As mentioned in my article on 2014 fashion predictions, we’ll be doing a five-part mini-series here on defining and designing your style (on a budget!).

How to Identify Your Fashion Personality & Personal Style

1) Pull out five of the outfits or articles of clothing that you wear most often as your go-to, as well as the piece that you normally wear for more formal occasions. How do you feel when you look at these items? How do they make you feel when you wear them? Do they reflect who you are and how you want to look? Do they seem to “fit” who you are, or do you simply wear them because that’s what’s in your closet or that’s what used to fit your personality? Why do you like them, or what is it about them that you like? While you’re doing this, you can also ask yourself the same questions of your shoes, jewelry, accessories, etc.

2) Think about five people in your life (preferably a mixture of regular people who put their own outfits together and stylish celebrities who likely have a personal shopper). Start a list of the things that they have in common with their wardrobes and their personalities – this is sometimes easier to do if you have photos of them rather than just thinking back to the last time you saw them. What is the commonality that you like about their look? How do you feel that it fits with your own fashion sense and confidence in wearing those items? How well do their items match what you can conceivably wear on an everyday basis?

Another piece to think about with this is the era that you relate to the most – is it the 1920s with flappers? The 1950s and cocktail dresses? This can give you some more insight as to what might work best for you.

3) Take a good look at who YOU are. Think about what you are and are not comfortable wearing. Consider what is appropriate to wear for your office dress code and also for your lifestyle. What kinds of barriers do you think you face in wearing these items? Whether your fashion personality is rocker chic or old Hollywood glam or bohemian or boyish or something else altogether, there are certainly ways to incorporate it through single articles of clothing (for example, a blouse with sparkly details at the collar instead of a floor-length gown) or through jewelry and accessories (for example, earrings made out of shells or a purse with studs along the strap).

Start small and experiment to see how much the look really does fit with who you feel you are. And don’t feel that you “can’t” have a certain fashion personality if you think that your body type “doesn’t fit the look” – go with what feels right for you and what you like the best!

Based on taking the above three steps and asking yourself these questions, what look have you identified for yourself? What are some other ways that you have identified and defined your look? Share in the comments section below!