Wondering how to develop personal style that truly reflects you? Finding your own look can feel tedious and sometimes expensive, but if you’re starting from scratch, don’t worry—we’re here to help you navigate this exciting journey. To uncover your true personal style, it will take some time, but the process can also be extremely fun and rewarding.
First, dive into Pinterest. Do some good, deep searching. As you browse, consider what resonates with you. Do you like the maximalist style? Minimalism? Chic and timeless? What about trendy and timely? Sporty? Elevated? Elegant? Street style? There is an infinite list of styles to explore, so begin with these and just go on the hunt!
If you’re not able to narrow it down to just one aesthetic, that’s perfectly fine, because truthfully, most people have a couple of styles they love. Identify five or fewer styles that truly speak to you and start creating a board of all your new favorite looks and inspirations.
Step-by-Step: How to Develop Personal Style That’s Uniquely Yours
Once you have some styles picked out, head over to TikTok and Instagram. Type the style you’re interested in into the search bar to find people styling pieces that align with your newfound inspiration. Seeing diverse bodies and aesthetics can help you get a much better idea of how these styles translate in real life. For example, if you fall in love with a chic and timeless style, you may find a TikTok showing you how to tie a scarf around your neck to give an elevated look. Getting tips and tricks from multiple people and various body types is always the best approach when learning how to develop personal style that fits you.
The next step can be a little more tedious, but it will be absolutely worth it! Head to the mall, outlets, or wherever you love to shop in person! Seeing the clothes up close and trying them on your body can influence your style choices a lot. Not everything will fit the way you imagine it will, and there will undoubtedly be pieces that pleasantly surprise you when you lay your eyes on them or try them on.
When you go in-store to find new clothes, the experience could go a multitude of ways. In the best-case scenario, you will find tons of pieces that fit your silhouette perfectly, and everything is miraculously within your price range! Realistically, that probably won’t happen for most.
First, it’s often not easy to find plus size clothing in brick and mortar stores, and when you do, is it truly the style you’re trying to achieve? Are the items in your desired price range? There are numerous factors that go into essentially purchasing a new wardrobe or even just a few new pieces. However, once you find new pieces that you love, remember you don’t have to buy everything all at once!
Choose a couple of your top favorites to buy in the moment, and then you can find the rest of the items you like online and save them to a notes list or a dedicated shopping app like your Want Locker account. While finding your new style is the ultimate goal, going broke in the process is definitely not! It doesn’t have to be a race to find your new aesthetic. Take your time with how to develop personal style that feels authentic to you.
Continue to go out and try on clothes regularly. Whether it is at a large department store like Nordstrom or a more casual spot like Walmart, keep trying on items to see and learn how you feel in different silhouettes, fabrics, and colors. This hands-on exploration is invaluable.
Learning to love your body and appreciate its amazingness is a constant journey for everyone, no matter their size. Loving yourself is also not always something that can happen overnight, but with time and dedication, just like your personal style, you will begin to truly love and appreciate yourself. As for where to shop in-store for plus size fashion, the fact that you have already started to search and have landed here on The Curvy Fashionista is a fantastic first step! We are always here to help guide you on how to develop personal style that makes you feel fabulous.
As far as WHERE to shop in-store for Plus Size Fashion?
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Well, the fact that you have already started to search and have landed here… great first step!
- Macy’s,
- Bloomingdale’s
- Nordstroms
- Fashion to Figure
- Torrid
- Ashley Stewart
- Lane Bryant
- H&M
- Dillards
- Old Navy
- ELOQUII
- Anthropologie
- Amazon
- Walmart
And there are tons more! Check out more from The Curvy Fashionista to find plus size clothing stores (online and brick and mortar) that fit the new style you are aiming to achieve!
WOW!!! This is my letter!!! Thank you so much for your response, I’m going to take your suggestions (and any others that the lovely readers of your blog post up). I do have some confidence, but I really needed a boost, and I think this is exactly what will help. Thanks, Marie!
Oh honey!!! It is my pleasure and thank you for your email! XOXOXOXO I hope with my answers and the ones below that you find a few tips to play in and with! Good Luck!!!
You can also keep your eye out for a sales person in the plus size departments that seems to have a good sense of style. You can let them dress you up so to speak. Or, if you have a friend who’s style you admire. Don’t let yourself get frustrated if the first thing you try on doesn’t flatter you. Shopping is a lot about what doesn’t work too. Now, I can hold up an item of clothing and look at the cut and tell what’s worth trying on and what’s not. It gets easier with practice! It can really become fun to play dress up. 🙂
YES. OMG I completely forgot about that! Thank you so much for the help!
This post, here!
Torrid in my area is notorious for having sales women who are more than eager to offer opinions/help, and sometimes that leads to other customers to encourage whoever is being assisted. It’s like a chain of assistance.
And as for the friend whose style you admire: That’s what my friends do. They’re mostly super-casual types as well, so when they want to go shopping for something more stylish, they often recruit me to help since my ideas of “casual” could be considered “dressy” to others. : P
Dresses are awesome for a curvy body- a shift or a loose fitting one with a belt at natural waist looks awesome, and is so comfy. Those fit and flare dresses are really cozy and look fabulous as well.
Thank you so much for sharing!!! I do love a great dress- YES. I do!!! 🙂
Hey Melissa, more recently I have did online shopping at Old Navy, H&M and Torrid(mostly shoes). If you want some original styles you can try Etsy, I found JIBRI and I think Zellieforshe there.
One thing I’ve added to my room is a full length mirror it has been very encouraging! Happy shopping sunshine!
If you do get to New York, LeeLee’s Valise is fantastic. The clothes aren’t cheap, but they are so helpful there.
Also, the Lane Bryant in the Fulton Street Mall in Brooklyn (just off the Jay Street/Borough Hall stop on most subway lines) has a clearance ROOM on the second floor, not just a rack or two. I think a lot of the area’s clearance stuff comes through there. Macy’s Herald Square has a really good plus department, as does Bloomingdale’s.
For lingerie, hit the Town Shop on Broadway around 86th or Orchard Corset (not open Saturdays) on Orchard Street near Rivington on the Lower East Side. Both do amazing fittings and specialize in hard-to-find sizes, though Orchard Corset is probably not what you expect.
Sadly, Re/Dress NYC, a fabulous plus-size vintage and resale shop, closed a few years ago, but they have an online presence and a physical store in Cleveland, I think. Monif C. has a boutique in Manhattan, on W. 38th between 8th and 9th.