Personal style is more than just fabric draped over your body; it’s an outward expression of who you are and what you stand for. Every choice we make—from the clothes we buy to the way we style them—communicates something about our personal beliefs and values. Whether you’re conscious of it or not, your wardrobe can be a powerful tool for showcasing what matters most to you.\
How Do You Express Your Core Values Through Your Style?
If you’ve ever wondered how you can align your style with your core values, you’re not alone. Personal style is a creative and flexible way to reflect your beliefs while still looking and feeling great. Here are some ways to ensure that your wardrobe aligns with the values closest to your heart.
1. Sustainability: Choosing Fashion with the Planet in Mind
One of the most significant values people incorporate into their fashion choices today is sustainability. With the fashion industry being one of the largest contributors to pollution, making eco-conscious choices can have a powerful impact. If sustainability is one of your core values, you can reflect this through mindful clothing decisions.
Opt for brands that use ethically sourced materials, such as organic cotton, hemp, or bamboo. You could also support slow fashion—clothing produced with care and designed to last—rather than fast fashion, which tends to be mass-produced and disposable. Vintage shopping and upcycling older garments are other ways to practice sustainability while adding unique pieces to your wardrobe.
Having your own set of personalised style guidelines, and a color palette that you wear will make any choices more sustainable, as you know that you’re only buying garments that you’ll love to wear and that won’t end up as waste quickly. Discovering what really works for you can have a positive impact on how sustainable your wardrobe becomes over time, you’ll keep clothes for longer and wear them more.
Learning to sew and making your own clothes is another way of curating a more sustainable wardrobe, as you get to choose the colours, shapes, styles, fabrics and silhouettes that you make plus you can alter that pattern to fit you exactly, meaning that you’ll love the garment more and wear it more. Plus you know that it wasn’t made in a sweatshop, nor has it had to travel a long way to get to you.
Burda 6211
Here’s a dress I made – I got to choose the fabric and pattern (in my signature blue in my ideal value with by best value contrast) and make it to suit my H shape body (Burda pattern 6211). Plus making my own clothing hits another of my personal values (creativity) which I talk about below!
Check out my post here on building a more sustainable wardrobe.
Style Tip: Invest in high-quality, staple garments in your best neutrals that you can wear repeatedly. These pieces not only reduce the need for constant consumption but also make your wardrobe more versatile. Your best neutrals relate to your hair, eye and skin colours, these neutrals are something you discover in a personal color analysis.
2. Authenticity: Dressing True to Yourself
Being authentic means staying true to yourself, and fashion is a fantastic way to showcase this value. If you value authenticity, your style should feel like a natural extension of who you are—not something that feels forced or uncomfortable.
Avoid trends that don’t resonate with you, and instead, focus on finding pieces that reflect your personality. If you’re introverted, as I’ve written about in my Quietly Confident Outfits post, you might prefer a wardrobe full of subtle styles or bolder ones that do the energy work for you. If you’re a bold, outgoing person, you may gravitate towards vibrant colours and statement pieces or you may wish to tone down your personality by wearing fashion classics that balance your energy. Whatever your personality the choice is yours and you can change it up each day depending on your mood.
Remember, your clothes should make you feel confident and at home in your skin. Authentic style isn’t always about impressing others but rather about being comfortable with yourself in a way that feels true and gives you confidence.
Style Tip: Take some time to assess which clothes you feel most “yourself” in. Build your wardrobe around these key pieces rather than what’s trending. Take not of what it is you love about these pieces, cut, colour, pattern, fabric, fit, details etc. The more you know about what it is that floats your sartorial boat, the easier you’ll find making decisions when you shop for new pieces.
3. Minimalism: Embracing Simplicity and Functionality
If you value simplicity, a minimalist approach to fashion may resonate with you. Minimalism is about stripping away the excess and focusing on what’s truly essential. For some, this means embracing a capsule wardrobe—a small, curated collection of pieces that work well together and can be styled in multiple ways.
Minimalist fashion isn’t about having less for the sake of it but about making thoughtful choices that reflect your need for clarity, purpose, and freedom. Instead of being overwhelmed by options, you can streamline your wardrobe, making getting dressed every day an effortless and meaningful task.
Style Tip: Start with your best neutrals (the ones that harmonise and reflect your hair, eye and skin colours) that can be easily mixed and matched. Look for clean, simple silhouettes that never go out of style. Anything extreme is likely to date more quickly. If a capsule wardrobe is something you’d like to try, check out this post on creating capsules that work easily together.
4. Empowerment: Dressing to Feel Strong and Confident
Fashion has the power to make you feel empowered. Whether it’s an outfit that makes you feel strong in the workplace or a dress that gives you confidence on a date, your clothing choices can reflect a value of self-empowerment and belief in yourself.
For many professional women, this might mean building a wardrobe that commands respect and reflects their competence. Structured clothing such as blazers, tailored trousers, and classic heels are common power pieces that create a polished, authoritative look. However, empowerment can also come from wearing something that makes you feel good—like a favorite colour, a statement necklace, scarf or other accessory, or just wearing an outfit that you know makes you look great and harmonises with your body and colouring.
Adding a blazer rather than a cardigan and swapping out jeans for dress pants always makes me feel more smart and polished.
Style Tip: Incorporate bold accessories like a statement necklace or a brightly coloured handbag into your outfit for a pop of empowerment.
5. Cultural Heritage: Honour Your Roots Through Fashion
Another way fashion can reflect your core values is by celebrating your cultural heritage. If you value your cultural background and want to incorporate it into your wardrobe, look for pieces that reflect the traditions, patterns, or designs that resonate with your identity.
This could mean wearing garments crafted by artisans from your community, incorporating traditional prints, or even using accessories like scarves, jewellery, or bags that carry cultural significance. Fashion can be a beautiful way to honor your roots and share your story with the world.
Style Tip: Seek out independent designers who celebrate cultural craftsmanship and offer a modern twist on traditional pieces.
6. Compassion: Supporting Ethical and Fair Trade Fashion
If compassion and fairness are key values for you, the way you shop can reflect this. Supporting brands that prioritise fair trade and ethical production ensures that the workers involved in making your clothing are paid fairly and work in safe conditions. Ethical fashion brands often have transparent supply chains, so you can trace the origins of your clothing, ensuring that your purchases align with your beliefs.
By prioritising fair trade, you’re voting with your wallet, supporting brands that care for their workers and the planet. This is a powerful way to let your fashion choices reflect your values of kindness and equity.
Style Tip: Look for certifications like Fair Trade or B Corp when shopping for clothes to ensure you’re supporting ethical practices.
7. Creativity: Using Fashion as a Form of Self-Expression
If you value creativity, your wardrobe is an opportunity to experiment and explore new ways of expressing yourself. You might love mixing different styles, playing with colours, or trying out unusual accessories that reflect your artistic spirit.
Fashion is an ever-evolving form of self-expression, and embracing creativity means not being afraid to take risks or break the rules. If you value creativity, your wardrobe can be your canvas—full of eclectic, daring, and imaginative combinations that reflect your unique perspective on life.
This shirt has a bow detail on the sleeves that takes it from being more classic and adds a creative twist which makes me happy!
You may express your creativity by making your own clothing or accessories, I love to knit, crochet, sew and make jewelry.
Style Tip: Don’t be afraid to experiment with mixing patterns, textures, and styles. Some of the best outfits come from unexpected pairings!
8. Equality: Championing Inclusivity in Fashion
If equality is a core value for you, you can express this through your support for brands that champion body positivity and size inclusivity. Fashion has often been exclusionary, but times are changing, with more and more brands expanding their size ranges and offering a more inclusive vision of beauty.
By supporting these brands, you contribute to a movement that encourages diversity and rejects narrow beauty standards. Inclusivity in fashion means making everyone feel represented and celebrated, no matter their body shape, size, or identity.
Style Tip: Seek out brands that promote body positivity and inclusivity, and prioritise those that offer diverse sizing and represent various body types in their marketing.
Fashion can be a powerful reflection of your inner world and what you hold dear. By aligning your wardrobe with your values, you can feel not only stylish but also intentional in your choices. Whether you care about sustainability, equality, or self-expression, your clothing can be a way to communicate these beliefs without ever having to say a word.
Ready to discover how your personal style aligns with your core values? Explore my 7 Steps to Style program to unlock your unique style personality and create a wardrobe that truly reflects who you are.
