What’s your Style Personality?

Have you ever considered the reason why you wear the clothes you do? Why do some of us love vintage clothes and others prefer to dress down most of the time? It’s down to our style or wardrobe personality, usually classified as Classic, Natural, Romantic, Dramatic and Gamine. A style or wardrobe personality is really just a way of dressing on the outside who we are inside. I personally believe that we don’t necessarily fall into just one of these categories but are often a combination of two or even three style personalities.

Here is a breakdown of style personalities with an example of a dress for each style personality type. Which ones do you identify with most?

Classic

If you have a classic style personality you usually have to look smart no matter how casual the occasion. You like good quality, simple styles that don’t date and prefer neutrals with a pop of colour rather than too many bright colours and bold designs. If you have a classic style personality then you have probably noticed that you find it hard to ‘dress down’! If the dress code at a venue calls for casual, you will most likely be the best dressed person there. In fact, you may not even own a pair of jeans, or if you do, you wear them as if they were dressy trousers. Classics usually like their clothes and accessories to match, or at least co-ordinate as they hate a mismatched look. Classics just have to be careful about looking frumpy or old fashioned.

• Keep your clothing uncluttered and simple

• Pearls or diamonds will look good but don’t wear too much jewellery

• Your hairstyle should be easy to manage and tamed

• Bags and shoes should be good quality leather if possible and simple in design

Dramatic

People with a dramatic style personality love to be noticed. They like to make a bold statement with their clothes and put unusual colours and styles together. If you have a Dramatic Style Personality, you like to wear bold colour combinations often with black. Here are some more suggestions for dramatics:

• You probably wear asymmetrical styles of clothing and statement pieces. Other patterns you could go for are geometrics, stripes and large spots (depending on your body scale), also bold, abstract designs.

• For fabric choose firm, fairly structured fabrics that hold their shape well. Evening fabric suggestions are lame, brocade, jacquard and velvet.

• Your jewellery needs to be large scale, bold and unusual in design.

• Your hairstyle can be very short, very long, blunt or asymmetrical. Nothing boring for you.

Romantic

If you have a Romantic Style Personality you are often very creative and expressive too and often have womanly curves! Under this style personality is also Bohemian and if you are this, you like to mix many patterns and colours in your clothing. Here are some Romantic Style Personality suggestions:

• If you lean towards having a Romantic Style Personality go for feminine styles such as ruffles and frills.

• Wear textured materials such as velvet, silk, tweed and lace.

• Shoes need to be embellished with diamante or bows

• Hairstyles need to be feminine – long, soft waves or curls are good.

Natural

Naturals are probably the least of all the types who like dressing up, preferring to feel comfortable in their clothes and dressing casually most of the time. It’s still possible to have a natural style personality and look good so keep it simple and co-ordinated rather than too slouchy and you will always look presentable! You will tend towards comfort in your clothes above all else and mostly minimal accessories. You probably don’t like dressing up unless you really have to and when you do, it has to be not only comfortable but practical and able to be worn on multiple occasions. You will probably like easily washable clothes and will shun ruffles and frills (unless your secondary style personality is romantic) in favour of simple styles and lines.

Naturals love denim and tend to live in jeans. They also natural fibres such as linen and cotton.

Here are some ways you can express your natural style personality:

• Your hair needs to be low maintenance and ‘wash and wear’ so (tidy) long hair that you can tie back is good, or maybe short hair in a well cut style that will look good if you don’t have time to blow it dry.

• For jewellery choose beads or stones that will go with many of your clothes.

• For shoes, flat ballet type shoes, trainers, loafers or a sandal that would, again, go with most of your clothes.

• Bags can be a roomy tote bag, which would hold lots of things or a cross-body bag so you have both hands free. As far as work appropriate dressing is concerned, you need to be careful you don’t under dress or look as if you haven’t bothered, so a smart pair of trousers in a simple style and a shirt would be good.

• You don’t have to wear a lot of make-up every day but foundation, concealer, mascara and lipstick are a good starting point. Also make sure that your eyebrows are well groomed and use eyebrow pencil to give them shape if you need to.

Gamine

If you have a Gamine style personality, you are usually slim and petite and so need smaller scale clothes with smaller patterns and lighter weight fabrics. A sporty style of clothing will also suit you. The definition I would give to the word Gamine, is boyish, youthful and fun and when most people think of someone Gamine, they think of Audrey Hepburn. Gamines are most often petite but not always. Audrey Hepburn, although very slim, wasn’t petite in height but still looked Gamine especially when she had a pixie type hair style. Here are some other ways to express your Gamine style personality:

• Small scale patterns and accessories are best for Gamines. Anything quirky and fun such as owls, fruit etc in will suit them.

• Jewellery should be small to medium in scale rather than large and chunky.

• Hairstyles need to be neat rather than flowing. Bobs and pixies are good choices.

• Neatness in your clothing rather than fulness is best for you.

Ingenue

I’m including Ingenue in this list as it’s different from Gamine in that it is youthful and girly/pretty, rather than youthful and boyish.dainty florals. Sprigged prints, cute animal designs, often pastel colours and ‘milkmaid’ type dresses are all types of clothing and patterns that suit Ingenues.

• Again, like the Gamine, jewellery should be small scale

• Hairstyles can be long and curly or wavy

• Shoes need to be pretty, dainty with bows or embellishments

As mentioned above, you might be a combination of more than one style personality type. If so, then just choose elements from each one in your clothing and accessories, hairstyle and make-up.