Identifying What I Value about Clothes Helped Me Experiment with Fashion, Find Garments I Love, and Define a Personal Style

A brief stylish reflection from an unfashionable ingénue turned fashion-conscious on how to use value-based spending to discover your personal style

As a person who isn’t fashion-savvy, I have a hard time differentiating between trends and styles.

In my journey to become more fashion-conscious, stylish, and whatnot, I came across various self-improvement videos and articles talking about how to show your personality through clothes.

Yet, as someone who didn’t care or thought of identity (or happiness) as linked to the clothes we wear, I didn’t know how to define a personal style.

I considered caring about your looks and how others perceive you as superficial and didn’t wish to spend time and money on superficial things.

It wasn’t until I shifted my focus to identifying what I value about clothes that I discovered what makes me feel confident, powerful, and beautiful.

In this story, I’ll share and expand on the things I value about clothes, and how such values helped me build a small assortment of clothes that I love.

There’s no “good” or “bad” spending, only spending that does not reflect your values. — Her First $100K

For years, I invested nothing into my personal appearance as I thought of fashion and clothes as something superficial.

It wasn’t until I learned about value-based spending that I experimented with clothes and found my personal style.

“Spending based on your values means making choices that reflect what is important to you. It means investing in the things that will bring you joy, satisfaction, a sense of accomplishment, and purpose.” — Maia Monell, Nav.it app Co-Founder

Through trial and error, I identified I value effortlessness, functionality, comfort, and versatility when it comes to clothes. These values guide what I curate into my wardrobe, and have made dressing up an easy feat.

Since I am intentional when selecting the garments in my wardrobe, I can dress up in a way that makes me feel polished, confident, and beautiful, with little to no effort.

I no longer worry about bras or tattoos showing, needing extra accessories for an outfit, or misfit colors or necklines. Owning garments I know make my skin tone and body features shine makes dressing up much easier.

I prioritize functionality because I hate revealing body parts by accident.

Prior to curating a wardrobe, I often dealt with gaping or sudden opening of buttons because of my breasts and preference for crossbody bags.

To address this, I opted for shirts with covered button plackets, fabric-covered buttons, or no buttons at all. These help avoid clothing malfunctions as I go about my day.

I also only own bottoms with pockets — one of the best decisions I’ve made.

I go for versatile pieces because I want to own a small number of low-maintenance clothes I can wear throughout the year.

Owning reversible clothes, items I can easily dress up or down, and that I can wear front-back and vice versa, provides versatility with clothing.

Breathable, wrinkle-resistant, and fast-drying fabrics also provide versatility, as I can wear them during all weather and seasons. This limited my choices to clothes made of tencel/lyocell and modal materials; and (merino) wool, polyester, and gabardine fabrics for layers in cold weather.

I also considered silk (and its alternative — satin) for both warm and colder weather. Yet, silk (and satin) requires specific care — and I’m not up for it. Plus, it is not as wrinkle-resistant as lyocell and modal fabrics (the same goes for cotton).

I aim for comfort because I enjoy wearing clothes with ease and without worries.

Not overthinking what I wear, how I wear it, and when, allows me to be present in the here and now. Using loose clothing, skin-friendly fabrics, and anti-theft bags makes this possible.

Discovering what I value about clothes took a lot of experimentation, trial, and error.

As you go about your own journey to find what works for you, be patient and kind to yourself. As Roxanna Sarmiento shares, the mistakes you’ve made are just as important as the successes — pay attention to them.

And, above all, have fun and enjoy the ride.

What strategies have you used to experiment with fashion and find your personal style?

I am always excited to learn tips and hacks from fellow readers!

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