📝 Finding My 3 Style Words

Let's continue our exploration into Allison Bornstein's 'Wear it Well' from the AB Closet Editing System to Finding Your Three Words

Finding my 3 words

Reading Allison Bornstein’s Wear it Well was such a fun style experience, it unlocked so many ideas for me. One of the most celebrated systems detailed in Allison’s book is the 3 word method: the idea is that you find three core words to guide your style and the majority of your wardrobe

Word 1: Your practical word

Your first word can be inspired by the pieces you wear the most. It’s your practical word, the one that roots you. I found two words that resonated with me here: cosy and simple

Word 2: Your aspirational word

Your second word is inspired by your future self - the best version of you living the life you deserve. In my vision of my future life, I am not unlike my fabulous French neighbour Veronique who has been an inspiration for me from the moment I met her - she is in her 70s and I have seen her wear her long grey hair in space buns, she wears dungarees, floaty skirts, natural fabrics and bright colours. I like to think that my future self has embraced some of this eccentricity, and so my second word is ‘eclectic’. Something that strengthens this for me is that some of my favourite home inspirations images are notably eclectic - this touch of bohemian is appealing to me

Word 3: Your emotional word

Your third word defines how you want to feel in your outfits. This was a tricky one for me at first, but out of nowhere it came to me: delicate. I know already I like to have a touch of feminine, intricate elements in my outfits, and the word delicate seemed to perfectly encapsulate this

My fourth word?

The entire point of this exercise is to narrow down to three words, and yet I have this word which keeps coming up for me: rural. Perhaps this comes under eclectic, perhaps it comes under simple, perhaps this is where I would like my regulars to be, I’m not sure. The way I see it, not everything has to be settled right here and now and I can play with swapping these words out until I have a combination that feels right:

simple x eclectic x delicate

cosy x eclectic x delicate

cosy x eclectic x rural

rural x eclectic x delicate

simple x rural x delicate

cosy x eclectic x simple

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