How to go about changing ones style?

dory

I've been thinking lately that maybe I should try to pay attention to fashion. I've been wearing the same kind of clothes for around 10 years, and never know what is 'in' or 'out', or who decides what is in.

Are there places I can go and have someone help me out? Are make over people horrifically expensive?

I was just looking at my Facebook photos and I noticed I wore t-shirts and baggy pants in just about every photo since FB came into being. And I'm wearing socks and sandals in quite a few.

Any advice would be great!

cson

Male/Female?

It'll prolly have a bit of a bearing on the answers... :pac:

Rule of thumb; if you're looking for a basic what's in mainstream fashion at the moment just go into River Island/Topshop-Topman/Zara and look at what the mannequins are wearing.

Fajitas!

cson wrote: »

Rule of thumb; if you're looking for a basic what's in mainstream fashion at the moment just go into River Island/Topshop-Topman/Zara and look at what the mannequins are wearing.

Buy some fashion orientated magazines that suit the style you're going for and flick through - Remember, the mannequins are only trying to sell you what's stocked in the store, the magazines will give you a slightly broader overview.

Some stores will have personal shoppers, so if you get an idea what you're after, but still don't know/have the confidence to buy, grab a hold of one of'em, and see what you can do.

dory

Sorry should have said. 25 yo female.

I forgot about personal shoppers. I might give one of them a try. Thanks!

convert

As far as I remember, there are personal shoppers available in Dundrum and Debenhams, so you could look there and see if it's what you want.

Fajitas!

Topshop on Stephens Green have a few too. BT's do... Erm... I think Arnott's too.. Memory fails me at the moment though. If you can grab some photos out of a fashion mag or get some examples from the internet to bring in and show the style you're after, all the better.

allandanyways

I dunno about all New Looks but in the one in Liffey Valley, the floor staff are really up to date on what's in fashion and although I've never asked them myself, I always hear them helping people and telling them what could go with what. It's a free alternative to a personal shopper!

jellie

I think some awears such as dundrum have a "style advisor" too, though i could be wrong. (hope i havent just made that up or something )

I dont think you should wear something just because its in fashion, you should still make sure you like what youre wearing. have a look in the shops and see what kind of things interest you. if you dont like what youre wearing youll be selfconscious and uncomfortable.

Sapsorrow

Wow the thought of some random stranger telling someone how to dress just seems so wrong to me, style is about expressing yourself and being yourself not what someone else thinks you should be. I wouldn't trust anyone other than myself to pick my clothes or develop my style. If you don't care enough to do it yourself why bother? There's more important things in life than fashion or clothes anyway so if you don't get a kick out of it I wouldn't worry about it. If you do want to get into it, have a look at the street style blogs and magazines and see if anything interests/inspires you and go from there, nurture your own creativity and above all else wear what you love and feel represents who you are and don't just follow the whims of mainstream fashion or you'll never feel right. Who are the shops or fashion designers to tell you what to wear anyway, I'd prefer to wear baggy pants and a t shirt and be myself than look like every other drone on the street who just wears what topshop told them to.

fonpokno

The Debenhams personal shopper is free too just so you know.

I personally love looking at what other people are wearing and how they put outfits together. The "What Did You Wear Today" thread here is really good for giving you ideas on more unusual outfits too. Magazines too, I just love looking at what other people do and basically trying to steal their ideas! :P

dory

Sapsorrow wrote: »

Wow the thought of some random stranger telling someone how to dress just seems so wrong to me, style is about expressing yourself and being yourself not what someone else thinks you should be. I wouldn't trust anyone other than myself to pick my clothes or develop my style. If you don't care enough to do it yourself why bother? There's more important things in life than fashion or clothes anyway so if you don't get a kick out of it I wouldn't worry about it. If you do want to get into it, have a look at the street style blogs and magazines and see if anything interests/inspires you and go from there, nurture your own creativity and above all else wear what you love and feel represents who you are and don't just follow the whims of mainstream fashion or you'll never feel right. Who are the shops or fashion designers to tell you what to wear anyway, I'd prefer to wear baggy pants and a t shirt and be myself than look like every other drone on the street who just wears what topshop told them to.

I appreciate the input but it's sort of like me telling you to go out tomorrow and run a marathon because it's so easy, just go with the flow and keep your legs moving. Running comes natural to me, as wearing interesting clothes that looks good does to you.

For me, wearing clothes that I think looks good is really difficult to me. My brain is just not wired that way, I go in and out of clothes shops and see nothing. And it's not like I want to wear pants and a t-shirt forever, I just have a brain freeze when it comes to changing.

So I need a little help. I certainly won't be asking someone to dress me just like the girls I saw outside.

OldGoat

dory wrote: »

I appreciate the input but it's sort of like me telling you to go out tomorrow and run a marathon because it's so easy, just go with the flow and keep your legs moving. Running comes natural to me, as wearing interesting clothes that looks good does to you.

For me, wearing clothes that I think looks good is really difficult to me. My brain is just not wired that way, I go in and out of clothes shops and see nothing. And it's not like I want to wear pants and a t-shirt forever, I just have a brain freeze when it comes to changing.

So I need a little help. I certainly won't be asking someone to dress me just like the girls I saw outside.

I like the idea of style consultants/personal shoppers etc. What I appricate about them is that they make you look at yourself in a different way, offering up stuff you would never otherwise consider wearing and that can be quiet an eye opener. If you only ever learn one styleing tip from each one you use then money well spent (especially when they are free).
My gripe against using them is that they have an agenda when they are in the single shops like AWear/Topshop - to sell you AWear/Topshop products. Much happier using a shopper in a department shop or mall where they have free reign to select stuff from all the outlets rather then just one.

Toto Wolfcastle

Some shopping centres do a personal shopping service that takes in the whole centre. Blanchardstown seems to and so does Dundrum. That might be better than just going to a single shop.

Just remember that your style is not going to change overnight. It will take awhile to build a wardrobe that you are happy with but certainly the personal shopper service will help get you started.

AshSmith

Buy some magazines, they don't need to be expensive etc, company/stellar/cosmopolitan/glamour all about under 3 euro. Have a look and get a sense of what is on trend etc, then again you don't have to comply to any fashion rules if it's not your kinda thing!

anyways maybe go into town without the intention of buying anything, see what catches your eyes and try some things on, if you don't like it, don't buy it, ease new clothing items into your day to day wardrobe, make sure you wear something new a few times, i've found i buy new things i'm scared of wearing and end up never wearing em!

If your unsure of what looks good one you, identify what bodyshape you are, you can google this, or watch some youtube videos such as http://www.youtube.com/user/TheStyleDiet: I found this youtuber quite helpful in helping you change your style but not yourself.
Try on tons of clothes and you'll pick up on how you look in certain styles, from how confident you feel in it, you'll know what looks good.

Shopping, style and fashion is supposed to be fun, dont fret over anything, i've made so many mistakes, i now know what works and what I like!

mariebeth

Hi dory - I'm kind of in the same boat, I'm 26 and most of the time I'm in jeans & a t-shirt or hoody depending on the weather. I feel like I dress too young - I still get asked for ID buying fags! I do think occasionally about changing my style, but I'm comfortable in what I wear for now.

One piece of advice would be to have some idea of what kind of style you would like to try for and then go for a personal shopper. They'd be well able to tell you what kind of clothes would suit your shape and colouring, and what kind of clothes to avoid. I'm always tempted to try out a personal shopper, just to find out as I always see cool outfits and mixtures of clothes that I'd like to try but I never know if they'll suit me or my shape.

Pythia

Sapsorrow wrote: »

Wow the thought of some random stranger telling someone how to dress just seems so wrong to me

My mum had help from a personal shopper before and she was actually great. My mum picked out the stuff she liked and then the shopper went around and suggested lots of different stuff to go with that you'd never think of looking at and knew what kind of cuts and styles would suit her shape. It worked really well.

Sapsorrow

dory wrote: »

I appreciate the input but it's sort of like me telling you to go out tomorrow and run a marathon because it's so easy, just go with the flow and keep your legs moving. Running comes natural to me, as wearing interesting clothes that looks good does to you.

For me, wearing clothes that I think looks good is really difficult to me. My brain is just not wired that way, I go in and out of clothes shops and see nothing. And it's not like I want to wear pants and a t-shirt forever, I just have a brain freeze when it comes to changing.

So I need a little help. I certainly won't be asking someone to dress me just like the girls I saw outside.

Sorry if my post came across as critical in any way it certainly wasn't intended that way. I know it's not something that can happen overnight but I think if you want it to genuinely be your own style then it's something you'd need to achieve yourself otherwise it would be too easy to adopt the stylists style or ideas instead of developing your own. Maybe having a truly personal style isn't as important to other people as it is to me but the jist I got from your original post was that that was what you wanted to achieve. If shops freak you out maybe you could try looking at the websites and see what you like before heading in to try them on? It might be less stressful that way.

moonflower

I find it helps to buy a couple of magazines and cut out or circle stuff in it that you like, then you can identify what you like. For example if everyone you circled was wearing jeans then there's not much point in you filling your wardrobe with skirts and dresses, you'll probably never wear them. You can see then what style of jean you prefer and go shopping with that in mind.