Do you want to save time, money and energy?
Are you looking for ways to personalize your style, while keeping it minimalistic and simple?
Learn more on how to create a personal uniform and thoughtfully redesign your wardrobe.
What Is A Personal Uniform?
Simply put, a personal uniform are those clothes that you always gravitate towards. It's a set of clothing that you can use to style to (almost) any event you have to go to.
Ever since wearing the same outfit for 21 days, and then creating a capsule wardrobe for myself…
I've realized how many things in my wardrobe I didn't enjoy.
Now my wardrobe is extremely simple, and I often stick to the basics.
Do You Really Need A Personal Uniform?
I'm a big believer in making my life as simple as possible, and I would highly encourage everyone to pick up personal uniforms.
A personal uniform is so beneficial in so many different ways.
I no longer have to worry about what I'm going to wear – whether it's the toss up between the white skirt, or the blue jeans.
I literally just grab what's in my closet and go.
because of a simple wardrobe (my personal uniform), I've found that I had less worry and feeling of being overwhelmed because I haven't had to make as many choices in the morning.
Fun Fact: Decision fatigue is a real thing and a personal uniform can help against it.
I don't even need to go into how much money you'll save, when you pick up a personal uniform.
I felt as though my spending on clothes stopped overnight. I found what I liked and knew I didn't need any other clothes.
And that's the ULTIMATE beauty of a personal uniform: You know what You like to wear and what works best for you.
You know you like jeans, and so you go with jeans. I know that white collared shirts fit my body type, and I love them, so I continue to go with them.
I don't have to try to reinvent the wheel every summer with the latest fast fashion, because I knew what I wanted.
How You Can Create Your Own Personal Uniform: 5 Tips
So, how can you create your own personal uniform for you to use for the rest of you life?
Here are the best tips and tricks that I personally use:
Tip #1: Learn From Your Daily Routine
When choosing a personal uniform, consider what you do on a normal week-to-week basis.
How do you dress for work?
What do you do on the weekends?
Consider seasons and weather.
I live in Houston, and there are basically two seasons here: hot and cool.
That means that while I need a jacket for cooler months, one heavy jacket just about covers my winter needs.
That said, it's hot for most of the year.
So I needed to make sure that most of my clothes were comfortable in warmer months and could be easily layered for work.
What you do on a regular basis and where you go are huge considerations for narrowing down your personal uniform.
Tip #2 Journal Your Way To Victory!
Additionally, before choosing wardrobe staples, spend some time in self reflection by journaling.
Your minimalist style will be completely unique to you.
Use a journal to mindfully consider the following:
- What do you care about?
- What are your favorite ways to spend your free time?
- How would you describe your personality?
- Who are you, or who do you want to be?
- What do you want to focus on in your life more?
I used to purchase clothes frequently without thinking about my life, my personality and what I felt comfortable with.
This left me with a closet full of clothes that made me feel insecure, and overwhelmed.
Each time you purchase clothing, think about your personality and how it manifests itself with your lifestyle and clothing choices.
There is no longer a reason to have things in your closet that you don't love.
Tip #3: Use Pinterest To Help Determine Your Personal Style
The next thing for consideration when creating your uniform involves choosing staples.
Your uniform should consist of basic clothing items that can easily be worn in most occasions.
If you're like me and you're not a “fashionista” or generally fashionable person, choosing staples at first may feel tricky.
I recommend creating a Pinterest board of clothing styles you like.
See what patterns emerge.
Are the styles classic?
Eclectic?
Colorful?
Neutral?
My personal uniform includes a white button down shirt.
Its flattering because its shaped well.
White and loose, so its comfortable in warm weather.
And casual enough for the weekends, but easily dressed up for work.
The pants for my uniform are dark skinny jeans, which can be worn in my office and are obviously easily dressed down.
Tip #4 Express Yourself With Color, Girl!
When choosing a personal uniform, I strongly recommend choosing primarily neutrals.
This makes your uniform as flexible as possible when deciding on accessories and occasions.
The first step in choosing your color palette is always picking ones that you love.
Chose those colors that you gravitate towards.
Which colors do you naturally love to wear?
Which colors do you love so much that you want to keep in your personal uniform?
For me, it was pretty basic – mainly white and blue colors.
But always go with a color palette that represents who you are, what your personal style uniform is, and what you always love when you see it.
After you do choose your colors, though, always make sure to do a test run with all the colors.
Do you have enough colors?
Even though you like the colors, can you wear them (and love doing it)?
Do these colors match each other, or are they just a total flop?
Always make sure to refine your color palette so that it is not only refined down to something that is functional, but also expressive of who you are.
And on that note…
Tip #5: Spice It Up With Some Simple Accessories
Accessories are the easiest way to change up your outfit without owning more variety than you need.
I love accessories, because there are so many out there, and they're not that expensive at all.
Obviously, with a personal uniform, you're not trying to own every accessory out there. But it is good to have a few on hand so that you can quickly dress up whenever you need to.
It could be anything from some simple, cute earrings, dainty necklaces, or even rings.
You could even go so far as to grab a pair of sunglasses to elevate your look even more.
I'm not kidding when there are many easy ways to express yourself even more with just simple accessories.
Build Your Personal Uniform Into A Simple Wardrobe
After you've finally found your signature personal uniform, you'll want to put it into a simple capsule wardrobe.
That way, you can use it over and over again.
A capsule wardrobe is all your clothing you wear and hang onto – your personal uniform is just the answer of how all those pieces of clothing go together.
I create a free capsule wardrobe guide for you to work through. I give you some great reason on why to build one, and 4 steps to successfully achieve your own capsule wardrobe.
Download below!
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I never thought about using journaling to better understand myself, then use that to influence my fashion choices to express who I am. It’s a clever idea. ?
Thanks so much! It definitely helped me. I used to hate journaling but it really helps me slow down
Thanks for your thoughtful article. It was interesting to read, helping me to understand how this type of wardrobe works. I can see that it would not work for myself, however, as I use clothing to express my mood on any given day, which requires color choices. Also, where I live, we have four distinct seasons, and our temperatures throughout the year usually vary well over 100 degrees, which also requires a variety of clothing and outerwear. Then, too, as a self-employed musician, I have a wide variety of work settings; homes, schools, formal clothing, casual, onstage, offstage, etc. This needs a whole wardrobe in itself! But while I will not be joining you, I wish you the best because I can see the beauty of your simplified wardrobe.
I think I have been heading in this direction for a while now. This article has highlighted this for me. I have a strong sense of how I like to dress. I should thin out my wardrobe from things that don’t reflect this.
Thank you for describing this so beautifully and easily. I totally relate and never thought to create a personal uniform for myself but it makes such sense. I’m going to start my journey with confidence.