The Everyday Icon Style Podcast

Episode 178: Strategy, Not Closet: Your Style Roadmap

• Tiffany Howard

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Your closet itself isn't the problem—your lack of style strategy is what keeps you stuck. The real solution isn't more shopping or a complete overhaul but developing clarity about your personal style goals and creating a roadmap that translates inspirational outfits into your everyday wardrobe.

• Finding common themes in saved outfits reveals your authentic style preferences
• Take inventory of your current wardrobe to identify what aligns with your lifestyle
• A good style strategy teaches you why things work so you can repeat it independently

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Speaker 1:

This is the Everyday Icon Style Podcast the space for style-conscious, career-driven women who are ready to look like the next-level version of themselves. Each episode helps you build a wardrobe that reflects not only your executive presence but your real life. With a little bit of guidance, intentional edits and no full-blown transformation required, let's elevate your style and your authenticity one outfit at a time. I'm Tiffany, your style coach. Let's elevate your style and your authenticity one outfit at a time. I'm Tiffany, your style coach. Let's get started. Hey everyone, and welcome back to another episode of the Everyday Icon Style Podcast.

Speaker 1:

As always, I'm your host, tiffany, and today let's talk about why your closet isn't the problem. Your strategy is. Now, I know you're probably thinking well, tiffany, you always say that the problem is our closet. It's not the physical closet, it's what you put into it, because when you moved into your in your home, your closet was empty. Your closet doesn't go out and buy clothes and put them in there. You do so technically. The closet isn't the problem and it's more of your strategy, of what you actually put in to your closet. So today, that's what we're going to talk about today. So let's talk about the real reason why you are in your style rut, and style ruts can come in seasons, they can come at any time, and I think nowadays we stay stuck in them longer than we should because of our strategy.

Speaker 1:

So, of course, we've all stood in front of our closets and we've been overwhelmed, thinking that you have absolutely nothing to wear, which in part is true, and this is because you buy just to buy. And if you listen to my last episode I talked about because you're buying because you're bored. You're buying because emotion, something's going on, maybe emotionally, in your life, and it kind of helps you numb the pain or it may even give you a temporary high when you're shopping. Another thing could even be is that a lot of us also have hundreds and thousands of outfits that we've saved on Pinterest and Instagram or even TikTok, but none of them are showing up in your everyday today life. They're literally just saved. And again, you're not alone, because if I go through my Instagram and I go through my Pinterest and my TikToks, I have a lot of cute outfits saved, but they very few have shown up in my everyday wear.

Speaker 1:

So this is where the truth comes in, that the problem isn't your closet, but it's just your lack of style strategy and for many of us, we don't need more clothes, we just need clarity. You can't go shopping and buy, just to buy, and think that you're gonna come back and put all of these outfits together. No, first you need clarity, you need a roadmap, you need from point A to point B how do we get there? And you can't do that without a strategy or ie roadmap. By doing so, then the way we shop will change and we'll know what exactly it is. Our style is, what the foundation let me go back what you'll be able to build it from your foundation, because you need an actual foundation to build your style and then your style. Then you can build your ideal, your style, on top of that, because the foundation then brings everything together.

Speaker 1:

Ultimately, this is what we're going for. When you close your eyes and you're standing in front of your closet, you're able to pull out whatever it is you want to pull out and it's going to match. We are going to make this as easy and as simple as possible. There should be no overwhelm when we do this as possible. There should be no overwhelm when we do this and we need to look and wear what we love. That gives us confidence and also we want to build it a wardrobe for the life that we're actually living and how that translates into the world and how you see it and how you want to show up every day. So this is where it comes into what you think you need versus what you actually need, and we always buy based on what we think we need, but not what you actually need. So here's what many and most career women think will fix our problems. We need to go on this huge shopping spree. We need a personal shopper. We need a Pinterest refresh, a complete overhaul. No, that literally becomes overwhelming, and the last thing you need to do in this particular area of your life is to be overwhelmed. We have enough things to overwhelm us on a day-to-day basis, but here's what you actually need and what will actually work.

Speaker 1:

One you need to understand your personal style goals period, if anything else that I say after this. When it comes to what you actually need, this is the key. You don't. This is the one that you need. You need to edit what doesn't serve your image. You need to translate saved inspiration into wearable, repeatable outfit formulas and building confidence in what you already own. You don't need any more options. You just need a better strategy. What this will help you do this is your actual roadmap to get you from point A to point B.

Speaker 1:

Now, it may take some time as you do this, please remember this it is a marathon and it is not a sprint. It does not. You do not need to do all of this in six to eight weeks. If it takes you six to eight months, that is okay. It is a strategy, your pace and I think we forego the understanding, your personal style goals and we then think, oh, you know what, I need to have a personal shopper to help me with this, because I don't have time. Or I need this huge overhaul to make it work.

Speaker 1:

Because we see the style makeovers on TV, where they used to be a thing back in the day, where style makeovers. But then you always wonder, when they go back years from now, why the style makeovers didn't work. Because there was no strategy behind it. It was just a feel good thing for a day, but they went home with no strategy on how to keep it up. When building and using what actually works, you're setting yourself up for success every single time, even though your style will evolve at different phases and places in your life, you will still use the same steps to get you from point A to point B. So how do we then begin to start building your strategy for your style?

Speaker 1:

Here's what I want you to do. We are going to use those saved outfits that you've saved along the years. So I want you to revisit your saved outfits. I want you to look for common themes not the whole outfit, just themes. What color palettes are they? What are the silhouettes, what's the vibe, what are you consistently drawn to? Because these are the indicators that will help you determine and figure out what your style actually is. I will use me for an example. I am now attracted to neutral color palettes. One, because they are easy. They go together, so it takes the stress of trying to match things together. Two, it gives you me an elevated look, because I want to look. I don't want to look rich, but I want to look wealthy, if that's a thing. So those color palettes allow me to do that. I also like things that have a little bit of an edge, maybe even on the lines of adding a little vixen to them, if that's a thing. But again, this is my personal style and I get to figure out what it is that I'm trying to build, and by doing that, just by using my example, you get to see how, finding out what everything has in common, what these pictures have in common and why you like it and what you're attracted to, because these are the indicators that will help guide you to your style.

Speaker 1:

Next, of course, as always, you want to take inventory of your closet, because the clothes that you put in there are the clothes that you put in there. So now you have to also come in and figure out which pieces align with your current lifestyle and your career or business goals, and what feels off, and you're going to get rid of those or sell those by doing this. Yes, it may take you down to the bare bones, but remember, everything that you're going to remove, you're going to replace. At some point. After that, you want to define your next level identity. Who are you becoming professionally? What does she wear and what does she no longer tolerate in her closet?

Speaker 1:

This is where you have to get serious about letting go of your 50-11 versions of you that are in your closet, because all of us have it. We have when we started our career, when we, you know, used to be out and about all the time you get to see what gaps you have, you may see. You know what. I no longer have to wear suits anymore. It's more of a casual, business casual vibe at work. But then, at the same time, I don't have any outfits or clothes that I can wear outside of work. So casual clothes or at leisure wear and all of those things.

Speaker 1:

How do you get to begin to see your whole picture? And all of this begins to flow together with building your style strategy, because everything will then begin to align with what it is from number one, everything that you had in common with the outfits that you saved, because everything is. And when you're doing this, I just want you to pick one thing, just one. When you're going back and you're looking at what everything has in common, I want you to pick one thing. So, if it's the color palette, write down what that is fine, clothes that align with that. By editing your closet, you may have a few pieces that are a part of that color palette. Pull those out, begin to see how they make you feel. How does this fit into your next level identity as building out your style and your roadmap?

Speaker 1:

I think we always think we have to create this master plan, but when you really begin to look at what you've saved, you'll begin to notice that you have been building your style the whole time. You just need a little help and a little guidance. So that leads me to my next point what I do as your style coach, because you need help and you need guidance and you don't have to do this alone. So, as a style coach, I want to be very clear. Okay, I don't tell you just what to wear, or sometimes not what to wear at all, but what I want to help you do at the core is I want to help you understand why it works so you can do it again and again and again with ease. We are building something that, even if I'm not there, and in five years from now, your style changes again. You can do this like clockwork by yourself, with ease, by using the tools and the frameworks that I give you.

Speaker 1:

So, with my signature style discovery session, which is actually a two hour session, where we begin to take your saved inspirations, we audit your closet and we create a personalized wardrobe plan that helps you show up with clarity and confidence, because at the end of the day. That is what matters, and without the pressure of a full-on transformation. Please don't think that you need to do a full transformation to get your look. You don't. We're literally going to start with what you have. Two things is what we start with? One we're going to start with what you have. Two things is what we start with. One we're going to start with what you already have. Two we're going to build and lay the foundation to build upon from that. So, if you are ready to stop scrolling and start showing up as your most powerful, polished self, then this session is definitely for you, and it is a great way to get started, to at least, above all else, begin to build your roadmap.

Speaker 1:

So, if you are ready to turn your inspiration into a wardrobe that actually works for you, I invite you to book a free style clarity call. The link will be in the description box below, because this will be your first step towards transforming your wardrobe without the stress of doing it alone. And if you love this episode and this podcast, please take a screenshot and share it in your stories. Tag me, of course, at Styled by Tiffany O. That link is also in the description box so I can cheer you on and repost it in my stories as well. So until next time, remember your style isn't just what you wear, it's how you show up. I will see you guys in the next episode.