First of all, thanks for sticking with me on this blog series, and you have decided to let me be a part of your style journey. This post is where the rubber meets the road. I will show exactly what to do so you can be the sexiest person in the room at all times. Let’s just not be in the same room, I may have to choke you out, and hide you in the utility closet. Jk 🤗 Now, ladies hope I didn’t lose you. Though I’m a dude, the same principles apply to you.
It all comes down to planning, budgeting and discipline. Right off the bat, I’m not the most disciplined person when it comes to a lot of things, waking up early gives me nightmares so I stay sleeping to avoid them. Going to the gym, ugh, don’t like it. Maybe it’s because I have no idea what to do when I get there. I have come to the realization that I like structure, and without specific guidance things will just not happen the right way or at all. Which is why I employed the targeted shopping strategy for myself that I’m about to share with you.
Full disclosure: I’m sure it’s not an original idea, I may have picked it up somewhere, but right now I can’t remember who, but it has worked for me, so I hope it will work for you as well.
Find Your Style - Get Inspired
While I was going through interior design school there are two things that a very wise professor taught me:
1. You can’t design in a vacuum
2. Good designers burrow, great designers steal
Now how can this possibly apply to dressing better you ask? Well, you have to start somewhere, which is by finding the right inspiration. From who? There are many places to turn to for just that. Pinterest is a fantastic start. As of a few years ago, I never thought I would ever use the app, and now it is my number one platform for inspiration. I have a board for pretty much every season as well as different fashion styles.
You can also start by finding a role model, someone you admire either in your immediate circle of friends, legitimate influencers, or celebrities. You will, in essence, “steal” their style. However, beware of trends and hype, there are a few fashion designers that feed on the hype created by certain celebrities to push pieces that don’t stand the test of time. Some things to look out for are: very loud neon colored pieces, obnoxiously loose garments, over-sized clothing, giant logos, and there are a lot more out there.
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not judging what people wear, or even limiting creativity here. If you’re a fashion designer, and want to think outside of the box to create a striking statement to get your name out there, go for it boo-boo. I just feel that there’s elegance in simplicity when it comes to everyday wear. It is my opinion that clothing is a tool to make people get to know you as a person, and the better you present yourself it’s like opening a door to let people know how amazing you are.
Great style starts by knowing yourself, and figuring out the person you want to be. You determine the best version of yourself, and not what other people have said you could or should be. This next part is all up to you, you’re going to have silence that person who shamed you, or made fun of you. This is where you silently tell them to “go f*** yourself”. I wouldn’t want you cursing people out.
WRITE THINGS DOWN
What you’re going to do after a few days of self searching and browsing the right inspiration; you are going to create a list of the pieces you would like to add to your closet. This is where you “target” or plan for your ideal closet. I have attached my list below. There are some pieces I have already purchased, and some that I still have to budget for. Keep in mind this is a lifetime upgrade, and it’s not meant to happen overnight. You don’t want to go broke.
This list is obviously to get you started. After a while of developing, and fine tuning your personal style as well as getting to know which brands work best for your body type; you will notice that you no longer need to look at your list. However, this could take a few months or a few years.
BUDGET YOURSELF
Without a plan you can easily overspend. This is because if you don’t know what you want, you will buy everything that “looks good”. I can tell you from experience. Before I implemented the targeted shopping plan, I would buy whatever I thought looked good, which put me over $8,000 in debt when I was just a broke college student. There are a lot of great clothes out in the market, trust me, the temptation is real! And that’s exactly the point of the targeted plan, to eliminate temptation, debt, headaches, impulse shopping, and all of those debt collecting mosquitoes that want to suck your bank account dry.
After you have created your list, and determined your top brands; you’re going to set some money aside every month for “fun” which in this case includes buying clothes. Now, the ratio of money set aside will depend on your income to expense ratio. Remember, we want to be responsible here. On my next blog I will cover how to budget yourself so that you cover your expenses, get out of debt if you have any, and set some money aside for shopping. I will also cover which are the best pieces and brands to get started with.
YOU HAVE SOME HOMEWORK TO DO!
Assignment:
Find 10 to 20 images on Pinterest of styles you like. You can even share some with me. You can find me there as Gerardy Cabrera
Write down a brief story of what kind of person you want be, and what kind of style influences you. You can share that with me on my Facebook page Gerardy I’m Design or on Instagram @gerardyimdesign
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