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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
Madeleine Aggeler

‘Dress for who you are’: how to start finding your personal style

a colorful illustration of someone's finger pressing on a joystick surrounded by various accessories and clothes
True style isn’t about chasing trends, experts say. It’s about dressing in a way that brings out your true self. Illustration: Carmen Casado/The Guardian

How would you define your personal style? Is it cottagecore? Tomato girl? Whimsigoth? Quiet luxury? Maybe you don’t know what these terms mean (congratulations) and maybe you do (my condolences).

Like unwelcome nose hairs, new microtrends seem to sprout from the depths of social media every other week. In some ways, their pervasiveness has made style seem more accessible than ever. They reduce aesthetics to mathematical equations that you can solve by buying up a bunch of fast fashion. By the time these cheap, mass-produced items dissolve into microplastics – which they will, quickly – other aesthetic trends will have replaced them.

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