Have you got a fashion or style icon? I know that many people do. It's great when you are looking for inspiration to check out the styles of others and adapt ideas to your body, style and personality. Having a name of someone who you can search up on Pinterest to find inspiration for outfits the fit your personal style criteria can be helpful when you're feeling like you lack inspiration.
One of mine was the late, great Iris Apfel who came to prominence in her 80s and recently passed age 102. I don't dress like Iris, but I do love her attitude to style and how much she loved an accessory (or twenty).
"Being stylish and being fashionable are two entirely different things," she said. "You can easily buy your way into being fashionable. Style, I think is in your DNA. It implies originality and courage."
Iris' style is very different from mine, but it was her zest for style that I loved and how she engaged with clothing and accessories, playing dress-ups every day rather than settling for a basic outfit that some espouse as chic, but can feel boring and bland and lacks your personality.
I was pointed in the direction of this article about Frida Khalo as a fashion icon .
Another commonly cited fashion icon is Jane Birkin (after which the Hermes Birkin handbag was named) whose French style, not overly polished, as inspired many women.
There are so many movie stars and other celebrities that inspire style these days.
Maybe a TV character is more your style? Well watch this video from the costume creator of The Miss Fisher Murder Mysteries for some 1920s fashion inspiration and styling
TIME magazine lists their top 100 fashion icons of all time (I suspect that most will be USA or European)
Fern Mallis interviews a host of fashion icons here - watch the videos on YouTube.
Read Mashable's Top 10 list of Elder Fashion Icons.
And if you're more mature, Ari Seth Cohen's Advanced Style blog and book are another great avenue for inspiration (and to show you that style is available to you no matter your age).
Tell me who are your style or fashion icons? Where do you get your inspiration from?
Authentic style comes from within, it's an expression of who you are, which is why having an icon is a great place to start, but not necessarily a formula to copy which is why I'm a passionate believer in finding your own personal style, creating your own criteria and developing a way of dressing that expresses your style DNA.
If you'd love help in finding your personal style, then getting an education in colour and style is the first place to start, to figure out what it is that you love, and what works for you physically as well. Each of these icons has a very different style, and all are equally stylish, which is why there is no one route to style and so finding your own style can feel so freeing whilst also affirming for you, giving you confidence that you haven't had before. If you're interested in getting this knowledge in place so you stop wasting money with a hit-and-miss approach, I'd love to be your guide in my 7 Steps to Style program.
