How to Find Your Personal Style

Discovering your personal style can be a difficult road to travel. Along the way you will deal with terrible haircuts, ugly pants and catastrophic jewelry. These all add up to a bunch of photographs that people could use to embarrass you to death. However, learning from these mistakes can help you find the style you love the most.

Personal styles should, ideally, be created as a combination of two categories. The first category is for styles and fashions you feel drawn to. The second category is for styles and fashions that actually look good on you. No matter how cutting-edge your clothing choice may be, if it looks unflattering on you, then it's automatically a fashion faux pas.

In other words, no one should ever blindly follow a hot trend. Trends are short-lived, and you're bound to look back on them and laugh at how you looked. Sure, everyone wanted huge afros and bell-bottoms in the 1970s, but how many of those people now look back on their wardrobe and grimace? Some people looked great in 1970s clothes, but they looked great because the shapes and colors of those clothes suited them, not because it was a trendy style they just "went" with.

Body Type
To build a personal style, you must first identify your body type. Knowing if you are apple-, pear-, hourglass- or toothpick-shaped can help you find the best ensembles for you. Obviously, toothpicks should steer clear of tight, form-fitting clothes, whereas pears should never wear big balloon pants. Here are the basic body type profiles:

Apple. An apple-shaped body is larger on top than on the bottom, and apples tend to have great legs. A tight shirt can emphasize a thick waist, so apple shapes look best with a slightly loose top and tailored bottom.

Your color schemes should stick with the basic dark top and bright bottom technique. Avoid short skirts, since they will just emphasize your torso. Use fitted pants or skirts of varying length, and wear longer shirts.

Pear. Pear shapes are larger on the bottom than on the top. Pear shapes look best with a fitted and decorated top matched with a loose bottom. This helps show off your small waist and draws attention upward while reducing the curve of the hips.

Be wary of showing too much narrow shoulder, though, and try large sleeves to give the illusion of width. Use boat or portrait necklines to help balance small shoulders with wide hips, as well as to draw the eye inward.

Hourglass. Hourglass figures have large busts and hips paired with a small waist. You are the envy of most women, since you can generally wear whatever you want and still look good. As Marilyn Monroe displayed in a now-famous photo, this even includes wearing a potato sack. Enough said.

Toothpick. Toothpick-shaped bodies tend to have very few curves. However, toothpick can also refer to someone who has a rectangle-shaped body, no matter the numbers on the scale. Either way, you need to create some shape and curves over your straight silhouette and use your clothes to give the appearance of a waist.

Show off your slim body while masking your lack of curves. A pair of slightly baggy pants with a fitted waist and a shirt with roomy sleeves will help a toothpick look more like an hourglass.

Full-Figured. Full-figured bodies tend to be curvier and slightly larger in size. The size difference often makes full-figured women uncomfortable, and many choose to wear baggy clothing to hide their shapes. This is a huge mistake, since it simply masks your sexy curves and adds pounds to your appearance. Try slightly fitted garments and play up your good points, such as an ample bust.

The general rule for body shapes is to slim down the large parts and broaden the small parts. For areas you want to shift the focus away from, use dark colors and flowing lines. For areas you want to highlight, use bright colors, tailored lines and fun patterns.

Stick with colors and patterns that look good on you as well. If green makes you look flu-ish, then simply stay away from green garments, no matter how much you like green. If stripes bring out too many angles, but florals make you come alive, the choice is simple. Always enhance your natural beauty, never sabotage it.

Style Type
Do you love to be wrapped in flowing scarves, or do you stay slick with black leather? The materials, patterns, garments and accessories you choose are what define your style type. There's no line between these categories, and having personal style means you can pick and choose a bit from each one.

Style influences can come from specific cultures, time periods and designers, or just from beautiful celebrities. Maybe you loved bangle bracelets when you were a little girl, and you now wear them as an adult to make you smile. Perhaps you're self-conscious about your short neck, and you always wear V-necks to balance your figure. Whatever the influence, you express it in every style choice.

Go goth, punk or preppy, but don't let the labels rule you. If you want a goth look, but feel sensitive about your thick neck, pass up the spiked choker for a skull on a long chain. If you love a 1970s feel but you realize a pear-shaped figure should never wear tight bell-bottoms, then use a flowing skirt with a fitted and embroidered peasant blouse.

If you feel more comfortable in jeans than in mini-skirts, don't try to force yourself or let others pressure you to wear minis, especially if you know you don't have the legs for it. Sure, it's fun to shake things up once in awhile, but there's no law against having a closet filled with denim jeans.

Forcing yourself to wear something you don't like and don't feel comfortable in always affects your appearance. Your discomfort will show in how you hold yourself. Your walk, your talk and your entire presence will be far less powerful than if you wore your favorite outfit.