestyle, a certain way of wearing the clothes, a certain way of accessorizing, a certain way of thinking about clothes, … I want to be the one making the choices. Do the work before the purchase has been made and wear them for as long as possible.
3. Know your goals
Our goals dictate our actions. In my 20s, my goal was to make as many outfits as possible and to buy as many clothes as I can afford. So I consumed to my hearts content. But then came the awareness of sustainability, zero waste living and minimalism. My goals have shifted to : Want better, not more. practice simplicity, consume less, buy better and to make them last. Good enough is good enough. Do not upgrade frivolously. The best version of the item is the working version of the one you have. Any garment I buy should live in my closet till the end of it’s life or mine. I want a closet that is at peace. I want the clothes to be lovely. They should be made with natural fabrics. They should age well. I should wear them well past their prime. No garment of mine should leave my closet before I repaired it multiple times.
4. Find your uniform.
The greatest joy I derived from the homework I did to find my personal style has been the process of finding my uniform. I found a way to trim the excess. I found a way to figure out what makes me happy. Dal Eldon famously said “the journey is the destination”. How true. It was a journey and a path of self discovery. I pursued happiness and found joy.
5. Be Fiercely Loyalty
Flaunt your patina. Flaunt your wear and tear. Flaunt your mends. Wear the same clothes for as long as possible. Einstein wisely said : “Don’t be ashamed of shabby clothes. Be ashamed of shabby ideas.” Discarding old clothes out of embarrassment or boredom is a shabby idea. Accept the change. Accept the boredom. Take care of what you own. Cultivate a relationship with the living world and the objects around you.
6. A closet built over a lifetime
I would like to be that woman who flaunts her oldest garments with pride. Some garments are meant to be worn out in a year. Some garments are to be worn out in 2-3 years. Some garments are meant to be worn out in 5-6 years. Some garments are meant to last for a decade more more. Some, need to last for a lifetime. Categorize your essentials and plan accordingly. Figure out your must haves. Educate yourself on quality of goods. Invest accordingly. Do not throw out your usable clothes based on trends and whims. Do not buy excess that will make you to forget to wear your older clothes. Maintain the right size closet and wear everything you own.
7. Don’t shop, treasure hunt
Only buy the kind of garments that make you gasp. Be it the high quality plain silk shirt or the vintage denim you found serendipitously in a thrift shop or a well made t-shirt. That sort of thing doesn’t happen everyday. Be patient. Say your no’s. Be firm about your yes’s. Be a curator.
8. Create
Make something. There should be atleast one object in the closet that I have designed / got tailored / knitted / sewn. Just one ! Why haven’t I made anything yet ?
9. Tame the desire
We are lucky to live in a world full of creators who make goods that beautiful and useful. If we have to means, it opens a pathway to acquire more “stuff” than we need. If we don’t have the means, the world will show you a slew of things to desire but can never attain. The root of desire is a concept called ‘need’. It is possible to chance upon an object that you didn’t know existed till a minute ago and assume that you need it. It is also a common place trait to think you need objects that you will otherwise forget in a month’s time. Mindfulness is the antidote to desire. Further more, my desire to pursue a sustainable lifestyle is greater than the pursuit of objects. Does that mean I live with ‘lack there of’ ? No. But I live with ‘just enough’.