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6 Stylish Women on How They Started Dressing like Themselves

6 Stylish Women on How They Started Dressing like Themselves

An introspective “getting to know you” game of sorts…with clothes

 

 

When did you feel like you truly started to dress like yourself? The you-est your fashion sense had ever been?

 

For some, it may have taken years to come into. Others, on the other hand, might attest they’ve had it down-pat early: that their over-30 selves today are certain they’d still wear whatever it was they donned on date night at age 24.

 

The stumbling, fumbling few (raises hand) might even say it had taken committing a fair share of fashion faux pas to get things right. The proverbial trial and error of feeling your way into who you are, through fashion, one outfit at a time.

 

We’ve seen it play out for icons like Victoria Beckham, who the world saw transform from an all-black, latex-clad posh Spice Girl to an authority on streamlined power dressing. We could even go so far as to say that, as far as personal style is concerned, this is the most Victoria Beckham that Victoria Beckham has ever been. “Peak Victoria Beckham,” if you will.

 

With that in mind, I looked elsewhere: to find that this form of coming into your own essentially happens to everyone. It only manifests in different ways, packaged in different stories. For the six stylish women we at Wonder have had on our radar for quite some time now, those stories go a little something like this:

 

Mari Jasmine

“I feel like the way I dress changes all the time! It seems like every year, I learn something about how I like to dress and refine my style bit by bit. I’m not sure when that started exactly. It’s an ongoing process!”

 

 

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“My approach to fashion today involves being more selective with the clothes I like to have in my wardrobe, trying to embrace minimalism in the sense that I have fewer things that I appreciate more and more on the conservative side.”

 

 

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Maya Nilsen

“I would say that I really truly started dressing like myself, full-time, after high school. Before, I would be scared and hold back and not wear the outfits I used to style for YouTube and Instagram on a daily basis. After high school, I felt like the fear and [caring about] what other people thought just went away. And that’s when I started to wear whatever I wanted to without being concerned about what other people thought.”

 

 

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“I just thought of a time where I really could have worn whatever I wanted without being scared. I was always scared when I was younger…that people would stare…and also scared of what opinion they might have.”

 

 

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“[But] fashion is fun. Dressing yourself is a form of self-expression and you shouldn’t be afraid to let people know who you are or how you feel through how you dress. Fashion is what excites me on a day-to-day basis; thinking of outfits for different occasions and how to style certain items are really fun for me! And [anyway, it] should always be fun: Stand out and be yourself––that’s when the fun really starts. I get excited whenever I get dressed, hoping to inspire others with my own personal style.”

 

Gabbie Sarenas

“Every fashion moment in my life is equally important. From growing up in the late 90s to the early 2000s, it was a mix of girly and boyish elements. There were times I tried to dress up like someone I looked up to. But after a while, I found that I always went back to my true self.

 

I think when I got my haircut [in November 2018] and began to embrace my curls even more was the time I felt like I was being my total self.”

 

 

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“I believe that every fashion moment in my life is a moment to remember and contributes to how I dress today: things I like and dislike, things that work for me and don’t work for me. It’s always a form of self-discovery, but I feel like it’s always the casual classic approach that I go back to…paired with my hair.”

 

 

“I feel like [now that I’m] in my 30’s, I’ve found a classic-meets-contemporary, feminine-and-masculine approach. I’m more confident with my hair now and tend to really use it as part of my uniform. I think that’s how people usually ID me: my hair.”

 

 

Jana Silao

“I started dressing up in a lot of color in grade school for programs like Christmas parties and project presentations. I used to take inspiration from cartoon fashion back then. This was also when I started thrift shopping because I couldn’t afford mall clothes and I found that department store pieces looked very common. Honestly, it was easy to establish my personal taste through fashion because I really knew what I wanted to look like––especially when I discovered Harajuku fashion.

 

My personal style now is mostly reflected in my work as a stylist, too.”

 

 

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“My approach to fashion today involves a continuous process of gaining inspiration from things in my everyday life: what I see, what I hear, what I feel. A jeepney color combo could turn into a streetwear look or what a vendor talks about could be an inspiring starting point for a passion project.

 

There is color everywhere. That’s why I feel I can never really run out of style inspiration.”

 

 

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Favour Ajah

“I honestly [feel like I truly started to dress like myself] more towards the end of last year. [It stemmed] from really understanding that fashion is supposed to be fun and an avenue for expression and art. When I hit that point, I started to view clothing and dressing up in a whole new light.”

 

 

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“What do I feel like today? Who do I want to be? Sometimes, it’s Jenny from the block. Another time, it’s Cindy with the penthouse view. And that’s fine, because they’re both strong women creating and learning and living life.”

 

 

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Jess Wilson

“I would maybe describe my style as dressy casual––if that makes sense. I like feeling comfortable but slightly put together, still, whether that’s by throwing on a trench coat to pull a look together or a good hair piece or putting more effort into my makeup to dress up my look. I’ve always dressed like this––I can’t remember exactly when but the cities I’ve lived in, Sydney and London, have a big influence in the way I dress. My approach to fashion is to have fun with it and to not be scared to stand out.”

 

 

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“One tip would be: don’t overspend on trends and cheap clothes because they never last. I’m only learning now how to shop less but of better quality.”

 

 

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A style story and origin story all at once: hey, we’re here for it.

 

 

Art Isabella Canlas

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