Creating Your Personal Style Uniform

Welcome to Dressed for My Day! I’m so glad you stopped in for a little style inspiration today. Because the star of the outfit I’m sharing is almost sold out, I thought I’d approach today’s post a little differently than first planned. Definitely check out the individual elements of this chic style. But let’s also talk about creating your personal style uniform and how that can benefit you.

I purchased this oh-so-soft and cozy leopard print faux fur coat just before Christmas when it was 66% off at Loft Outlet. Now it’s available at Loft, but only in a couple of sizes. I’m wearing a size medium and might could have worn a small just as easily.

I’d been eyeing leopard print coats since early fall, but hadn’t taken the plunge because of the prices. When I was able to get this one for just one-third the usual price, I decided to snap it up.

But here’s why I did that. I knew that this coat would work wonderfully with my personal style uniform. And that’s the beauty of creating a personal style uniform for yourself.

What is a personal style uniform? It’s not something you have to wear every day, of course. Instead, a personal style uniform is simply the basics that you enjoy and tend to wear on a regular basis in your unique blend. And you can absolutely have more than one style uniform, too.

I’d say I have about half a dozen style uniforms that I pretty much stick to in the cold weather months:

• jeans + pullover sweater
• jeans + long sleeve t-shirt or turtleneck + blazer
• jeans + long sleeve t-shirt or turtleneck + cardigan
• black pants + cashmere pullover sweater
• black pants + silky blouse + cashmere cardigan
• athleisure pants + sweatshirt or t-shirt

And within each of those style uniforms, I keep my separates pretty basic and usually solid in color. For instance, I have several cashmere pullover sweaters and they all look pretty much alike except for the color. I also have several long cardigans that are similar. And, while my blazers are all different, they’re generally all long blazers (because that’s the silhouette that works best for me) and they will all work with my selected neutrals and signature colors.

Yes, you absolutely need to have the right wardrobe essentials in your closet. And they need to be in the limited palette of neutral and signature colors you’ve chosen for yourself. But it’s wise to go a step further and make sure that you have the pieces you need to create your favorite personal style uniforms over and over, without much thought.

That way, when you need to dress quickly for work or you just don’t want to put the effort into styling something new for church, you can easily reach for almost anything in your closet and create beautiful outfits with little thought.

Plus, when it’s time to add a coat or accessories, you’ll know that you have the lengths and colors that work best with your outfits. For instance, I no longer wear tunic length sweaters at all. Nope. Notta. I have nothing against tunics, by the way. I just don’t like them for me. Plus, they would complicate my wardrobe. I’d have to make sure I have coats that would cover them. But since I have no tunic length sweaters or tops in my uniforms, I know that my coats work with everything I do have.

I also include my jewelry in my style uniforms. I have a couple of long pendant necklaces that I wear on repeat with my turtlenecks, one shorter necklace I wear with all of my v-neck sweaters or tops and only a couple of pairs of earrings that I reach for consistently. Sure, I have more jewelry than that. But those few pieces are the go-to accessories I grab when I’m creating one of my easy uniform looks.

I’ve linked the pieces of everything I’ve shown you in this look in the widget below. Plus I have additional selections in most categories for you to shop. I absolutely love every single piece of this classic look from my favorite “uniform” earrings to my favorite black pants to the leather tote I reach for almost every single day. I can personally recommend each piece I’m wearing with confidence.

But most importantly I hope you caught the vision for creating your personal style uniforms and having them on constant replay. It makes life easy, style simple, your wardrobe functional and your day a little less stressful when you know those go-to formulas that work best for you and the clothing in your closet.

Oh, and if you’d like an alternative to my black pants, which are in the shopping widget above, you might consider these at Christopher & Banks. I can vouch that these are chic, comfortable and well-fitting classic black slacks.

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I’ve linked today’s post to the Style on the Daily weekly style link-up. Be sure to check out some other great styles from the bloggers who gather there each week!

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Blessed for My Day

I’ve discovered that if I’m making decisions that seem a little extreme and out of character, I need to HALT. I’m probably either hungry, angry, lonely or tired. It’s kind of like those old Snickers bar commercials where the young man turns into Betty White or some diva. His friends accuse him of “not being himself” because he’s hungry. Sure enough, when we’ve allow one of our basic needs for food, peace of mind, companionship or rest to go unmet in a healthy way, we end up behaving out of character…and out of line with God’s best for us.

Today let’s do what we need to in order to achieve a little balance in our lives. That may mean you need to get out of the house and go for a walk with a friend. It may mean you simply need to get a healthy snack or drink more water. Or it may mean you need to make amends with someone that you’ve been angry with for some time. Or maybe you just need a nap! If we don’t stay on top of these basic needs in a healthy, godly way, we can expect trouble down the road.

Once when Jacob was cooking stew, Esau came in from the field, and he was exhausted… Esau said, “I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?” ~ Genesis 25:19,32