Nobody Tells You How Exciting It Is to Find Your Style

Photo Credit: Thirdman via Pexels

It turns out your wardrobe, your home and even your favourite coffee shop say more about you than any trend ever could.

South Africa (30 July 2026) – For the longest time, I was convinced I was a minimalist. White walls. Neutral colours. Clean lines. Nothing too loud. At least, that’s what I told myself.

The internet has convinced us that somewhere between “old money”, “quiet luxury”, “clean girl” and whatever aesthetic is trending this week lies the secret to personal style. My Pinterest boards certainly believed that.

For years, I saved outfit after outfit, convinced I was one linen shirt, one pair of loafers or one perfectly oversized jacket away from finally dressing like myself. I realised something funny: I knew what everyone else’s style looked like, but I had no idea what mine was.

The irony is that we consume styles before we develop our own taste.

It wasn’t until I stopped trying to recreate outfits I’d seen online that I started enjoying getting dressed. My favourite outfits are almost never the ones I’ve copied from Pinterest or spotted on someone walking down the street. They’re usually the ones I’ve put together myself. Pieces that probably weren’t meant to go together, but somehow just work because they feel right.

They feel like me. And that’s a very different feeling from simply looking fashionable. That same lesson followed me when I moved into my own apartment.

For the longest time, I was convinced I was a minimalist. White walls. Neutral colours. Clean lines. The kind of apartment you’d expect to see on a perfectly curated Instagram feed.

Then I actually started decorating.

I realised I didn’t want a space that looked like everyone else’s. I wanted books on my shelves that I’d actually read. Posters that reflected the films, music and people who inspire me. Furniture that felt lived in rather than staged. Little details that told a story.

I wanted someone to walk through the front door and immediately think, “This is so Karabo.”

Finding your style is more about identity. It’s choosing clothes because they make you feel confident, not because an algorithm suggested them. It’s returning to the same coffee shop because you genuinely enjoy being there. It’s slowly figuring out the restaurants you love, the colours you’re drawn to, the music you play while cooking dinner and the little things that quietly become part of who you are.

There’s something incredibly liberating about that shift. It’s about becoming the curator of your own life. Every small decision adds another brushstroke to the picture of who you are. However, none of it happens overnight. You simply find your own groove.

Maybe that’s why discovering your style is so exciting. It isn’t about finally looking a certain way. It’s about slowly becoming someone whose wardrobe, home and life feel unmistakably their own.