6 Style Mistakes | What You’re Doing Now and How to Fix It

Hello beautiful lady! It’s Ada Deferrari here, style mentor, designer of ADA Collection belts and creator of the Dress Your Shape Program.

And today I wanted to talk about some of the top style mistakes I’ve made or see others make and how I advise you to fix them to enjoy your personal style and find a style that feels authentic to you.

1. The first style mistake is only trying ONE version of something.

This makes me automatically think about jumpsuits. Because for the longest time I had ruled out jumpsuits from my wardrobe. I just felt they didn’t fit right and would always accent my tummy. So I thought, all jumpsuits don’t fit my style, they don’t work for my proportions so they’re not for me.

And I realized that I had a limiting belief behind them because I saw other ladies wear them and would look fabulous. Luckily, I found a jumpsuit that had the exact mustard color I loved, So I actually bought it for the color, I tried it on again and it worked this time.

After that, I kept on trying just different styles and realized there are LOTS of styles of jumpsuits. Some have a higher waist, some lower, wider, thinner, then kind of leg-lined… So you just have to keep trying different versions and silhouettes, cuts, and even colors and fabrics within a certain category, and I’m sure you’ll find one that works for you.

Now, as a style mentor, I hear this a lot from my students too. But sometimes it’s a matter of just experimenting with different versions or even accessorizing or styling an item in different ways. For example, I hear “belts don’t work for me”. But it’s a matter of finding the right belt for the right outfit you want to wear it with. Over ADA Collection we’ve got lots of gorgeous belts and you just have to figure out like “ok, what outfit does this work with?”. And just experiment a little bit.

With that jumpsuit actually that I’m talking about I also know that I liked the color, I had to find the right fit but I also have to wear it with a belt because it just improved the style. I had kind of this elastic here, and then the belt nicely covered it and it accented my waist.

So yeah, experiment! Just try new things and different versions of it. And very similar to that is number 2:

2. You don’t take risks.

I feel like we have this fear of being judged and that if we take a risk and we try something new and it doesn’t work out, then we’ll be criticized or somebody would make comments to us and would just feel ashamed.

Or you feel like you need to be super confident to “pull something off”, right? But really style should be fun. I think if you try new things or even if you wear them around the house at first, you’ll just kind of feel more liberated and free. And you’ll get used to that particular item and it will start to feel natural to you. And then at that point, you can go out and wear it with confidence. So that’s a little trick of mine that I share with many of my clients.

In fact, I came up with that one when we were talking about swimsuits. So, if you’re feeling a little bit self-conscious in a swimsuit or a dress, of course, it’s easier for me to say “just get over it” You’re gorgeous!”. But by taking these baby steps of just wearing it around the house and telling yourself you’re gorgeous… Little by little you’ll start to feel more confident. And of course, you want that particular item if it works for your body type, if it works for your body shape, even better because you’ll just feel it!

Another style mistake I see that’s pretty common is…

3. Buying the SAME silhouettes or the SAME colors over and over.

I’ve worked with many clients on their wardrobe and I see that this is a super common theme to only buy clothes in like navy, black, and grey. And nothing else. Or maybe only cropped pants and dress shirts. Or only tunics and leggings. You have your go-to outfit formula, your go-to colors… and it doesn’t go outside of that.

And on one hand, I think it’s good to know what you like to wear, and neutrals are great. BUT it’s nice to add a few fresh pieces every season or a few pieces into your wardrobe.

It doesn’t have to be a whole new wardrobe but just adding a few pieces every season and just experiment with something new. It could be every a new handbag, a new color, a new accessory such as a belt, just something to kind of reboot your wardrobe, kind of refresh your style. I just feel like it’ll give you new energy.

A few more examples, maybe instead of jeans you can go with like a French blue trouser. Or instead of another pair of kakis capris, you can consider a skirt, maybe in a new shape.

Even a new color of top that’s on-trend for the season would be a lovely burst of newness. In fact, I have a video on 2021 trends here… if you want to check it out.

Another thing I find is a super common mistake, and a mistake I made myself is…

4. Not considering what fits best for YOUR personal body shape.

I actually created a style program called DRESS YOUR SHAPE because I feel like so many women blame their bodies when the shirt (or jumpsuit) doesn’t fit right. They say things like “Oh, I’ll go shopping and be happy with my body if I could only get rid of this, this and this”, and they keep on touching themselves.

Also, these women will eat nothing but salmon and broccoli for a month, exercise their buns off and still aren’t happy with their bodies.

And I have this saying… “eat well and exercise for your health but if you have a muffin top, come and see me.” And I say this because clothes are a powerful tool to disguise, accent and basically create the illusion of whatever body shape you want. I mean, you can have the power shoulders, a tiny waist, and you can use clothing to create a big booty. It’s all about wearing the right clothes for your shape, considering color, cuts, silhouettes, and fabric.

And really quick, I have my own personal story with that too… which leads me to my next style mistake.

5. You wait for the “perfect time” to care about style.

After I had baby number 2 and gained weight I was wearing the wrong clothes for my body, but I was waiting to lose weight. And it was a mistake to wait because it took a lot longer to lose that weight than I had anticipated, and in the meantime, it was hurting my self-esteem, it was affecting my job performance, it was affecting my confidence… It was even affecting my relationships! Because I just kind of felt schleppy and I didn’t go out as much.

So, maybe you’re waiting for a job promotion, or for more time, or for the kids to be out of the house or for whatever it may be. But I hear this from students all the time that they had to finally make the time and NOT a single lady regrets it because there’s a huge ripple effect of awesomeness that follows when you start to care for your style. It just happens. And I swear by it.

6. My last style mistake is ignoring the power of hair and make-up.

Changing your hair and make-up can actually change the feel and look of your outfits which will change the feel and look of your wardrobe. It’s actually something that is hard for me to change my hair but it’s something I’m experimenting with, wearing my hair down more often, which I don’t have right now, but I’m styling it a little bit differently, so just have fun with it. I just feel like it’s liberating to experiment and change hair and make-up.

Not to mention I’ll sometimes get that double check out from my husband, which I cannot complain about.

And makeup. Adding a lipstick or changing your lipstick color to either match or contrast your outfit, your top, maybe you could match your lipstick with your accessories, keep the rest of your outfit neutral. I mean, you can have so much fun with it.

So a couple of suggestions. Maybe if you wear your hair straight, you can try curling it or vise versa. If you wear your part on one side, maybe you can switch it to the other side. You can add some accessories, headbands are huge right now, so you can add some accessories to your hair.

If you wear bright red lipstick, you can try a nude, and vise versa. If you’re typically wearing nude lipstick, you could try something a little bit brighter. I wear very soft makeup, so what I’ve found interesting is just to boost it up a little bit. So maybe you can try it as well.

But just try something new. My little secret is to try it at home, experiment with it behind closed doors. Nobody is watching, nobody is judging, just have fun with it and see, take that test-drive and see how you feel. And then, if you feel good about it, you can wear it out.

And there you have it! Those are some top style mistakes that I’ve made myself or I’ve seen made and how to fix them. I think it can help your personal style and give you a little bit of a push if you’re feeling stuck in any of these areas.

I hope you liked this video and if so, please subscribe and give me a thumbs up so I know to make more videos like this.

And if you have any other suggestions for videos or want to know more, any style frustrations, questions, leave me a comment below and I’ll be sure to read them and make future videos that you’d enjoy watching.

And if you haven’t already come on over to my free style class all about dressing your shape: