Descriptors has really helped me hone in on things this season. I am using only two words now

SERENE and ELEGANT

Serene reminds me of calm, light, the ocean, water, beaches, waves, softness, and a look that is genuine, easily approached but maybe a bit regal also. It calls up my light summer color palette.

Elegant to me means polished, fresh, refined, updated, well made, tasteful, classic, well fitting, projecting confidence, statuesque, composed.

So with these two words I think I have finally nailed my Style Statement.

I had been using Genuine Composed. These words also apply to me in a very real way but they are not intuitive when I shop for clothes. I have a hard time figuring out when a dress looks genuine. It's not a typical style word, it's more of an overall feeling that goes with the personality of the wearer. Clearly a lack of garish color and prints, and it rules out overly edgy and modern, etc. Composed is also tough to translate into clothing style. It's beyond explanation here, and the complexity of it becomes very baffling when shopping. It is strange asking myself if a dress looks Genuine Composed, but somehow feels natural asking if it looks Serenely Elegant.

In fact Genuine Composed Worked so poorly that I had to use my five style adjectives also which defeats the purpose of a Style Statement. A Style Statement should be two words that can encompass your style, and I needed 5 or even 6! They were Calm, Fresh, Classic, Polished, Light and I added architectural and ethereal as modifiers. As you can see, my five style adjectives are swallowed up by my new two word style statement Serenely Elegant. In fact I no longer use the style adjectives. They were a good starting point, though.

Whenever I judge an outfit to be Serenely Elegant, I look and feel my very best. When I make a new purchase the items that are both Serene and Elegant play best with my existing wardrobe.

I have gone through quite an evolution. I started out with no style direction. Then I learned about style adjectives and Style Statements here on YLF. I picked words that seemed to apply, and used them. When they didn't work I changed them and tried them again. I have gone through 3-4 versions before hitting on this.

Do you use a Style Statements or style adjectives? Have you changed them? Why did you change them? Was it a change of style? A poor fit (like mine)? Some other reason? Have you found any that seem to fit?

I am open to the possibility that these words will change again in the future, but for now, they are an excellent fit for my style journey. Getting to this point was tough. I became skeptical along the way about whether the use of adjectives would be meaningful or truly helpful. I read with trepidation as all the UWP's were happily shopping and wondered if some helpful epiphany would occur to me. I stuck with my trial and error method. It has paid off! Finally!