When I stood in front of my wardrobe, I was overwhelmed. The amount of clothes (and shoes and bags...) I had collected in my then role as fashion director of Stylist magazine was huge. But choosing what to wear every day was actually an easy task. Despite the quantity, I ignored the vast majority of pieces and returned to my most worn jeans, an A-line denim mini dress or a pantsuit when I wanted to look particularly smart. I certainly agree with the findings that most women wear 20 percent of their wardrobe, 80 percent of the time.
I had heard about the Three Word Method through industry friends, where you choose three words to describe your style, although no one seemed to know its origins. As I was going through the rails in my wardrobe, a light bulb went on... I saw that my favorite pieces, the ones I loved to wear and relied on every day, all fit the same adjectives: denim, sixties and tomboy. It was 2017 and I was writing my first book, How to dress. I knew I had to work the concept into the copy and continue to dress myself with those three words in my mind.
Today I contribute to Glamour and has been working in the fashion industry for more than 20 years. In my role as a stylist for editorial shoots, working commercially on advertising campaigns or creating a look for a celebrity such as Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Kylie Minogue or Maya Jama, I am as flamboyant and eclectic as the brief allows - but in my role my own wardrobe, I have blissful peace.
As I've been sharing the benefits of the Three Word Method through my growing side hustle as a personal stylist (and the term has become even more popular thanks to TikTok and the stylist Allison Bornstein), it has coincided with the growth of more informed consumption. Bouncing from trend to trend every season is not good for the planet and marks you as a fashion victim (not a good look). There's an obscene amount of clothing on the planet, and by styling yourself more consciously, you're taking a step toward building a more sustainable wardrobe.
The story continues
Tracking clothes and, most importantly, shopping using the Three Word Method is the most efficient way to save money, time and streamline your wardrobe. Since my own style awakened, I can confirm that I rarely suffer from morning dress rage or cry because I have "nothing to wear!". I have also been able to reduce all that excess that once felt so overwhelming and now only own pieces that meet my Three Words.
When I saw the results in the women I work with, I took it one step further and created a website, my3words.co, where you can shop through your own words. It's confusing and tiring to scroll through pages of dresses to find one that suits your style, despite using all the filters (and I'm a pro!). That's why I've put together edits that reflect the twelve most popular words used by women in the UK.
It's simple: go straight to your words and find pieces that immediately match your style. My goal is for women to be as comfortable with their three words as they are with their zodiac signs, and I've put together edits for comfortable, thoughtful, rock chick, bohemian, minimal, fashionable, tomboy, vintage, classic, feminine, dopamine, and French style.
How to find your three words
So how can you find your Three Words? Start by thinking about the clothes you wear most often. What do you feel happiest in? What gives you a boost of self-confidence and where can you turn when nothing else works? What gets you the most compliments? Think honestly about your lifestyle and what suits your body shape. There will be a common thread. You can describe your appearance based on style, color, silhouette, fabric or era. As you sort through your own clothes, I'm willing to bet that the pieces you rarely wear don't match your Three Words.
Once defined, the game-changing element is that you should stick to your words the next time you shop. I've been known to wander around stores quietly repeating my Three Words mantra to remind myself not to get distracted by all the pretty prints and glitter.
How the Three Word Mantra can change the way you dress
Michelle Steele owns the Earsham Street Deli in Bungay, Suffolk, and describes the discovery of the Three Word Method as "an epiphany". She uses the analogy of a home decor store; "I may like a lot of different things, but they don't all fit in my room, so I wouldn't buy them. The same goes for my wardrobe. Learning the three-word method was like dropping a penny. "Of course I won't wear that, because it doesn't match my three words!" If I'm attracted to things now, I can still love it, but that doesn't mean I have to buy it because I know I'll never wear it."
If you stick to the method, you will find yourself saving money and time and having streamlined your wardrobe. It's efficient, but you'll also feel good in what you wear, and I believe it's essential to understand the psychological aspects of how we feel in our clothes, rather than just their aesthetics.
Lisa Haydon-Bennett is a psychotherapist with whom I shared the method. "This unique approach has helped me define not only my style, but how I want to feel within myself," she says. "The process went so much deeper and I felt clearer about myself and my style. It gave me such a boost to my self-esteem."
When I talk to friends about fashion, the Three Word Method always comes up - especially since it's had a viral moment on social media this year. It's a favorite party trick to guess people's adjectives ("You're... bohemian") or apply the method to celebrities... (Rosie HW is said to be minimal, sexy and neutral, while the Princess of Wales is polished, classic and feminine, and Alexa Chung might be preppy, French and tomboy).
When describing the peace you can find in choosing your words, I see their minds whirring to decipher their style. Your words can play an important role throughout your life as changes occur in your job or lifestyle, but you can still gain clarity. If you're ready to ban those BNWT (Brand New With Tags) purchases from your wardrobe and want to bring simplicity and style into your life, choosing your Three Words is the most effective method to make that change. So, what are yours?
For more information visit my3words.co
