Old Navy Style
It’s been a trip making these carousels. I am learning so much about my personal stylistic preferences and dislikes by this ‘simple’ act of dressing in everything I own. So much information is revealed when doing the thing vs. just thinking about doing the thing.
As I near the end of a lengthy and challenging period of personal transformation, I continue to remind myself that shedding the old is just as essential as trying on the new. Taking photographs of everything I own and wear has allowed me to step back with a more objective view and edit both what I want to release and what I want to keep going forward –materially and spiritually. It is in the process of this documentation that I am seeing a future self being built.
In this blog post, I want to express some additional insights I have gathered over the past two weeks of making these carousels that may be helpful to any creative pondering a new body of work and any person ready to start the journey of crafting and refining a personal style.
1. Start with an intention, leave room for evolution. The birth of these wardrobe carousels originates in another, previous idea to create 60 outfits (using personal wardrobe items) that were to be paired alongside inspiration images of ceramics, still life, flowers, works of beauty, etc. I had planned to post each image pairing on my social feed, one by one, like magazine page spreads, but after sitting with the vision for a few months, I concluded the idea didn’t feel like it had enough depth. It leaned too much into vapid influencer land with little substance in backstory and the aesthetics of high-fashion marketing. Since my goal with this work is not to create aspirational imagery, but to teach the HOW of putting mix-and-match capsule wardrobes together, I chose to build out ‘collections’ of looks (where specific pieces were repeated throughout the collection) instead. The creation of ten collections felt manageable, and I could still create my 60 outfit variations within the whole of this work. The collections also serve as conversation starters for the long-form content I plan to produce in video format.
Take the same approach when building out a wardrobe. Begin with a few visual and sensorial references that help you replicate looks or inspire new looks, but allow yourself to be pulled by intuition and new interests along the way.
2. Release yourself from the trends. As mentioned above, these pieces of content are gateways to so much more than living quietly on a social feed. Because they do not follow the trending templates of here-today-gone-tomorrow reels, they can live as evergreen blog posts on my website. They also serve as openers for long-form YouTube video discussions that relate to the content in my books. And they have inspired a video/documentary/art research project about cowgirls that I want to dig into (alongside my styling services that speak to many urban desert chicks). All of the work works together and builds on itself because it is work that is meaningful for me. I am building assets, not investing in “small treats” (aka, trending consumables).
When it comes to personal style, be aware of the main fashion trends but keep your eyes on what interests you the most. Unique style will not emerge when you are trying to look the same as everyone else. Choose pieces that offer versatility, room for personal growth, and that you will look forward to wearing in the years ahead.
3. It’s ok to start in your comfort zone. I KNOW I have to keep up with changing technology, marketing, and visibility practices if I want to thrive in the way I intend to, and up to this point, I have been hesitant to hop on platforms that require…video…where there is the greatest potential for virality and visibility. However, while I have been sorting out content ideas and gaining clarity on the work I want to give my time and energy to, I have been content to continue producing static imagery in the dead zone of Instagram. It feels efficient for me to work slower in a quieter way, rather than dedicate grueling hours to content production that goes nowhere because I do not know what I want to say.
Craft an enduring wardrobe just the same. Play with the items you already own and feel familiar with as you also stretch your style comfort zone. Wear new items at home before taking them out in public. You may also test out new and creative outfits while running quick errands around town as a gentler way of trying on a glow-up or shifting identity. Note: while you are in the process of shifting buying patterns and taste, it is inevitable that you will also return to what was previously familiar. Make those ‘mistakes’ without self-judgment.
Now, here is your permission to start in your zone of comfort and build quietly until ready for an emergence.
