A couple of weeks ago we received an email from reader Lindsay that really resonated with me. Although we’re at different life stages, we have one thing in common, we’ve both lost our personal style.

Lindsay is in her mid-30s, having her first baby in July and, apart from a few faves, has just chucked out her entire pre-pregnancy wardrobe. She’s promised herself a new post-baby wardrobe – clothes, shoes, bags, accessories, the lot. As a lawyer she has to be smart at work but she struggles to know what to wear at weekends, living in the same skinny jeans and trainers. She’s looking for help defining her off-duty style and advice on putting outfits together.

As I hinted at in this post a couple of weeks ago, I feel as if my aesthetic is changing. After over ten years of working in magazines in roles that required varying levels of smartness, a year spent mostly travelling, followed by a year working mostly from home and now, since January, freelancing in a casual but fashionable office, my wardrobe is all over the place. Apart from the things I’m buying over and over again, nothing I currently own really feels like me.

I’m not as far down the line as Lindsay in terms of culling my closet but I’ve had a bit of a sort out, dividing my clothes into three piles: keep, sell, donate. I’ve started chipping away at the sell pile by putting a couple of things on eBay each week, so I don’t get overwhelmed by all the admin. Like Lindsay I’ve promised myself a new wardrobe, once I’ve got rid of all the things that, for whatever reason, no longer feel like me.

Consequently I’ve been thinking about how I find my personal style and build a wardrobe of clothes I love that work in any situation. I’ve come up with a plan which I’m hoping will help me and Lindsay and anyone else out there who’s struggling to define or redefine their personal style.

Make A Moodboard

It sounds obvious but the key to finding and loving your personal style is working out what it is that you truly love. A good place to start is to make a mood board (this is one of my favourite things to do btw). Gather images that speak to you, whether you do it by ripping pages from a magazine, or by pinning images to a Pinterest board (you can see a board of the things I love here). Don’t try to organise the images in any particular way. Slowly patterns and themes will emerge.

Find The Brands That Get You

Pull together a bunch of catalogues and brand websites and blogs. Flip through the catalogues and scroll through the brand websites and blogs, ripping out images you like from the catalogues and pulling images from the brand sites and blogs on to your desktop. Look outside of the places you usually shop, don’t think about budget, don’t even think about whether you can actually get a hold of the stuff, search the world for your style. Brands that do weekend wear well and are worth checking for inspiration include Aritzia, Everlane, JCrew and Madewell.

Find Some Style Bloggers And Celebs To Stalk, Er, I Mean Follow

Similarly spend some time hunting down personal style or celebrity blogs and Instagram accounts to inspire your style. I’m a big fan of Jess Hannah’s style and follow her Instagram feed for fashion and lifestyle inspiration (see two of her looks above). If you don’t already have list of bloggers you love Who What Wear is good starting point as they often have features rounding up great looks from various style bloggers. Keep collecting images of outfits that appeal to you and use them as guidance for building your new wardrobe.

Think Capsule

Most of us could do with simplifying our lives. Thinking of your wardrobe as a whole and picking pieces that work well with each other will make life – or at least deciding what to wear to live your life – easier, as well as increasing outfit potential and minimising the potential boredom factor. Lauren started her journey to building a capsule wardrobe last year (catch up here) and there are lots of blogs for capsule wardrobe building inspiration. Caroline from Un-Fancy has just called a halt on her capsule wardrobe blogging journey, but there’s still lots to be gained from having a look back at her blog posts.

Pick A Palette

When you look at the images you’ve gathered, did a colour palette emerge? Black, white, grey and blue denim are definitely recurring themes when I do the exercises above. To build a wardrobe that really works it helps to start with a simple palette and then you can add colour and pattern with accessories or a bright nail varnish or lipstick. For a masterclass in a wardrobe with a simple palette that works for both work and weekend check out Sara Donaldson’s blog (here) and Instagram account (here) for inspiration.

Start With The Basics

Finally it’s time to start shopping! You should have a good idea by now of the pieces you need to start hunting down but it still worth taking your time, perhaps going on a browsing trip first. If you still feel you need some direction consider booking a personal shopping appointment at a store you like. I’ve heard good things about the experience at Topshop, find out more here. I would also say that you shouldn’t feel that just because you’re buying basics you need to think budget. The items in my wardrobe that I still love and wear time and time again are mostly things that were a bit of a stretch to buy at the time, whereas the cheap as chips buys lost their appeal a long time ago.

I need to step up my eBay game, I want to start shopping immediately! Has anyone else ever lost their personal style? How did you find it again? Anyone tried a personal shopping appointment? What was it like? Do share below!