When I was on vacation at the end of June, I finally had space to think for the first time in a long time. And on my last day I read a post by Anna Newton that I was saving up to devour when I had time. And boy did it deliver. I referenced in my last post, but I’ll link it at the end here in case you missed it!
Upon reading it, I realized I had long focused on the items I was wearing instead of the formula for putting those items together, aka outfit building. Through Anna’s post I landed on Allison Borstein’s TikTok account, and for that, I am very thankful.
Allison’s 3 Word Method is a framework for defining your style, and then subsequently you can use those three words as your formula for an outfit. Allison recommends taking your most worn, not favorite, items out of your closet and putting them on your bed. After careful analyzing, try to assign two words that describe them. To find your third word, you look at your pinterest board or the screenshots on your phone and put a word to it. This is essentially your aspirational word.
The evolution of my words went something like this, with the oldest previous style words from years past at the bottom, working my way up to my final words at the top. (Along with clarification for word two.)
I took it a step further and compared these words again past outfits I’ve worn. I spent a couple hours on a flight scouring the outfit photos on my phone, categorizing them into collections of outfits I liked, and outfits I didn’t like. For each one, I painstaking analyzed why I did or did not like it, using these style words as a cross-check, and it was a match!
Here’s a look at a few of the outfits I analyzed. I’ll start with the ones I did not like. These aren’t bad outfits per se, but rather, they do not feel like ‘me’ and I did not feel my best when wearing them.
This outfit had a classic item (top), but adding something interesting (a pant or jean with volume (these or these)) and a more refined (elegant) boot would create a look more aligned with what I’d like to wear.
Jeans are turtleneck are classic items, and the blazer skews interesting because it’s plaid and oversized, yet the look feels like something is missing. A refined shoe (like this or this) would completely change the look.
Same story as above… a refined element, say a minimal sandal or even a different shoe + a refined bag or jewelry would really level up this outfit.
And here are a few examples of outfits on my camera roll that I liked.
Getting dressed has changed for me. It is significantly easier to put together an outfit I really like, in a short amount of time.
Here is what I wore last week:
Effortless Shirt (older by Aritzia) / Tank / Shorts (older by REIFhaus) / Sneakers
Denim Shirt, sized up x2 (gifted) / Tank (old) / Pants (old) / Sandals (old) / Bag, and yes, a big haircut!
Vest (similar) / Pants / Sandals / Bag
Tank / Pants, old by REIFhaus / Sandals / Bag
Shirt / Tank (old) / Shorts (old Madewell) / Sandals / Bag
Tee / Belt – Yes, I unabashedly outfit repeat! Makes my life so much simpler.
There is my style update in a nutshell. I am only a few weeks in, but I am enjoying the benefits of more time, better outfits, and feeling more like myself when I get dressed. Here’s a link to Anna’s post. If you go through the steps and put three words to your style, I’d love to hear what they are!
