While signature style at first glance may seem boring, to the person wearing it, it can be exactly the opposite.AaronAmat
The painful sameness of Elizabeth Holmes’s now-infamous personal style is my worst nightmare. Borrowing from the aesthetic of the late Steve Jobs, the Theranos founder began wearing black turtlenecks upon her arrival in Silicon Valley and paired them with black slacks and flats as an attempt to cultivate a look aligned with professionalism and seriousness.
Frankly, even writing that sentence made me pass out from boredom.
But we all know how that story ends. (If not, here’s a summary: Holmes now faces up to 20 years in prison for charges of massive fraud since Theranos was exposed to have never been capable of building the blood testing technology it claimed it could.) And now that Holmes has fallen from grace, her signature style seems more like a cop-out than a strategic move.
This revelation was one I welcomed. As I saw it, to commit to only one colour or type of t-shirt connoted a commitment to creative laziness. I believed signature style was nothing but a glorified uniform; an effective way to wear one’s unoriginality on your literal sleeve. But then I spoke to celebrity stylist and personal shopper Talia Brown, who thinks we’ve started to misunderstand the concept of signature style altogether.
“I think it’s all the way you look at it," she says, pointing out that for one thing, having a signature style can save time and money. But beyond that, it need not be limited to a single top and bottom worn on repeat. Instead, she suggests it should be a curated “capsule collection, [which] can build character.”
Elle Canada editor-in-chief Vanessa Craft sees it as a power play. “Signature style essentially represents being comfortable and secure with what you like and/or the message you may want to put out into the world,” she tells me over e-mail. “The constant pursuit of a signature look – or the importance we give to having one – really comes down to being at one with the external and internal.”
She adds: “Anyone who appears decisive and secure in their choices gives the impression of power.”
Arguably, power is what the best personal style is rooted in. For most of my teens and twenties, I slugged through trends I didn’t feel good or cool or powerful wearing (see: low-rise jeans or 12 polos worn simultaneously in 2006). It wasn’t until I began sticking to what I loved that I felt like I could actually shine – which is ironic since my favourite pieces tend to be plucked from the neutral-toned wardrobe of mid-nineties Friends: faded denim, t-shirts, floral dresses and as many pairs of white sneakers as possible.
We all dress differently depending on where we’re going, usually so we can achieve certain levels of comfort or confidence or a precious combination of the two. But looking at the those florals currently hanging in my closet, I’m starting to realize that despite each dress being a different colour or cut, they still stick to a very specific code. I may dress some up or down, or drape myself in something oversized when I want to feel cozy (or hide a little bit), but they’re still the equivalent of Holmes’s black turtlenecks. I regularly tell myself that because I’ve changed my makeup or jacket, I’ve escaped The Signature. But I haven’t. (Have I?)
“I think as long as you own your fashion choices and have a rhyme or reason behind why you do what you do, no one should question that,” Toronto-based designer Hayley Elsaesser says. “I’m all for people expressing themselves through their clothing, and I encourage experimentation and trying a variety of different looks. But personally, I think that the people with the most unique sense of personal style still have a stylistic voice that permeates all of their clothing choices.”
So perhaps as with all forms of self-expression, sticking to pieces that reflect who you are isn’t a cop-out – it’s the finish line. And forcing your family to see you in your standard Von Dutch hat at Easter mass isn’t lazy fashion, it’s a testament to the evolution of your signature style.
Because while signature style at first glance may seem boring, to the person wearing it, it can be exactly the opposite. Ultimately, knowing and sticking to what you like isn’t necessarily a lack of self expression after all.
“Having a point of view [makes style interesting],” Craft says. “Whether [you’re] clued up on all the latest trends or you ignore them completely, a look that transmits a clear, creative statement is always exciting.”
So while I’ll still never wrap my head around Holmes’s Steve Jobs knock-off wear, I already feel better about my perpetual tribute to nineties teen fashion.
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