when it comes to defining your style, i think it's a good idea to have a sentence or two like a style mission statement or as megan over at charade called it, an aesthetic affirmation: a phrase that sums up your overall aesthetic look, something that fully captures your style no matter what the season/what things are in style. think of it as a mantra to redirect your fashion choices.

megan summed hers up like this: "cute with an edge, comfy and laidback, yet feminine, cropped cardigans, nipped waits, gold illuminations and muled hues set against gold locks."

but it's hard for me to just pull that out of the blue. then i got a second wind of inspiration from a over at the glamours grad student. her approach was to find the statement you want your wardrobe to make and work from there. this exercise is a lot easier to do.

if i really stop and think about it, i want my wardrobe to scream: pretty, smart, cool and daring.

i think those are the main things. i'm not one of those girls who needs to be hot you know? i think the pretty factor is acheived with bright colours, feminine shapes, and natural makeup. smart, to me, means clothes that fit well. this means no bunching up, no "making things work" with safety pins, and having no buttons missing or bra straps showing. i'll need to work on that one. for me, cool is anything with leather, studs, zips and rips. in moderation of course. i hope a "dog the bounty hunter" image isn't coming to mind. think of... someone elle would be in their street chich category. someone who's not always gunning for fashion perfection and in doing so achieves it anyway, know what i mean? and as for daring? it was one of the first things i wrote down, but it took a long while for me to figure out what i mean. i think somedays my look is a little TOO put together, and i want to be more spontaneous with my choices sometimes. particularly in the makeup department.

even though the manhattanite in the photo (via elle street chic) manages to acheive all of this at once (aren't her shoes amazing?) i don't think i could. i think a more reasonable goal now, is to have every item i incorporate into my wardrobe accomplish at least two of these words. i'm still working on a real statement, but hopefully this'll redirect my fashion choices in the fall.

if your wardrobe could talk, what 4 words would it say about you?

that's it for me, but don't forget to check out the posts by megan and A. and check out charade's posts on dream style, it's good stuff.

xoxo
-B.