As I’ve been creating the course on foundations of style, I’ve been going deep into the mental and emotional blocks that make women think they’re disqualified from having great style. I’m a firm believer that every single person deserves to–and CAN—feel great about style. Today I want to tackle 6 myths I’ve heard from women about what it takes to have great style. I hope through this discussion that you gain inspiration that you, yes YOU, can love your style, too!
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Myth #1: If you’re not born with a great sense of style, there’s no hope for you.
I’ve heard this from many women, thinking that some people are just born with it and others aren’t. And, if you’re not born with it, then there’s no hope for you.
Truth #1: Style can be learned. If you’re a regular PMT reader, I know you already know this. Many of you have told me that you weren’t born with a great sense of style so you appreciate what you’ve been able to learn from PMT. But for anyone who’s new to the crew (hi, welcome!) I’m saying it loud and clear: Style can be learned. By ANYONE. It may take longer for some to learn compared to others, but anyone can learn to put themselves together! It’s just a matter of learning the right things and putting it into practice.
I can say personally that I learned style. I was always “into” clothes, but I also poured through magazines like Seventeen and InStyle, and I was obsessed with What Not to Wear. Even though I may have started style-inclined to some degree, I didn’t necessarily know what I was doing. I soaked up every style tip I could from magazines, style shows, articles and blogs online, and whatever I could find. I blogged all about my journey and the things I learned to become a master and mixing and matching. All of that came through studying style and learning!
So, yes, some people are born with an innate sense of style. But most of us aren’t. Like any skill in life, we can absolutely learn style! This is why I blog and create resources like the Outfit Guides and now this upcoming course on the foundations of style. Anyone can learn style if they are given the right tools!
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Myth #2: You need to have a certain body shape or be a certain size to be stylish.
Ohmigosh, this hurts my heart! But I know this thought runs through most women’s heads. This is absolutely untrue!
Truth #2: If you know the tricks for dressing your body shape, you can be stylish with any shape at any size.
I go deep into this in the course because one thing I’m passionate about is that we stop feeling ashamed about our bodies. I know finding clothes that work for your body can be frustrating. Here’s the thing: All of our bodies are created with unique shapes. All clothing is created with unique shapes. Sometimes those shapes don’t match up. It’s like trying to put a square peg into a round hole. Or like trying to fit a sofa cover on a bed. If you did that, the bed would look awkward and lumpy. But no one ever thinks something’s wrong with the bed! We just say “Oops, I used the wrong cover!” Similarly, some clothing shapes do not work with our specific body shapes. But, we immediately think something’s wrong with our bodies. Why? In the case of the sofa cover on the bed, we never think something is wrong with the bed—we realize we used the wrong cover. So why do we think something is wrong with our bodies when clothes don’t fit? We need to realize we are just using the wrong shapes of clothes!
There are tricks and guidelines to dressing different body shapes that can be learned. You just need to know which clothing shapes will work best for you (which we walk through in the course). When you know that, style becomes a thousand times easier, regardless of what body shape or size you are. And if you want to take the first step of knowing your body shape, be sure to download the FREE Body Shape workbook at the bottom of this post!
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Myth #3: Being stylish means you have to wear uncomfortable clothing.
How many times have we heard this? “I don’t want to get dressed because I just want to be comfortable.”
Truth #3: You can be stylish in clothes that feel just as comfortable as a pair of leggings and t-shirt.
This is another thing where, if you’ve been around PMT for a while, you know the lack of comfort thing is TOTALLY untrue. You know my bar for comfort is HIGH. You are probably sick of hearing me say garments are, “soft, stretchy, and soooooo comfortable!” Or maybe you’re not sick of it because that means you too can have a closet full of insanely comfortable clothes, including jeans that feel like yoga pants! 🙂
Comfy clothes are out there. Just gotta know where to find them. I do my best to point them out to you whenever I come across some!
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Myth #4: You need a large budget to be stylish.
Truth #4: Nope, nope, nope! You can be stylish and put-together on budgets at all levels. Looking put-together is a matter of finding pieces that fit you well, knowing how to put together great outfits, and knowing how to style them well. I’ll dive deeper into all of that in another blog post soon, but for now I’m just trying to tell you that being stylish is more about fit and putting together outfits well, not about having a lot of clothes, keeping up with trends, or buying expensive pieces.
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Myth #5: You need a lot of clothes to be stylish.
Truth #5: You don’t need a lot of clothes, you just need the right kinds of clothes. You guys know I’m all about having versatile pieces and a mix and match wardrobe. I teach this in the Building a Remixable Wardrobe series and One Piece Many Ways posts. A lot of people feel like they need a ton of clothes to be stylish because they haven’t built their closets properly. I was once in this boat, but over the years I’ve learned what it takes to build a fantastic closet with less pieces. You’ve heard bits and pieces about that here on the blog, and in the course I walk through it step by step. When you’ve got the right pieces in place, it becomes so much easier to have great style everyday!
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Myth #6: You’ll have to think about clothes all the time to be stylish.
Truth #6: Okay, okay, real truth–*I* think about clothes all the time, but that’s because it’s my job! 😜 I do it so that you don’t have to! But for everyone else, learning style is like learning any skill. It requires some time and energy up front to learn, and it takes practice. But, after enough practice it becomes innate. So yes, you’ll probably think about clothes more than you’d like at first, as you learn and practice, but eventually it will become second nature to you.
There are also resources and guides that make it easier. For example, there are tons of checklists and style ideas on Pinterest or here at PMT. Also, I created PMT Outfit Guides and Starter Kit Wardrobe Guides and blog about outfit formulas to do some of that thinking for you. And for the upcoming style course, we’ve created a guide full of outfit silhouettes that work for each different body shape so that you have a handful of outfit combos that you know will work for your specific body shape. I also include over 20 outfit formulas to help put together pieces. Stuff like that! Those types of resources can be found all over Pinterest, other blogs, and here at PMT so that you can spend less energy thinking about clothes. 🎉
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Style doesn’t have to be exclusive to those who were “born with it,” who have tons of money, who have a lot of closet space, or who have the “right” body shape. ANYONE can have great style, and that includes each of us!
Have you believed any of these myths?
FREE Body Shape Workbook!
I’ve said that style can be learned and that one of the first steps of dressing well is to know your body shape. I’ve created a free workbook to help you identify your body shape!
In the course, we’ll go deeper into talking about how to dress your body shape to its fullest potential. For now, this workbook will help you get a head start by helping you understand your body shape with measurements.
Download your copy instantly by filling out the form below! If you can’t see the form, click HERE.
