How To Make The Fashion Rules Work For You

We’ve all heard of the fashion rules. Things like don’t wear white after labor day, and don’t wear navy with black have been dictating the lives of many women.

But it’s not clear where this long list of rules first came from. Nobody knows who made them up. Yet there’s still this immense pressure -for some women- to do right by them. They feel compelled to follow the rules because they believe they’ll look terrible if they don’t. And others will think badly of them.

Maybe you’re not so intense, like some of those women who won’t break a rule. But you still feel a little pressure. Like you’ll wear white after labor day. But there’s no way in hell you’d mix navy with black.

If this is you – you care about how you look, and you believe the fashion rules will help you look better, then read on to learn how to make them work for you.

When The Fashion Rules Help

The fashion rules help when you don’t think of them as rules. But instead consider them guidelines, or advice on what to wear.

Let’s have a look at some examples:

1. Take one accessory off before leaving the house.
2. Choose silver or gold, but not both.
3. Sneakers are only for the gym.

Do you believe these are hard fast rules? Or just advice?

I see them as guidelines – which can be helpful. But do you follow every piece of advice or guideline that you come across?

I don’t.

I also pay attention to where the advice is coming from. So it needs context.

If a kundalini yoga teacher says to me, forcefully push your breath out through the nose for the breath of fire exercise, I’m like sure, ok. Let’s do it.

But if the mechanic fixing my cars says the same thing… I’ll think twice. The advice must be placed in context. If the mechanic and I are talking about kundalini yoga, ok – I may try it. But if he’s showing me my engine and casually mentions to do this….I’m not sold.

So knowing the context of the advice is key.

Where did you hear these guidelines? Does the context of the advice make enough sense that you’ll adapt your behavior?

What’s The Intention Behind The Rules

You want to look good. And you believe the fashion rules will help you do this. But will they? It depends. And that’s why it’s important to know the reason behind the rule. Ask why.

Here’s some more rules:

• Triangle shaped bodies can’t wear skinny pants.

• Tall women shouldn’t wear heels.

• Mixing prints is too busy.

If you’re a triangle shaped body, it’s important to understand why you’re not supposed to wear skinny pants. And the reason is because the tapered leg will highlight the widest area of your body.

If you’re tall, you need to know why you can’t wear heels. It’s because it’ll make you look taller.

And if you like wearing prints, being keen on the fact that too many prints can confuse an outfit will help you understand why it’s advised not to do it.

Knowing the intention behind the rule will provide clarification. And once you know the reason, you can decide if that’s important for you, or not.

Know The Rules Before You Break Them

If you were a painter looking to develop your artistic style, you’d need to master the skills of painting. Basically, you need to know where the lines are before you can draw outside of them.

Breaking rules is an essential component to creating your own style. But it’s helpful to have a clear understanding of the rule you’re breaking. So your style is deliberate, and not some thrown together conglomerate of clothing.

I highly recommend learning the body shape rules when developing your style so you know the boundaries. (It’s like the lines you need to know before you can draw outside of them.) And then you determine if you want to follow these guidelines or not. Click here to learn more about the body shape fashion rules.

Watch the styling tutorial where I share some basic rules of pattern mixing so you can decide how you want to integrate more prints into your style.

Which rules of fashion do you relentlessly follow?