The biggest mistake women make with personal style
It’s not what you think.
De-influencing you (from a personal stylist)
The biggest mistake women make when trying to build personal style?
They focus only on the clothes.
And the women who dress the best?
They don’t.
Let me de-influence you for a second.
If you think building personal style in 2026 means following trends, buying “key pieces,” or saving outfit formulas from Instagram, you’re already behind.
The women whose looks stop you in the street…
The ones who feel magnetic without trying…
They’re not more fashionable.
They just have a richer inner world.
They pull from culture.
From art.
From music.
From history.
From architecture.
From emotion.
And then they translate that into what they wear.
That’s the difference.
This week, I went to the Maria Antoinette exhibition at the V&A.
If you haven’t been, it’s sold out, but find a friend with a membership and beg them to take you. It’s worth it.
Walking through that exhibition, you realise something very quickly: fashion has never been just fashion.
Maria Antoinette didn’t just wear dresses.
She engineered image.
She shaped perception.
She understood symbolism.
And centuries later, designers are still referencing her silhouettes, her theatricality, her volume, her romance. You see echoes of her in runway collections today. The exaggerated hips. The corsetry. The drama.
That’s influence.
And that’s what most women miss.
You don’t need to copy the 18th century.
But you can ask yourself:
Do I love structure?
Do I love excess?
Do I love softness?
Do I love power dressing?
Do I love rebellion?
Museums aren’t just cultural outings.
They are visual libraries for your wardrobe.
Architecture teaches you lines and proportion.
Paintings teach you colour combinations.
Sculpture teaches you shape and volume.
You don’t need Pinterest for everything. Sometimes you need a gallery.
And then there’s Bad Bunny at the Super Bowl.
Let’s talk about that for a second.
That wasn’t just a halftime show. That was cultural storytelling.
He stepped onto one of the biggest stages in the world wearing tailoring that referenced heritage, masculinity, sensuality, and resistance all at once.
And yes! he wore Zara.
As a Spanish woman, I’m sorry but that was a moment.
The internet can debate “luxury vs high street” all it wants. What he proved is this: it’s not about the label. It’s about the narrative.
He didn’t rely on shock value.
He relied on identity.
The proportions were deliberate. The styling was deliberate. The references to Puerto Rican culture were deliberate. Even the colour palette felt intentional, bold but grounded.
That’s what makes a look powerful.
Not the garment.
The conviction behind it.
When someone knows who they are and dresses accordingly, it becomes magnetic.
And that’s what most women are missing.
So if you’re trying to build personal style in 2026, here’s what I’d suggest instead of buying another blazer:
1. Feed your mind outside of fashion.
Go to exhibitions. Watch films. Study album covers. Look at interior design. Walk through architecture-heavy areas of your city. Notice shapes. Notice colours. Notice moods.
2. Ask: what themes repeat in my life?
Are you drawn to strong shoulders? Romance? Minimalism? Texture? Darkness? Playfulness? Tailoring? Volume?
Patterns in taste are not random.
3. Translate, don’t copy.
If you love cathedral ceilings, maybe you love vertical lines.
If you love 90s hip-hop visuals, maybe you love oversized silhouettes.
If you love French rococo, maybe you love drama and detail.
The point isn’t to costume yourself.
It’s to borrow energy.
4. Add personality in the details.
The women who stand out don’t just wear “nice outfits.”
They wear something slightly unexpected.
A strong earring.
A sharper shoe.
A bolder shoulder.
A deliberate clash of colour.
They don’t stop at safe.
As a personal stylist in London, this is what I actually do.
I don’t just build outfits.
I help women decode themselves.
We look at lifestyle, yes. But we also look at references. At what moves you. At what you react to. At what feels powerful, nostalgic, rebellious, sensual.
Because clothes without personality are just fabric.
And trends without identity are just noise.
De-influencing you doesn’t mean rejecting fashion.
It means stopping the habit of looking outward for permission.
Instead of asking, “What’s in?”
Ask, “What feels like me?”
Instead of copying an outfit, ask, “Why do I like this?”
The best-dressed women aren’t trend-led.
They are self-led.
And that’s available to you too.
So here’s what I’m curious about this week :)
What cultural reference has influenced you lately, even if you didn’t realise it at the time?
I’m currently deep in inspiration mode while designing the new collection with my sister, so if something has moved you lately, an exhibition, a film, a book, a building, a song … tell me.
I’m all ears.
(And I do read every comment.)
- Carolina x