Why you need a style icon

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When trying to define your personal style, it’s sometimes difficult to envisage how you’d like to look, particularly if you don’t feel that you are particularly stylish at this moment in time. That’s why it’s great to look to celebrities and people in the public eye (and also people you know and admire), so you can unpick why you like their style. What is it about them that appeals to you? What makes them stylish to you?

It is in this unpicking of what you like about them, that we can start to understand whether you could translate this into your own style. Of course, it has to match with your personality and lifestyle too. You may start off choosing someone you admire, but then realising that you like to wear more pattern than them, so it’s just the general silhouette you like. Or you might choose someone for the creative combinations they wear, but realise that sequin jackets have no place in your daily life! Or maybe they definitely do have a place in your daily life, as you’ve just realised you can wear them casually…

When I work with my clients, we talk a lot about their personality and we come up with a completely personalised Style Recipe. However, sometimes it’s a great additional question to ask, to look to the style icon and simply ask, “Would Kate Middleton (insert your style icon here, K-Mid isn’t one of mine) wear this?” Or, “How would Iris Apfel (again, insert own icon) style this necklace?”

You don’t need to have one style icon either. You might have a combination of a few. These could be for different areas of your life or that you just like certain aspects of their style - colour combinations, how they accessorise, pattern mixing, silhouette etc. Or it might just be that you are more of a chameleon and don’t like to look the same every day mood dresser and you need a few to choose from.

So, if you’re a visual sort, head over to my Pinterest page, where I have a board dedicated to style icons. And if you are more of a list person, here’s my starter for ten list (in no particular order and by no means extensive) of style icons:

  1. Audrey Hepburn

  2. Katherine Hepburn (are they related?)

  3. Holly Willoughby

  4. Meghan Markle

  5. Kate Middleton

  6. Ines de la Fressange

  7. Frida Kahlo

  8. Jennifer Anniston

  9. Jo Whiley

  10. Leandra Medine (of Man Repeller fame)

  11. Louise Redknapp

  12. Gillian Anderson

  13. Olivia Palermo

  14. Helen Mirren

  15. Dame Judy

  16. Victoria Beckham

  17. Queen Letizia

  18. Jenna Lyons

  19. Sienna Miller

  20. Carrie Bradshaw

  21. Alexa Chung

  22. Kate Moss

  23. Twiggy

  24. Debbie Harry

  25. Madonna

  26. Jackie O

  27. Sophia Loren

  28. Jane Birkin

  29. Grace Kelly

  30. Brigitte Bardot

  31. Marilyn Monroe

I’d love to know who your style icons are and if you found this useful, let me know in the comments.

why you need a style icon