The History of Personal Style

I’ve been given the task of writing about the history of personal style which I couldn’t get my head around initially as I felt that it’s quite a profound subject to approach. There are many roads to go down with this. It could apply to the way we can look back on previous eras and identify staple garments and styles from each one, or it could look at how we now create new styles by reviving past trends through vintage fashion. But the thing that really sparked an interest in me was the individual style that each person upholds. We are all attracted to specific detailing on clothes; whether its prints, embellishments, colours or styles and this is reflected in the garments that we choose for ourselves. The way that we wear these garments with the additional clothes and accessories we put with them creates an overall image that becomes our signature style.

Our personal style is our way of revealing a small part of our personality and it’s something that we become known for. My mum bought me a top the other day because she saw it and thought it was ‘such a Sophie top’ so I obviously portray a certain image with the way I dress. My weakness is florals. I wear them all year round and I am always drawn to floral prints whilst shopping. I’m also attracted to very girly styles with lace, pearls and bows. These are all things that never change despite the changing seasons and are generally incorporated into my outfits as I adapt to new trends. This way of dressing is something that’s stayed with me ever since I was a little girl who refused to wear trousers and wanted to wear a party dress every day.

The evolution of personal style is something that has stemmed from social changes and developments in fashion over the years. Take the 1960’s for example, where youthful styles such as miniskirts were first introduced. This drove a wedge between different generations and meant that teenagers no longer wore the same clothes as their parents. They were introduced to shops like Biba, which sold clothes that were primarily aimed at their own age group and allowed them to experience the latest fads of the period. This was also a time that produced certain fashion groups such as the Mods, who influenced the types of clothes that people bought and the images they portrayed with their outfits. This continued throughout the ‘60s and into the ‘70s, when hippies and punks emerged and provided contrasting styles for people to adopt. Groups of specific fashion identities continued during the ‘80s and ‘90s and still emerge in recent years. These fashion movements of each era are significant in fashion history and seem to sneak back into modern trends every so often.

The introduction of these groups has given people the freedom to express themselves through clothes, but it does take away the individuality of a personal style because the people that fall into these genres of fashion are generally following the same way of dressing. While these types of groups still exist today, they are more prominent in young people that are going through the motions of finding their own personal style. I certainly found it easier to fall into specific categories of fashion while I was at school, but this changes as you get older and interact with people from all walks of life. Especially in our society where people tend to mix different genres and disregard the notion of sticking to a certain type of fashion. I also found that getting out of school uniform and being able to wear my own clothes when I stayed on for higher education made me re-think my style in terms of dressing how I liked to dress instead of how I thought I should dress. You get to a certain age where you start evaluate your personal traits and gain a better understanding of the sorts of clothes that flatter your shape which eventually evolves into a signature style.

Ever since fashion shows became mainstream and fashion weeks were started in the 1990s, we are continuously plagued by changing trends and are encouraged to dress differently every few months. This concept is so integrated in our culture now that I find it difficult to look back on the 2000s and pick out the staple garments to identify with this era. They have all been done before. It seemed that we were just reviving and modernising previous trends. This, coupled with the surge of interest in vintage fashion, has meant that the 2000s were deprived of original trends and that people were encouraged to mix old and modern garments to create a new style. The emergence of throwaway fashion that originated in the 1960s has intensified in recent years with the success of high street chain stores. Primark is a prime example of this as it provides us with cheaper versions of the ever-changing trends at such low prices that it makes us feel better about only wearing certain garments for a couple of months. This then leads to the notion of investing in neutral and timeless garments that create a blank canvas to mix with the cheaper and on-trend pieces.

The fast-paced fashion industry and the concept of disposable style encourages us to be creative, while the obsession with vintage fashion gives us the opportunity to explore different eras and recreate any that we particularly admire. This shift in the routine of staple garments and silhouettes throughout fashion history has provided us with an imaginative attitude towards fashion, and has meant that it is no longer unusual to ignore trends or to wear clothes that were meant for the opposite sex. Amongst the recycled trends and pieces of fashion history, our personal tastes still shine through as a source of inspiration.

Personal style is as much about our personal preferences as external factors like trends. There will always be aspects that catch our eye, like me with my floral patterns, but we now have the option to incorporate these with current trends to communicate our personality and style. It’s easy to forget that we portray a strong image of ourselves through our clothes, so it’s time for us to embrace our quirks and display them to the world.