Your style goals can serve as a helpful frame of reference as you review your closet, shop for new items, create outfits, and evolve your style. Having a FLEXIBLE set of goals will make your style journey more effective and enjoyable. 

If you have a good handle on your style direction and are simply fine-tuning, setting style goals can be a quick, intuitive and incremental process. If you have experienced dramatic changes in your life, or if you’re in a style rut, it might require some soul searching and a more time-consuming, in-depth analysis of the internal and external factors that affect your style.

Anything that relates to your style can go on the list. Style goals can be long or short, general or specific, seasonal or annual. Make a list in your head, or write it down. And remember that style goals can be changed at any time. 

I usually have my style goals all figured out in the first week of January, but this year I’ve had a lot going on and left it for a couple of months while things settled down. Now at the end of February I have a good vision of what I want to achieve with my style in 2017.

My style evolved quite a bit in 2016, although it essentially came back home. I’m keeping the same aspirational style moniker, “Urban Pretty”, because it’s important to me that my outfits are structured, refined, polished and pretty. I feel more content about my style direction than ever.  

Here are my goals:

  1. To wear outfits that are Modern, Crisp, Soft, Retro and Dressy. These are the five adjectives that I’ve chosen to describe my ideal style so they’ll be at the front of my mind throughout this leg of my style journey.
    • Modern because I enjoy injecting a few very current trends into my seasonal look.
    • Crisp because I love wearing shades of white, and have a strong need to create a polished appearance. 
    • Soft because I do not enjoy wearing hard-edged outfits. 
    • Retro because of my fondness for looks from the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s, but wearing them with a good dose of Modern. 
    • Dressy because that’s what I prefer.  
  2. To explore Maximal style my way. No more ultra simple outfits. To wear pearl necklaces, a pearl bracelet, watch and pearl ring most days. To frequently sport scarves, belts, patterns, pattern mixed looks, more complex garments, layered looks, matchy-matchy looks, and clashing yet harmonious colour combinations. But not all at once.
  3. To add what I perceive as more elegant, polished touches to my style. This might mean adding classics into the mix like metal chain handle bags, pointy toe ballet flats, and sheath dresses. 
  4. To continue wearing my signature colours (sour brights, shades of white, and ink blue), but to add turquoise into the mix. I love a soft bright turquoise — think Tiffany’s blue. 
  5. To wear red shoes with matching bags in Spring and Summer because I’m in the mood for red shoes. 
  6. To only wear black in small doses. 
  7. To fine-tune my list of wardrobe essentials and add more fashion. This has happened organically to my wardrobe over the last two years, but it’s good to formalize it in my goals so that I stay focussed. 
  8. To wear skirts and dresses more frequently year round. I also enjoy wearing cropped straight or flared jeans under my dresses, which counts as wearing a dress. 
  9. To wear dressy trousers more frequently, despite the dry-cleaning bill, because I feel great in trousers. 
  10. To continue mixing high-end and low-end items in one outfit. 
  11. To NOT purchase more silver shoes or items with silver hardware as I commit fully to gold.
  12. To have even MORE fun with fashion. 

Over to you. Have you thought about your style goals for 2017? If so, please share them in the comments section. Begin with just three goals if the process is overwhelming, and take it from there. Or, jot down some rough thoughts about your current and aspirational style direction if that’s easier. Veteran Fabber Style Fan did just that in the forum last month, and it was a joy to read. She also inspired others to do the same. 

IMPORTANT: Remember to be patient with your style and not to take it all too seriously. Learn from your mistakes and enjoy the winners. Laugh a lot, and have fun along the way.