4 Tips to Building Your Personal Style by Mari Jasmine

Amidst the fast-paced surge of trends coming in from every direction, the fashion industry continues to ask us to redefine our idea of style. With so many new designs being churned out every waking moment, it can be difficult to figure out your dressing identity. In times like this, it can be tempting to wish you had your own personal stylist who can help you curate your wardrobe hassle-free. Sounds like a dream, doesn’t it? Well, now you can get a taste of exactly that.

At Stylist’s Closet, you can take a peek at your favorite style icons’ wardrobe essentials and learn their best fashion secrets. Last August 16, they kicked things off with Mari Jasmine and Tim Yap, who both shared different tips and tricks on how to build personal fashion branding, and here’s what we learned.

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If you want to learn how to spice up your fashion flavor like a seasoned stylist’s muse, read on.

4 Tips to Building Your Personal Style by Mari Jasmine

1. Do Your Research.

It often seems like some people are just born with the innate ability to whip up a stunning outfit with the snap of a finger. If you aren’t one of them, you might feel unmotivated. That’s the importance of treating fashion as a social endeavor, though. If your styling philosophy doesn’t come naturally, Mari recommends getting out there and surrounding yourself with passionate creatives who can inspire you to create a branding for yourself. Doing research can be as casual as interacting with people whose clothes you admire or watching specific era movies to get outfit ideas. After all, fashion is a visual language. Communicating with people who speak its native tongue will always be a great immersive experience.

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2. Take Sustainability into Consideration.

When we asked Mari if she preferred following trends or sticking to one specific style, she was sure to weigh the positives of both options. On one end, it’s good to try out new things and see which designs work best for you and which don’t. On the other end, creating a capsule wardrobe that you can fall in love with for as long as possible despite the seasonal changes is beneficial from both a financial and sustainability standpoint. As a slow fashion supporter herself, she suggests thrifting as a good way to explore new styling themes without increasing your carbon footprint.

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3. Stick to the Basics.

Mari believes in the power of a good set of closet staples. Plain t-shirts and skinny jeans are a style savvy girl’s best friends when it comes to building a set of essentials because their versatility allows for effective mixing and matching. As much as we all love fun standout pieces, you can’t go wrong with oldies but goodies.

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4. Be Consistent.

Style doesn’t end with what you wear. It’s also about the artistry you infuse in your daily life. You must surround yourself with influences that inspire you and bring out positive energy, and stay away out from those that don’t. “If it doesn’t serve you, remove it.” These were Mari’s wise words on why she opts to filter out negative content on her social media – a smart philosophy to live by when you realize that controlling your influences also means building what impacts you. If your clothes embody empowerment; you have to make sure your lifestyle does, too.

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Aside from being a community-centric phenomenon, fashion is also deeply personal experience on its own. From the texture to the color, what someone wears says a lot about what they believe in and what they feel. To witness two fashion icons exchange thoughts on building their style repertoire was interestingly reassuring because it made me realize that style doesn’t always have to result in flamboyant designs and extravagant patterns. It can be as simple as a plain t-shirt and a pair of jeans that flatter your body and make you feel good. At the end of the day, that’s really all fashion is about: bringing out the best clothes to bring out the best you.