How to Put More 'You' Into Your Look

Last week, while hordes of shoppers descended on the malls, my 16-year-old niece talked me into taking her to Goodwill so she could stock up on "granny sweaters." Seems she has adopted these threadbare sweaters – many of which have heinous decorations like teddy bears embellished on the front – and made it her look.

While she's cute and young and able to carry off a vintage look, that type of intensity doesn't work as well for someone my age. But that doesn't mean as a mature woman I need to wear cookie-cutter outfits with no personality, either.

It has taken me many years to figure out just how to work my own personality into my wardrobe. I'm a little bit country, and a little bit rock and roll, so one of my favorite outfits consists of a denim tunic, worn belted with a hair-on-hide studded belt, with black leggings and cowboy boots. Sometimes I add a little yeehaw to my edgier, all-black ensembles with turquoise jewelry. And I even like to add a bit of Western with my vintage crossbody tooled leather bag (which I scored during the Goodwill trip for just $10.)

Here are some easy ways to put more "you" into your look:

• Incorporate your passion or hobby into your look. If you're a hobby artist you could add prints with a painterly finish or combine colors (like those from a sunset) that only a woman with an artistic eye could pull together.
• Find your happy color. The easiest way to inject more of your personality into your look is to wear your best colors. This doesn't always mean the colors which flatter you the most, but the colors which project who you are. I have a friend – a redhead – who loves wearing loud reds and bright blues (and often together.) They just seem to fit her happy, funny personality.
• Wear a signature accessory. Make something your distinct look, whether it's a fabulous collection of fun reading glasses or a treasured stash of vintage brooches you wear clustered together on jackets.
• Prints add personality. Show the world you have a wild side with a zebra-print scarf.  Or add some fun printed tights. Plaid speaks of tradition, polka dots are youthful, roses are romantic, etc. A picture (or in this case, a print) can speak a thousand words about your personality and give your style a unique twist.