One piece of advice that is often given to those seeking to develop their style is to create what is known as a “look book“. In case you aren’t familiar with the term, a look book is simply a collection of pictures that you’ve assembled, either in a notebook or digitally.

The idea behind the look book is that by examining the images of outfits, ensembles, and individual pieces that you are drawn to, you’ll be able to see patterns emerge of which you might otherwise remain unaware.

For example, you may not realize that you have a romantic streak until you observe the numerous photos of clothes with lace, ruffles, or bows that you’ve assembled. Or perhaps you discover that you are edgier than you imagined when you see the inclusion of leather, metallics, and distressed items in your look book that you‘ve never really included in your wardrobe before. Other patterns may emerge, such as the reoccurrence of a certain color or color combination. Or the plentitude of skirts rather than trousers.

Creating a look book can be a really fun exercise to help you define your personal style. But I think that it’s something you should plan to do after you’ve thoroughly assessed your lifestyle needs, body type and style persona…not before.

This might seem counter-intuitive, but let me explain why I say this. I’ll create an extreme example to illustrate my point. Let’s say that your look book ends up containing pages and pages of formal gowns and princess-style dresses. But you live in rural Montana, and work from home doing data entry for a large medical facility. Problem: your look book is going to tell you that you love formal gowns and princess dresses, but that information will not help you build the wardrobe your life actually requires. Unless you plan to dress for the prom every day that you sit down to your computer, that is.

Of course, this is a fairly ridiculous example. However, if you are starting the look book as the first step towards developing a style, you are very likely going to waste a lot of effort collecting images that in all likelihood will not help you. Your style radar will be all over the place, instead of focused in the areas that you will benefit from.

So what should you focus on first, before starting your look book?

The first step is to examine what your lifestyle actually requires. If you work in a corporate environment, much of what you wear will be business attire. If you are a stay at home mother, you will not be needing the suits and heels of the corporate world. If you live in a temperate climate, you will not need to have an extensive cold weather wardrobe; and vice-versa.

Second, how do you want others to perceive you? There are several readily identifiable “types”, that have readily identifiable qualities associated with them. These are the style personas. You need to know what you want your clothes to say about you. Do you want others to see you as classic and conservative or artsy and flamboyant? Consider the role you want to play, and determine to dress for it.

Third, spend some time analyzing your body type and figure out, in a general sense, what cuts and silhouettes will look best on you--and those you should avoid. For example, you’ll want to stay away from leg-baring mini-skirts when, of the Turners, your legs resemble Ted’s more than Tina’s. You may really like the look…but it just isn’t for you.

Once you’ve got this information, then a look book becomes an extremely valuable tool for wardrobe planning. Start collecting images of the clothes that fit your categories and that you find attractive. Once you know that you are on the lookout for blazers, you’ll start to see the infinite varieties that are out there. You’ll notice the smaller details about the cut, proportion, and fabric that you might not have noticed before. You’ll see new ways of wearing the blazer. Your style sense will be expanded.

Then, when it comes time to seasonally review your wardrobe, you’ll have an even keener sense for how best to update your closet.

Now that we’ve discussed the idea of a look book, let me introduce three other types of look books that you can create:

The first is the fantasy wardrobe. I make this one by taking the catalogs and online images of my favorite designers, and creating a VSC Wardrobe from scratch. Sometimes I’ll even limit myself to one brand/designer at a time. Practicing doing this helps develop not only your wardrobe planning skills, but it also helps you develop an eye for overall harmony and consistency in a wardrobe. Since you have no emotional attachments to the clothing in the pictures (at least, not in the same way you do the clothes that you own), nor are you in the store faced with sticker shock or size/fit disparity, you are much freer to really design your ideal wardrobe. It’s fun to see the choices that you make and to watch your process as you make them.

The second type is the style icon look book. This is exactly what it sounds like: a collection of images of a person whose style you admire…usually someone famous. The benefit of a book like this is that you can examine how one person has developed an image and built a wardrobe consistent with that image over time. You’ll see how they maintain that image over a number of different activities and events. And for the really famous style icons such as Audrey Hepburn and Jackie Onassis, there are plenty of books already available that document their style.

The last type of look book, and one that I recommend you consider, is the look book of your own personal wardrobe. With this look book you will be able to document your own style journey. Keep it updated, and it will serve as a tool to help you plan out each season’s updates. And it’s just plain fun to have!

Now, don’t feel obligated to go out and start working on these projects right away. While helpful, they are not absolutely necessary for the wardrobe planning process. And don’t think you need to create every version that I’ve mentioned, either. Start with the basics, and then add on as you feel inspired.

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