mixtape #3: my personal style philosophy
mixtape #3: my personal style philosophy
"eccentric neutral", personalized aesthetics, and how to develop your own style philosophy
If you’re on the fashion side of the internet at all, you’ve seen the extreme niches. Starting with clean girl phenomenon that took over the internet first and is still going strong, developing into tomato girl and pomegranate girl, and now most recently the eclectic grandpa. These are all used to categorize not only a personal style, but a lifestyle and personality shift. An eclectic grandpa is no longer the lovable grandfather figure you might have in your family, but is instead what you should want your partner to dress as, or aspire to be yourself.
I recently read an article, that I unfortunately forgot to save and can’t find anywhere, where the author wrote that you can tell who’s on the fashion side of the internet, especially TikTok, entirely based off of what they wear. When it’s summer, they’re wearing a jersey paired with a mini skirt and hairbows. In the winter, it’s probably moto boots and a tree-camo shirt. I personally think these are both very cool looks, but let’s be honest: you’re well-dressed, but so is everyone else with an iPhone under the age of 25.
These niche trends are, understandably so, rooted in controversy. But one of my hottest takes is that it’s simply not that deep. I see the harm in micro-trends that rely on and are encouraged by fast fashion, but themes such as the eclectic grandpa leave room for development and originality. And even if it’s just a passing phase, it’s fun! And when applied with care, pieces styled for one niche can easily be applied to another (e.g. the clean girl look makes for good outfit basics; tomato girl and pomegranate girl can easily be interchangeable; a preppy look can be developed into the eclectic grandpa).
Point is, there’s nothing wrong with matching a specific style with a personality—it’s like putting a face to a name. The issue comes in when you try to force a look upon yourself that doesn’t quite match. And I’m not talking about body type, or face shape, or any of those demented societal standards. Does the style identify with you? Are you projecting the image to the world that you feel you already are inside?
These questions might feel too deep for fashion, and they probably are. You’re here to define your style—create your own niche, in a sense. But to up your look in 2024, these are crucial questions for the path towards developing your personal style philosophy.
You may have heard of folks online calling their daily outfit-building as “dressing their avatar,” in reference to video games or a cartoon character’s permanent costume. Although this is a great starting point, it’s a little too one-dimensional (literally). A style philosophy takes this idea and pushes it a few steps forward.
Start it off with a simple recipe of two words, and no, one of the words can’t be “girl” or “grandpa” or anything relating to a person/figure/entity. And it can’t be “niche” or “core” either (I’m looking at you, cottage-fairy-coquette core). Use descriptive words. Gather a bunch of photo inspo, and this is the fun part where you can whip out your trusty Pinterest account. But don’t just spam-save everything that looks cool (guilty!). Instead, do it with intention. Can you see yourself wearing that outfit? What do you like about it? What do you think of the person wearing it? What would your first impression be of someone you saw wearing that on the street?
After this, look back on what you’ve worn in the past. What have been some of your favorite outfits? When have you felt most like yourself in your clothes? Place your inspo photos alongside your personal outfit photos. Fit them together like puzzle pieces. This is where you can start thinking about your recipe, the two words that define it all.
I came to this conclusion about a year ago, when doing exactly this: saving a series of Pinterest photos, scrolling through my own Instagram feed, scouring the Vogue runway app, and I found that my favorite looks all had one specific trait in common: they were all out there, with varying textures, contradicting patterns, bizarre silhouettes, and well acquainted with over-accessorizing. But they were subtle in color, leaning towards earthy tones, subtle denim, and a healthy amount of black staple pieces. I’ve never been one for bright colors, and my love for the color pink has always been in theory, never in practice. I pulled my two-word recipe from this: eccentric + neutral.
Eccentric neutral became, and still is, the phrase that pops into my mind when I’m getting dressed for the day. Sometimes, this results in a simple denim-on-denim look with loads of jewelry to balance it out. Other days, I experiment with layers, and find my outfit tangled in a bundle of yarn and silk scarves. And most often, it means a cute graphic tee, my go-to embroidered jeans, a cardigan or denim jacket on top, and too many rings to handle.
My looks range from the casual-everyday to over-the-top occasions, but no matter what, they continuously follow the same recipe. I no longer have the dreaded “aesthetic crisis” when I get dressed—I know what I need to wear to feel like myself.
On the next post for Under the Bed, we’ll be delving deeper into this topic and talking about how it can and will develop in your future style. For example, how will “eccentric neutral” look five years from now? How can I begin preparing for that now? We’ll be covering shopping for your future self, which is the ultimate way to shop wisely and sustainably. So subscribe if you haven’t yet, and tune in!
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And if you’re curious about my personal outfit Pinterest board, fine, I’ll bite! Check it out here.
Hope to see you around!
✮ Paula ✮
i hope you don’t mind the long comment but this newsletter was really powerful for me ! as someone who loves fashion but feels so overwhelmed with the variety of labels and “aesthetics” (that are mostly just used to market more clothes), this is the first post i’ve seen in a long time that really focuses on, like you said, PERSONAL style. it gives me some hope to find ways to feel comfortable with expressing myself again 🩷