Values-Based Ideas to Build Your Personal Style

If you’re looking into Values-based personal styling and want to build an ethical and sustainable wardrobe – a clear values-based list can help. When you align your style with your beliefs it helps you create a meaningful wardrobe.

Creating a wardrobe aligned with your values is something I am very passionate about. When your clothes have meaning beyond how good they look – it’s incredibly empowering. 

Wear Your Values 

Mahatma Gandhi was once quoted saying  “There is no beauty in the finest cloth if it makes hunger and unhappiness” 

Knowing your values and wearing them goes beyond superficial styling and keeping up with trends. Values-based personal style is a lifestyle choice that can influence not only your style and shopping choices but the steps you take through life. 

Discovering your core values 

One of the classes on my online personal styling course is dedicated to uncovering your values and creating a framework to build your style with purpose. This class was developed after a workshop I created in 2017 called Wear Your Values to support the launch of the Ethical Brand Directory [link]. 

This holistic approach to personal style helps you not only create a style with deeper inside/out meaning, but it will also provides you with core values to live by. 

Being selective with your core values will help you stay focused on building an ethical, empowering wardrobe that reflects your integrity and aspirations.

30+ values to help you build your values-based personal style 

Once you’ve embedded your values into your lifestyle, and it has become a way of life for you – you add more values to your list and add/edit or evolve them as time goes on. 

I have provided over 30 of the values that come up in my styling sessions with clients so you can take a look through the lists and understand what they mean and how these might translate into your life and style.

Review each of the lists below and pick 3 values that resonate most with you.

An example of 10 values you might relate to

1. Authenticity: Ensuring that your wardrobe choices genuinely reflect who you are, rather than following fleeting trends.
2. Minimalism: Prioritizing quality over quantity and focusing on fewer, more meaningful items that serve multiple purposes.
3. Longevity: Choosing pieces designed to last, both in terms of durability and timelessness, reduces the need for frequent replacements.
4. Mindfulness: Making conscious choices about clothing purchases, considering their impact on the environment and society.
5. Versatility: Selecting items that can be styled in various ways to suit different occasions, maximising the use of each piece.
6. Innovation: Supporting brands that use cutting-edge technologies or practices to create sustainable fashion.
7. Resilience: Building a wardrobe that can adapt to different life stages and changes, supporting you through various phases of life.
8. Empowerment: Choosing clothes that make you feel confident, capable, and true to yourself.
9. Heritage: Valuing and preserving traditional crafts, skills, and cultural heritage in your wardrobe choices.
10. Ethical Production: Prioritising brands that ensure fair working conditions and ethical production processes.
    

An example of 10 fashion-based- values that might resonate

• 11. Bespoke: Brands that offer customised, made-to-order products tailored to individual preferences and needs.
• 12. Community: Brands that actively engage with and support their local communities, often prioritising local production and community-based initiatives.
• 13. Donates to Charity: Brands that contribute a portion of their profits to charitable organisations or causes, making a positive impact through financial support.
• 14. Eco-Friendly: Brands that focus on reducing their environmental impact, using sustainable practices and materials to protect the planet.
• 15. Fair Trade: Brands that ensure fair wages, good working conditions, and ethical treatment of workers, particularly in developing countries.
• 16. Handmade: Brands that produce goods by hand, often emphasising craftsmanship, quality, and traditional techniques.
• 17. Loved by RSL (Roberta Style Lee): This label indicates that a brand is personally endorsed by me the founder of Ethical Brand Directory, reflecting my strict values and style preferences (also denotes it’s tried and tested by me!). 
• 18. Natural Materials: Brands that use materials sourced from nature, such as cotton, wool, or other organic fibres, avoid synthetic oil-based alternatives.
• 19. Not Tested on Animals: Brands that ensure their products are cruelty-free, meaning they do not involve any animal testing.
• 20. Organic Materials: Brands that use organic materials, free from harmful chemicals, pesticides, and GMOs, often certified to strict organic standards.

An example of 10 more fashion-based-values

21. Pre-Loved: Brands that focus on second-hand or vintage items, promoting the reuse of products to extend their life cycle and reduce waste.
22. Recycled: Brands that incorporate recycled materials into their products or offer recycling programs to encourage sustainable consumption, with a move towards circularity and not linear recycling programmes. 
23. Supporting Women: Brands that prioritise the empowerment of women, whether through their workforce, leadership, or the initiatives they support.
24. Transparency: Brands that are open and honest about their business practices, including sourcing, production, and labour conditions, and provide consumers with clear information.
25. Vegan: Brands that avoid the use of any animal products or by-products, ensuring that their products are entirely plant-based and cruelty-free.
26. Cultural Respect: Honouring and respecting cultural expressions and traditions in fashion without appropriating them.
27. Transparency: Demanding openness from brands about their sourcing, production processes, and business practices.
28. Circularity: Supporting a circular fashion economy where clothes are recycled, upcycled, or returned to the brand at the end of their life cycle.
29. Craftsmanship: Valuing the skill and artistry that goes into creating high-quality, handmade garments, and supporting artisans. 
30. Inclusivity: Supporting brands that offer a wide range of sizes, styles, and options for different body types and identities.
    

An example of 10 personal life-growth-based-values

31. Inclusivity: Supporting brands that offer a wide range of sizes, styles, and options for different body types and identities.
32. Responsibility: Being accountable for your clothing choices and their impact on the planet and people and advocating for brands that do the same. 
33. Innovation: Embracing new technologies and methods in fashion that promote sustainability and reduce waste.
34. Diversity: Supporting brands that promote diversity and representation in their products and marketing.
35. Education: Continually learning about sustainable practices, materials, and brands to make informed decisions, and supporting brands that are always learning and striving to do better. 
36. Functionality: Choosing clothing that is not only stylish but also practical and suited to your lifestyle needs.
37. Personal Growth: Using your wardrobe as a tool for self-expression and personal development.
38. Sustainable Development Goals: Supporting brands and businesses that are proactively working towards the SDG framework (and have set targets and report on them!) 

Values-Based Personal Styling 

We all want to feel that our life has meaning and purpose. Not everyone finds their calling careerwise and that’s OK! 

There are many ways to find a way to live life with meaning and purpose, one of which is your personal style!  When we have a set of core values to anchor our actions and choices – we start to act with intention, and anything done with intention has a purpose. 

For many years I focused on the superficial side of fashion and, even personal styling looking at how it made me feel about myself. Of course, empowerment is important, but I quickly realised my empowerment shouldn’t come at the cost of another woman. 

Let me know the 3-values you’ve selected from the list in the comments and why 🙂