Personal Style What Is Personal Style? According

Personal Style

What is personal style? According to personal style coach Catherine McIntyre, author of a blog called Beaute Divine, "it is knowing how to use your visual image, which speaks volumes before you even think about what you want to say." Expressing personal style is a way to communicate to the world, without words, some of your beliefs and values. It is a way to tell the world who you are.

Some people have no difficulty expressing their personal style. They instinctively know what they like and what suits them with respect to colors and shapes. They gravitate to the work of a small handful of designers whose aesthetic speaks to their own. They seem to have no trouble choosing clothes and accessories that communicate clearly who they are. One might view the choices these people make and not care for the color or design yet still recognize the choices as right for those individuals as an expression of their personal style.

Other people have difficulty expressing their personal style. They may know what they like but have not yet refined their choices to reflect a singular, unique style. For these individuals, creating a personal style is a process that evolves over time. They experiment, they try different looks and they cull ideas from a variety of sources. They may choose a style and change it over time, which is, of course, a personal prerogative. When one thinks of some of the great style icons of the last fifty years, names such as Jacqueline Onassis and Audrey Hepburn come to mind. They had the money and means to change their personal style, but they found early in their public lives the looks that worked for them. They were consistent in their personal style and became famous for "the look" with which they were each associated.

I feel confident that my own personal style is a true representation of who I am. I like to stand out. I do not want to blend in with the crowd. However, I like to look nice and I am not interested in getting noticed because I am outrageous or half-naked. I enjoy dressing up sometimes and I also enjoy wearing makeup sometimes. I am equally comfortable in casual attire such as sweatpants. I believe that feeling comfortable in clothes has a great deal to do with being comfortable in one's own skin. Some women have struggled to reach the point where they feel that way about themselves, but it has not been a struggle for me. I feel as though I have always had a good sense of self and have never worried too much about trying to discover who I am. Of course there are things I would change -- what woman has not thought about that? Nevertheless, I try to focus on the things I like about myself and do not dwell on the "what if." It is all part of being comfortable in one's skin, and I am happy to say I feel that way.

I like rap, R&B and hip hop. I enjoy reading books such as Twilight, Harry Potter and Madea Goes to Jail. It is not that my mind is closed to other kinds of music or reading material, but I know what I like and there is so much to enjoy within those genres that I am never bored.