One of the things I’ve had to explore on my fashion journey is fashion aesthetics, which I’ll get into in just a bit.
For context, I’ve always been passionate about fashion. You know that saying, “How you dress is how you’re addressed.” I live by that. If you want to position yourself to be seen or spoken to a certain way, then you need to dress the part.
For me? I love love the boss-lady vibe, the simple CEO chic, and modest dressing. You want to talk about elegant fashion? Count me in. But then I quickly realized something: there are a lot of factors that influence how a person dresses.
For instance, let’s go back to the idea of fashion aesthetics, there are aesthetics like preppy, minimalism, maximalism, classic, coquette, artsy, gothic, streetwear, and more.
Now, while one can absolutely lean into more than one aesthetic, it’s also important to consider a few things, like your natural personality.
Take me, for example: I’m a very bubbly, girly person. So even if I liked gothic fashion (which I don’t, thankfully), it just wouldn’t align with who I naturally am. It would feel like wearing someone else’s identity. That's another thing about style: it expresses who you are. At least, that's one of the things it means to me.
Another factor to consider is lifestyle, things like your career, the places you go, and the kinds of people you meet. All of that plays a role in shaping your personal style and what fashion aesthetic truly fits your life.
I should mention that the reason I even started this fashion analysis, beyond my obvious curiosity and thirst for knowledge, was to create a more versatile and intentional wardrobe. One that matches the way I hope and want to be addressed.
After some honest reflection, I realized my personality and lifestyle align most with minimalism, coquette, classic, and preppy fashion.
I love buying staple pieces, and that’s why I hardly ever buy clothes with patterns or loud graphics. The simpler the clothing item, the more ways I can style it.
Take these two tees I own, for example.
The pink one is so versatile. I can pair it with trousers in almost any color, printed bottoms, maxi skirts, or even layer it under a cardigan. But the other tee with patterns? There’s only so much I can do with it before it starts looking… busy.
So yeah, I follow an unspoken rule when shopping: “The less pattern, the better.”
And that's obvious in also all my clothing, I hardly buy clothes that have pattern on them.
Now, when we’re talking fashion aesthetics, especially classic and minimalist, one thing that’s super common is dressing in monotone shades. If I had a good chunk of money to splurge on clothes, best believe I’d be grabbing, a crisp white pair of trousers to style with white tops, tees, and shirts, a purple pant trouser to wear with lavender tops and a chocolate pant trouser to pair with brown shirts.
Sure, there are times I want to step out of that zone. But even then, I’d rather lean into pastel colors than loud patterns or even louder hues.
It’s my minimalist hack for staying stylish and simple.
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