I felt overwhelmed when I stood in front of my wardrobe. The volume of clothes (and shoes and bags) I accumulated during my then-fashion director role Stylist The magazine was huge. But choosing what to wear on a daily basis was actually an easy task. Despite the quantity, I skipped the majority of the pieces and turned to my favorite jeans, A-line denim mini dress or trouser suit, which I wear the most when I need to look especially stylish. I can definitely relate to the findings that most women wear 20 percent of their wardrobe 80 percent of the time.
I had heard of the Three Word Method, where you choose three words to describe your style, through friends in the industry, but no one seemed to know exactly its origins. As I was wandering through the rails of my wardrobe, a light bulb went off… I realized that the pieces I love, love to wear, and rely on every day all fit the same adjectives: denim, 60s, and tomboy. The year was 2017 and I was writing my first book. how to dress. I knew I had to incorporate the concept into the copy and continue to arm myself with those three words in my mind.
I’m contributing today Fascination and I have now been working in the fashion industry for over 20 years. Whether working as a stylist for editorial shoots, commercially in advertising campaigns or creating a look for a celebrity like Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Kylie Minogue or Maya Jama, I am simply as flamboyant and eclectic as is allowed – but in my own style I have my own wardrobe, I have a blissful calmness.
As I share the benefits of the Three Word Method through my growing side hustle as a personal stylist (and the term has become even more popular thanks to TikTok and stylist Allison Bornstein), this has coincided with the growth of more considered consumption. Bouncing from trend to trend season after season is not good for the planet and makes you look like a fashion victim (not a good look). There is an obscene amount of clothing on the planet, and by styling yourself more mindfully, you’re taking a step towards building a more sustainable wardrobe.
Sticking to dressing and most importantly shopping with the Three Word Method is the most effective way to save money, time and streamline your wardrobe. Since the awakening of my own style, I have found that I rarely suffer from wardrobe rage in the morning or find myself screaming “I have nothing to wear!” I can say that I found myself crying. I’ve also managed to cut out all the excess that once felt overwhelming, and now only have pieces that fit my Three Words.
Seeing the results in the women I work with led me to take it one step further and create a website called my3words.co where you can shop with your own words. Scrolling through dress pages to find the one that suits your style is confusing and tiring even when you use all the filters (and I’m a pro!), so I’ve compiled edits that reflect the 12 most popular words requested by women. England.
It’s simple: go straight to your words and find pieces that instantly suit your style. My goal is for women to be as familiar with all three words as they are with asterisks, and I’ve made edits for casual, thoughtful, rock chick, bohemian, minimal, trendy, tomboy, vintage, classic, feminine, dopamine, and French style.
How can you find your Three Words?
So how can you find your Three Words? Start by thinking about the clothes you wear most often. What do you feel happiest about? What gives you a confidence boost and what do you turn to when nothing else works? What compliments you the most? Think honestly about what suits your lifestyle and body shape. It will be a common topic. You’ll be able to define your look by style, colour, silhouette, fabric or period. When you’re going through your own clothes, I’m willing to bet that the pieces you rarely wear won’t fit your Three Words.
The game changer, once defined, is that you need to stick to your word the next time you shop. I have been known to wander through stores, repeating my Three Words mantra under my breath to remind myself not to be distracted by pretty prints and sparkles.
How can the Three Words mantra change the way you dress?
Michelle Steele owns Earsham Street Deli in Bungay, Suffolk, and describes discovering the Three Word Method as “an epiphany”. He uses the analogy of being in an interiors store; “I may like many different things, but not all of them can fit into my room, so I wouldn’t buy them. It’s the same with my wardrobe. Learning the Three Word Method was like a penny dropping to the ground. ‘Of course I’m not wearing this because it doesn’t fit my three words!’ “Now when I’m interested in things I can still love them, but that doesn’t mean I have to buy it because I know I’ll never wear it.”
When you stick to this method, you will find that you save money, time and streamline your wardrobe. It’s efficient, but you’ll also feel like yourself in what you wear, and I believe it’s important to understand the psychological aspects of how we feel in our clothes rather than just the aesthetics.
Lisa Haydon-Bennett is a psychotherapist with whom I share the method. “This unique approach helped me define not only my style, but also how I wanted to feel in myself,” she says. “The process went much deeper and I left feeling clearer about myself and my style. “This gave me a huge confidence boost.”
When I talk about fashion with my friends, the Three Word Method always comes up; especially considering there was a viral moment on social media this year. Guessing people’s adjectives (“You’re… bohemian”) or applying this method to celebrities is a favored party trick… (Rosie HW would be minimal, sexy and neutral; Princess of Wales would be flamboyant, classic and feminine, and Alexa Chung would be preppy, French and may be a tomboy).
I can see their minds working quickly to decipher their tone as I describe the calmness you can find in choosing your words. Your words may change throughout your life as jobs or lifestyle changes occur, but clarity can still be yours. If you’re ready to get rid of the slimming BNWT (Brand New With Tags) purchases in your wardrobe and want to bring simplicity and style to your life, choosing your Three Words is the most effective method to take changing action. So what are yours?
For more information, visit: my3words.co