Whether it’s my clients or members of the YLF forum, I find that most people looking for a style change fall into one of two groups. 

One group is exploring a completely new sense of style. These ladies and gents are looking to overhaul large parts of their wardrobe and make drastic changes to their daily look. I call their process a Style Renewal. The impetus for this type of style change can come from many places, like starting a new job, moving into retirement, dressing for a new body type, reclaiming your fab bod after having children, relocating to a new climate, experiencing a radical shift in fashion persona, or reaching an “age-milestone” like 30, 40 or 50. And sometimes you feel like a drastic style change just because you’re in an adventurous mood. 

The second group is looking to build on their existing style. These ladies and gents already have a style base that they are working from. They are in tune with what works for their body type, lifestyle, age and stylistic preferences. But they are looking to add the next level of fabness by trying “new to them” trends and vibes, or stopping to wear the ones that no longer make them feel fab. I call their process a Style Refresher.

My first engagement with clients like Bei-Jing, Meredith and Karen was to help them through a complete style renewal, but during the years since then we have been doing style refreshers. Their styles have evolved to the extent that we merely refresh the necessary silhouettes each season. 

It can be important to recognize which of these two groups you fall into because a renewal involves a lot more introspection, and a bigger investment of time and money than a refresher. I sometimes see women get bogged down in introspection when they already have the base to work from and really only need to refresh their style. I also see the opposite, where women are trying to do a complete style renewal, but haven’t thought through their goals before they hit their closets or the stores.

Like many things, it is really a continuum that you move along as you go through life. Still, acknowledging whether you are closer to renewal or refresher is useful nonetheless. For many women the big renewal will only happen a few times on their style journey, and most years they will be doing a cost effective and efficient refresher. Some seasons the refresh will be bigger than others. And there are some women that get a kick out of drastically reinventing their style more often.

Are you renewing or refreshing your style at the moment? How often do you completely renew your style.