I have been working on having a style where my pieces mix and match into multiple outfits (less one outfit wonders) and a closet that is a tad more streamlined. Also, I recently realized that I have a lot of clothes in very few colors, so adding some variety with colors that will work with my basics is a new goal. I'm still deciding how much of the colored items should be clothing versus accessories.

I've also been working on mixing up my "jeans everyday rut" and starting to wear more skirts, dresses and trousers, even on the weekends! And learning to mix up my pieces more, I want to start wearing out my clothes instead of getting tired of them just because they are worn in the same combinations every day. I've been assembling my outfits the night before which helps because that's when I have the time to try out new combinations.

I'm still very focused on my closet purge and tracking how often I wear an item. This has helped me purge a number of items over the past few months without regret. When I see I truly am not wearing an item for months at a time, it's a bit easier to move them on to a new home.

I'm still trying to break some bad habits (impulse & sale buying). I want a "less is more" wardrobe with quality classic pieces. I'm retired and don't work outside the home so I could wear jeans everyday, but I don't want to. I want a concise, functional and fabulous wardrobe.

I'm in a place where things feel very hectic in my life right now. I'm trying to have fun with fashion, but I have given up on any goals or aspiration . I think that I have a pretty good handle both on my style and my wardrobe, but just getting dressed every day can be a chore between the gym, errands/housework and the kids.

Trying to hone down my wardrobe into something that is manageable for me. I still have way too many items in my closet - many of them I forget about and then remember them after the season is over with and its too late to wear them! Also, being forced to SYC (although it is good for me) due to financial situation - and the few times I give myself permission to buy something, I don't really know what to buy because I don't know what kind of job I am going to end up with - and so . . . I kind of flounder! Which is OK - because I usually don't buy anything then - and that's a good thing! I'm still pretty clueless as to identifying my style - that has been a challenge for me ever since I discovered YLF - although, I have always known that I tend to be attracted to more trendy items than classic items. I have become much pickier about what I wear and have managed to purge some items from my wardrobe that don't "feel" good when I wear them. Also, more interested in quality than quantity - I yearn for a small, manageable, customized to my style kind of wardrobe - but I don't yet know if it is going to be arty, trendy, bombshell, bohemian, sporty, etc. - I'm having a LOT of fun through the process though!

I really enjoyed reading all of these responses, and it is nice to hear about where folks are coming from.

Angie, thanks for the picture. Elegant punk hair sounds fabulous.

Lyn* I also think you would look great in 80’s slouchy trousers. I haven’t been brave enough to try them on myself yet because I am afraid they will be traumatizingly unflattering on me, but you have a completely different shape.

Kelly, I can see why you wouldn’t want to be told that you look like a china doll, but the term usually comes to my mind to describe someone who is just so perfectly pretty. I can see a bob without bangs looking really elegant on you. With bangs would look good too, but that would make it more classic.

Kristin, sounds like you and Rae are having similar business wardrobe woes at the moment.

Anna, I had to laugh because the way you wrote that you sound rather unconvinced your look is softening. Or maybe you mean it wasn’t a conscious choice.

Carole, I had no idea you are retired! I suppose I realized you have grown kids, but you look young!

Hallo, Barbara! I love the sound of sassy Euro prep

Modgl, I like how you phrased that--to be modern. That is something at the forefront for me also. I don't necessarily want to be trendy but always modern. Hmm, does this philosophy have something to do with your screen name?

My initial goal when joining YLF was to upgrade my look to polished and professional at work, because everyone was always commenting on how young I looked. And to move beyond my MOTG uniform of fleece jackets and Merrell mocs and to stop wearing my 5 year old maternity clothes! Then that kicked off a whole major wardrobe revamp (of which I'm hopefully nearing the end, because my credit card has gotten quite a workout the past few months!). Next my goal was to edit my wardrobe and keep only pieces that made me feel absolutely fab. I purged a bunch of clothes and completely reorganized my closet. Next my goal was to figure out what my style is, and I think I've done that with help from all of you. I also tried a lot of new looks for me and tried to push myself out of my fashion comfort zone. And I've been learning a lot more about fashion, fabrication, and fit issues. I also brought in some new YLF members by posting about fashion on my mommy board, which made me happy! I'm happy to say that I feel like I've met all the above goals! YLF is so great--thank you Angie and all of you YLF'ers for all your help! You are all so fab and I couldn't have progressed so far so fast without all of your help and encouragement!

Now my new goals are to start working on wardrobe remixing, get better at figuring out what will work on me so I don't have to keep returning things, continue to evolve my style in new directions while still remaining true to my core style, and to help others wherever they are in their style journey.

Sorry if that sounded like an Oscar speech, I'm just so grateful for Angie and all of you and all that you've done for me!!! XOXOXO GP

Really interesting thread Scarlet:)

My current goal is to continue purging my wardrobe thus creating a wardrobe that has only outfits / separates that I love and wear frequently and of course are the right cut, etc for me. I also aim to have something in my wardrobe for every occasion as I do find it somewhat stressful when I 'have' to buy something for an occasion but can't find what I want. And perhaps subconsciously I have been leaning towards less is more (fewer layers, fewer accessories, although sometimes layered strands of pearls are a must :))

My fashion goal is to be open to trying new and different things with a view to adding them (those that work) to my wardrobe in a way that maintains the integrity of what I perceive to be "my" style.

@scarlet, my screen name has been with me since the early days of the internet. I guess I should have been more descriptive when I stated my fashion goals. I see clothing shapes changing; what's in the stores is a sea change for me. The way I wore clothes in the past doesn't make sense any more. A lot of things in stores feel new and fresh to me right now. Maybe because I wasn't paying much attention for the last 10 years. I'm really enjoying everything that feels like it's all new like skinnies for both work and OTG, wedges, nude heels, every kind of boot, unexpected layering, belting, soft blouses, structured jackets, and casual pieces and fabrications done in a polished way for work. I want to move my look forward into what's next, not look back.

Everybody's responses are so very interesting and fun to read.

I am on the Less-is-more wagon now. I think my style is more gamine, but lately I realized that all my life my choices in dressing have not entirely been mine; that in fact somewhat unconsciously I have also been drawn to certain styles in reaction to something I _didn't_ want to be. Didn't want to be fat. Didn't want to look like my mom (who had a strong, imposing style akin to a Dynasty cast member). Don't want to look gaudy. Don't want to look old, etc.

So now my goal is to explore and see what are my true preferences, from my heart without these Donts.

It is not an easy goal as old habits die hard.

On this note: This week I tried to go in totally different directions as an experiment. A bit by chance, one morning I tried this and that from my closet and got to the dreaded awful combo. i.e. you know when you just pick two "wrong" or difficult pieces and they happen together on your body suddenly, and you just have to tear out of them as soon as possible. Well, for the first time I had this crazy idea of keeping them on, just to see what would happen. Would I die? Would I collapse? Would the skies cave in on me? In this case the impertinent combo consisted of a blue-gray tweed lined cigarette dress-pants and a yellow-beige-pink striped turtleneck. Both items belong to different outfits. Somehow I just hate the way these two items look on their own, on me. Paired with other things they "pass". But together! I think I am not a turtleneck person, especially the ones that come up high on the neck reminiscent of Pam in The Office. Then the pants' cut really remind me of my Mom body shape. All of this with my short unkempt hair that morning: argh.

Anyway, my experiment yielded antipodal results. I soon lost the self-consciousness, even more than with my usual outfits. That was certainly unexpected. I started moving around and accomplished a lot of daunting tasks that day. I still did not like what I saw in the morror but actually felt good in the clothes with eyes closed. Strange, no?

I dare you to try this one day.

Wow, a big question...but a good one to consider. I've enjoyed reading everyone's responses so far.

I came to YLF about 8 months ago with a pretty good knowledge of what I liked and didn't like fashion-wise, but not really knowing what my style was or how best to build my wardrobe. One of the many helpful things the forum has done for me is expose me to lots of personal styles: some very different from my own and some more similar and still others that I would like to emulate. YLF has helped me refine my preferences, and even pushed me to see with new eyes styles I had previously rejected as "not for me" (I'm talking about skinnies!).

My main fashion goal right now is to define my style. I'm very interested in all the recent discussions about Euro Chic, as this style seems close to my natural instincts for simple, low-contrast, effortless, practical clothes. I also have some Modern/American Classic and Boho elements in my bag of tricks, so my challenge is to merge these three into something coherent and workable. Should be easy, right?

Once I have a better handle on what my style is, my goal will be to hone my wardrobe even further so that every piece works together effortlessly. I guess you could say my goal is: style coherence!

Posting pics and getting feedback from Angie and all of the wonderfully helpful and stylish women on YLF is really helping me learn about my style. I was shy about posting at first, but I'm learning that posting outfits is the best way to learn...so look for more pics! I will be listening carefully and taking notes as I work on defining my style.

after 3 years on ylf and with a modest budget my goals are also modest
- buy myself a new bag after 8 years with a nappy bag
- replace items bought 3 years ago - eg jeans and boots
- improve my workout wardrobe, and also wearing to the pool/beach outfit
- grow my hair longer in a hopefully stylish fashion
- have more attractive footwear (possibly a pipedream)
- think about what I want from jackets

I'm still really struggling to work out who I am - nearly two decades of being a carer have made me 'lose' who I really am. I think I am getting there - I now only buy things that I think are perfect (sometimes I have to run them by YLF first, I don't always trust my judgement!) and that I like. And I am not buying things because I think they might be 'useful' because for me in the past that has meant 'dull'.

I've worked out what shape I am, and what styles of clothing don't flatter me. The same with colours. Now I am working on finding some formulas that will work for my day-to-day life and those occasions where I want to dress up a bit more. It's going to be a long process, but I am quite enjoying it!

I worked out what cuts and looks I like on myself and I know my favourite colors. I now know that my goal is a functional and beautiful minimalist wardrobe. I already made a list with the things I think I need to get there and now I'm slowly starting to search for the items that made the list. I'm still thinking about further defining my style and I am still somewhat unsure about it, but I have time to do this and don't need to hurry. It will take a long time to acquire the wardrobe additions and replacements anyway, so I will work on that during the process. In the meantime I try to look the best I can with the pieces I have and I have really fun with dressing myself! I'm at a point where I'm comfortable in my everyday clothes and know I look good, even if there's still a long way to go to get the style I want to achieve.

I haven't really started in earnest, but my main goals are to stop punishing myself for my size by dressing poorly, and to create a look that I actually like now that I am transitioning out of graduate student schlump into....whatever comes next.

I really enjoyed reading these responses. I have to say I am heartened to read how folks give themselves the time and self-love they need to find their way. At the same time I am so blown away and impressed by e.g. Goldenpig, who decided she needed to change something and went at it guns blazing. I think both ways are very impressive.