How to Create a Personal Style Uniform Part 3: Color, Shape, Accessory, and Assembly

Follow the links for Part One and Part Two of this three part series.

Step One: Choose Your Palette 

At most you will be choosing 2 neutrals and 1 color (which can be a third neutral if you prefer). Many people choose black and only black for their uniform. Whatever you choose, prioritize it being easy to find and wear.  

While simplicity wins over being personally flattering in uniforms, there can be some leeway with palette. I recommend trying to keep a flattering color or more likely, a flattering neutral, near your face whether as a dress, a top, or an accessory. If you are using a light and a dark, it's common to keep the light color near your face, unless you are notably top-heavy in shape, then you might consider reversing it. Whatever you decide on, keep it simple, easy to find, and buy multiples.

For warm coloring, I prefer off-white (or cream, ivory, beige) to white. It doesn't have to be your perfect off-white in order for it to be better than true white. You can still do black bottoms, as it's away from your face and will keep shopping simple if you'd rather not hunt for brown, olive, khaki, blush, bordeaux or whatever else you might choose. Be careful not to get hung up on palette selection, as the point of the uniform is to keep it simple. When in doubt, all black or black and white will be easiest to find.

For cool coloring, white and black are the obvious choices. If you are medium or lower contrast, you might choose navy or grey instead of black, and they both go well with white. Blush or light grey or light blue can be a good alternative or addition as well, if it matters enough for you to do the extra shopping. If you do choose neutrals that aren't widely available, you especially need to stock up when you find the right item. 

Step Two: Choose Your Shapes

I generally recommend choosing tops with long sleeves, as it can lessen the need for layering, but I will include short sleeve and sleeveless options. Long sleeves in dresses are harder to find, but might also be worth it for the decreased layering. You want to choose shapes that can be easily found. You might quickly consider which shapes are best for your figure and comfort. Buy them to fit the widest part of you, and if needed, have a tailor take them in where you are smaller.

Uniform Top Possibilities by katilmoore featuring an oversized turtleneck sweater

A few easy to find options for tops include:
turtlenecks
button-ups
pullover blouses
short sleeve cotton tees
striped tops
crew or v-neck sweaters

Common bottoms include:
(specify rise, hem length, and shape in addition to color)
jeans (skinny, straight, flare, wide, crop)
trouser
skirts (pencil, a-line, full, straight)

Common dresses include:
sheath
shift
wrap
shirt dress
A-line

Common shoes include:
pump (round, pointy, or peep)
loafer
oxford
sneaker (low or hi top or pull-on)
ballet (or mary jane or t-strap)
slip on (clog, sandal, or mule)
boots (rain, combat, otk, ankle bootie, shootie)

What you choose will depend on your public life needs, personal comfort, and so on. This is not about A+ perfection- it's about simple and serviceable, so examine quickly, choose one look, and move on (You can be slower and choosier with your shoes, as they tend to be a more expensive purchase, you can wear the same pair every day, and you shouldn't need to replace them very often. Just don't obsess over your choice- they should still be fairly basic and easily replaceable over the years). 

(Optional) Step Three: Choose Your Accessories

This step is optional. If you're pursuing a uniform to be able to better focus on other aspects of life, you may be better served by passing on accessories for now. If you want simplicity, but a touch of style play or visual personality, an accessory is really the way to go. If you choose more than one accessory, you're best off thinking of them as a cohesive set, rather than a sprawling collection. If a sprawling collection brings you joy, that's great, but to me it takes it out of the realm of personal uniform. Your optional uniform accessory isn't the flavor of the day- it's a signature piece, that if you're wearing an accessory (or set of accessories), it's always that piece and will come to be associated with you.

Choosing an accessory in a flattering color and good scale is my favorite option for bringing a color in, because it can be worn with everything without wearing out or needing to be replaced every year. A scarf (neck, shoulder, head, purse handles), a necklace, or earrings are easy options. If you love orange, you can find the most amazing orange pendant or scarf, and it will brighten up what otherwise may be a dull but utile black or white+black combo. If you have autumn coloring, it might just be a luscious camel scarf that brings a bit of harmony and personality into your uniform.  

The 3 personal uniforms above are:
1. grey blazer, grey maxi skirt, (soft) white popover, white sneakers. (optional accessory in the form of a silk scarf)
2. white V tee, navy cardigan, black jeans, black boots. (optional accessory in the form of blue tartan wrap)
3. cream pullover, cream trouser, pointy cream low heel. (optional accessory in the form of flower necklace)

Below is what I might personally choose for a uniform. I based this outfit on what I've gravitated toward in the past in terms of shape, neutrals (and placement of neutrals), comfort, and public life needs. Grey turtleneck (preferably slightly cowled and fuzzy/soft); high-waist, slightly-roomy, black, ankle, trouser; black, low-heeled bootie (with straps if I can be choosy), and optional green print scarf (worn on head or draped over a shoulder and possibly belted or around purse handles). 

My personal uniform by katilmoore featuring black cutout booties

DIY

In coming up with your own uniform, think of what you've happily worn on repeat- not just recently, but what did you wear in high school or college? Become an outside observer to the patterns of your own dressing choices over time, and then add personal observations about how it felt to wear those things. How do you want to feel in your uniform each day? It should be your personal blank canvas and grounded/even-keeled in terms of energy. What are the neutrals or easy colors that are acceptable to you? 

Could you wear a style uniform? What might it be? Let me know in the comments!

Personal Style Uniform Part 2: KLM Uniform Guidelines

Now that we know what is meant by a style uniform, and we know of the great reasons to try it at some point, let's figure out how to do it. I've created a few personal uniform guidelines to make sure that what we come up with for our uniform has what is necessary to keep it both simple and flexible. 

KLM UNIFORM GUIDELINES. Your personal uniform should
1)  works for work, going out, and home life/running errands
2) the pieces must be items you can find in store at any time of the year, regardless of what the trends are
3) uses at most 2 neutrals and 1 color (which could be a 3rd neutral if you prefer)
4) rotate through your closet

It's a lot to ask for women's clothing, as the expectations are higher, and the options are all over the place, but it can be done. (If you need individualized help, see my services and email me if you don't find what you were looking for). It's essential that a personal uniform be appropriate for every common occasion that takes you out of the house.

When you're in-home, you can be in your loungewear, and when you're at the gym you can be in your fitness garb, but to and from, where you're out, about, and seen, you should be in your personal uniform. The president wears a dark suit, Steve Jobs wore blue jeans and a black turtleneck, and you must discover what is right for your public life.

For work there are often hemline and neckline considerations, sometimes sleeve lengths as well. There may also be color restrictions. Make note of all of these. If you have a special uniform for work (e.g. scrubs at a hospital), that will not count in any way toward your personal uniform. If your job has requirements that you don't like, rather than having a black sheath dress for work and a white pant suit for personal, first try to find ways to make the dress a look you like, because it's something you will be seen in a lot. 

For going out, you'll want the feeling to be less stuffy, which may require notes as to fabrics (suiting won't be your best material unless you only go to fancy pants attorney cocktail lounges or something). It may be as simple as swapping jackets (e.g. black crepe blazer instead of black wool blazer).

For wearing at home, you're looking for a certain level of comfort, which is both fabric and silhouette. You can always change into loungewear if you know you're home for the day, but if you'll be intermittently at home and running errands, you'll need your uniform to be both polished and somewhat comfortable.

To ensure you'll always be able to find the pieces of your uniform in-store, make it broad enough. This is part of why most well-known uniforms are some variation on White top + Black bottom. They can be found in almost any store, any season, any year. Know that the more creative you get with your uniform, the more time you'll have to sink into shopping for your uniform. When you find what you're looking for, buy multiples.

If you've chosen more of a signature style than a personal uniform, but still want to keep your mornings simple, rather than taking additional time to choose clothes and shoes each morning, and possibly falling into the trap of wearing only one or two favorites (that you perhaps should have bought 8 of instead of having the small varieties that create a largely unworn wardrobe), rotate through them. Always grab the top on the left, for example, and when you wash your clothes, hang them up on the right side. Do the same with your shoes- wear the first pair on the left, and at the end of the day, put them down on the right end of the row. If there is an item you disliked wearing, and if the reason for dislike can't be fixed, remove it from your wardrobe.

Rotating through your closet is good routine for personal uniform as well, to keep in the practice of wearing fresh clothing, to spread out the daily wear and tear, and to be clear on how many of each item you actually need. If you bought extra for the future, keep these safely in storage with moth balls and out of your visual space.

Personal Style Uniform Part 1: Definitions, Celebrity Examples, and Benefits

What is a Personal/Style Uniform?

It seems to mean different things to different people, so let's clarify what I personally mean by a uniform, because while both a personal uniform and a signature style are great minimalist approaches at simplifying your wardrobe, I consider them to be different. This three part series is focused on personal uniforms, but many of the points are applicable to building a signature style as well. 

A personal uniform will be nearly indistinguishable from day to day and stick to both specific colors you've picked for each item and specific form you've chosen for each item. (e.g. your top is always a white button-up, your bottom is always black straight jeans, and your shoes are always red sneakers). 

A signature style will have some aspects chosen (color palette or silhouette, for example), while some aspects will change from day to day (e.g. always a sheath dress but variety in color/print and always with black shoes but variety in form).

When the world of style feels overwhelming or joyless (Marie Kondo / KonMarie people, I'm looking at you), I think it's best to start with a uniform, and then when it feels fun, allow it to expand into a signature style. This way you don't waste a lot of money and time on looks that don't work out.  

 

What does a Personal Uniform look like?

Personal Style Uniforms by katilmoore featuring white shirts

A few celebrity examples of personal uniforms shown left to right are:    
1. White button-up, black full midi skirt, black ballet flats inspired by Audrey Hepburn and Carolina Herrera
2. Black turtleneck, blue jeans, white sneakers inspired by Steve Jobs.
3. Navy pant, navy blazer, white button-up, black dress shoes inspired by Barrack Obama. It would be fun to add a blue statement necklace in place of his tie. 

Personal Uniforms, much like other uniforms, tend to look boring, and usually consist of neutrals, but that's part of their simplicity; and with uniforms, simplicity is the point. It's an anti-style approach to wardrobe. It takes much of the art out of dressing. It's also likely to be a timeless and unoffensive look for this reason.    

 

Why Would I Want a Personal Uniform?

While the main benefit of a personal uniform is that you save an enormous amount of time and hassle shopping and getting dressed every morning, there are a couple other clear benefits:

• You will be infinitely more memorable to others when you're always wearing the same look- a kind of self-branding. In the past I had people tell me that I look so different each time they saw me that it's like meeting a new person. I also had people tell me that they didn't see me at such and such's party, because they didn't recognize me. While that is great if you're on the lam, it can be beneficial to be easily spotted and remembered too.
• Another unsung benefit of a personal uniform is that it provides a canvas or backdrop for playing with accessories if you so choose. If you love style, but find it expensive, time consuming, and generally overwhelming, limiting your style play to accessories can be a great boon.

Watch for Part 2 and Part 3 of this series for how to create your own uniform.