How to Step Out of Your Fashion Comfort Zone

Stepping out of your comfort zone in general is already hard enough. Doing it within the context of fashion is even harder. If you don’t have a personal stylist, it’s easy to doubt your choices and tastes. Also, since the smallest change in your outfit can draw a lot of attention, experimenting with new clothes can be extremely intimidating.

However, if you want to change the way you dress, you need to take that first step. To help you become more confident in expressing yourself, we’re going to discuss four ways to step out of your fashion comfort zone.

1. Work with a personal stylist

This is probably the easiest and most effective way to change your style. Having a professional give you personal advice on what you should buy and wear can give you the assurance that you’re looking for. Hearing someone say that you look good in a particular shirt or jacket can do wonders for your self-esteem. This boost in confidence can motivate you to purchase clothes that you wouldn’t normally wear.

Working with a stylist can also give you an idea of what objectively looks good on you. An experienced personal stylist will have worked with a lot of different people with various physical traits. Because of this, they will be more than capable of finding clothes that suit you and accentuate your positive features.

Once you get a sense of what looks good on you, you can eventually go off on your own and put a little more of your personality into your wardrobe.

2. Take baby steps

If you don’t have the budget for a stylist, that’s okay. Take your time and take small steps towards the style that you’re aiming for. If you want to start wearing bolder colours, start with wearing a bright shirt that you can cover with a jacket. This is a low-risk choice that you can easily commit to.

Once you’ve worn the shirt, reflect on how you felt when wearing it. Did it feel embarrassing? Empowering? Did people even notice it? Did you care that people were looking at you? These questions can lead to a direction that you want to go.

If you keep taking baby steps, you’ll eventually get to the place where you want to be. Also, since you would have had time to ease yourself into it, you’ll likely be more confident in wearing new clothes as well.

Sometimes, you have to go through trial and error, but that’s all a part of self-expression.

3. Look for new sources of inspiration

Good artists copy; great artists steal. If you find yourself struggling to find something that’ll get you out of your comfort zone, try looking for new sources of inspiration.

With social media it has never been easier to find outfit ideas. On sites like TikTok, Instagram and YouTube, there are plenty of tutorials that help you put a new outfit together. Some people enjoy fashion so much that they will be more than happy to go shopping with you to help you with your outfit.

Inspiration doesn’t even have to come from clothing. It can come from paintings, music, nature and so on. Maybe a painting as a colour scheme that you find interesting. Perhaps that one singer that you like is wearing shoes that you’ve never seen before.

Allow yourself to be inspired and keep an open mind. You might be surprised with what you come up with.

4. Check out new stores

If you don’t change your habits, you won’t be able to change your style. So, if you often go to a certain store every time you go shopping, see if you can change things up a bit and check out new stores.

For some, this might be intimidating. If you feel anxious about visiting a new store, ask a close friend to come with you. Better yet, see if you can hire a professional stylist. Most stylists offer personal shopping packages. During this service, they’ll guide you through the millions of clothing stores at your local shopping mall and pick out the right clothes for you.

Hopefully, this gave you an idea of how to break out of your fashion bubble. Just like with anything in life, it’s important to break out of your comfort zone every once in a while. Trying new things will not only make you more confident, it can also make you feel more fulfilled.