Is personal style an escape, or a trap?

Emily Hatwell

Personal style has long been a channel through which someone can express themselves, whether that be their religion, country of origin, political beliefs, or class. One only has to look towards garments such as a football jersey, to infer the heritage and culture the wearer aligns with. Any number of subcultures also have strong visual imagery to represent their principles; punk displays its anti-establishment tendencies with its androgyny and harsh contrasts.

For me, personal style has long been something I used to present the parts of me that I found difficult to verbalise. Like many British people, I grew up with a school uniform and looked forward to the non-uniform days where I could come in clothes that illustrated who I ‘really’ was.  I would spend the evenings before excitedly laying out potential options and consulting with my personal assistant (i.e: my mum).

However, since starting university, I can wear essentially wear whatever, wherever, with few raised eyebrows. Consequently, I have found that deciding what to wear has become a menial task that, like washing dishes or battling with Circuit Laundry, is just one more thing that must be done. I still enjoy putting outfits together, but the novelty of doing it every day has worn off, and I find myself lacking the time and creative energy to do it.

I have ended up recycling the same outfits on rotations, while some of my more outlandish garments gather dust. When I realised this pattern, I felt a little disappointed, as though I was letting a younger me down.

But the more I thought about this phenomenon, the more content I became. Instead of trying to force myself to engage constantly with style as some odd tribute to my younger self, instead I would be satisfied with the rotations, and then on special occasions utilise more creativity. In that way, it would still feel fresh. Whether it is for a formal or meeting friends from home, I have re-found that energy I once had.

In addition to wanting to maintain legitimate interest in my personal style, I wanted to avoid feeling like I had to invest time, effort, and money into what has concerningly become a commercialised buzzword. In an age of hyper-fast fashion ridden with micro-trends that go as quickly as they came, developing a personal style has been held up as something above the muck.

Suddenly, we are caught again in an overconsumption trap, where the clothes on our very backs are a contributor to a distinctly impersonal cycle of corporate overproduction

In theory, it is perfect. If you find something that works for you, you are likely to keep it for decades to come and avoid the trend cycle’s shifting tide. This mitigates the risk of waste and allows you to carve something that is unique. However, the idea of personal style in and of itself has become a trend. Searches for ‘personal style’ in February 2026 were more than five times what they were in the UK four years ago. Consequently, so-called ‘basics’ that should be bought occasionally are mindlessly consumed in the same way as other micro-trends. Everyone seems very willing to say that you need to ‘find your personal style’, and if you follow this 7-step process and buy their affiliated product you can find it. Suddenly, we are caught again in an overconsumption trap, where the clothes on our very backs are a contributor to a distinctly impersonal cycle of corporate overproduction.

After writing that charged section, a question that came to my mind: is all this that significant? We live in a difficult world of life-threatening challenges, what does it matter if some like to indulge in social media trends?

Aside from the environmental issues associated with the fashion industry, engaging with personal style like a trend removes it from its innate principles. Style is deeply political. By engaging with personal style disingenuously, we become another cog in a mechanism that enables corporate overproduction.

Engaging with personal style like a trend removes it from its innate principles

So, what can be done? From this argument, it seems like everyone loses. Engage in normal trends, and that leads to overconsumption, or engage with the personal style philosophy, and still over-consume. To remedy this, we should interpret personal style differently. Instead of defining it as particular garments which act as disguised micro-trends, they should be items that are still foundational for the individual but are built up over time and are influenced by what came before them. By having clothing that makes sense in the wider context of your own past style, they will easily slot into a pre-existing collection. Additionally, adapting clothes that you already own can save money and reduce overconsumption.

Therefore, perhaps my repetitive outfit cycles were just me wearing clothes as they ought to be worn. They should be repetitive, because repetition in clothing is what actually establishes a personal style, not just one-offs that are seen once in a blue moon.

Image: Mekuria Getinet via Unsplash