I stopped letting influencers tell me what to wear (and it felt surprisingly freeing)

Rediscovering my style by shopping my own closet and ignoring the noise.

I have a confession: I used to let influencers dictate my entire wardrobe. Scroll, click, purchase, repeat. I fell hard for perfectly curated outfits, thinking if I just bought the right blazer or those perfect jeans, I’d finally feel confident in my style. Spoiler alert—I never did.

This problem was only exacerbated by motherhood and military life. Every two to three years I end up living somewhere with an entirely different climate than the last. Throw in a job and I suddenly need three wardrobes just to cover all of my bases.

At some point, I realized that even though my closet was full, my outfits felt... empty. I didn’t look like the Pinterest-perfect girls with their oversized blazers and designer sneakers. Instead, I felt like I was cosplaying as someone else. I wasn’t dressing for me—I was dressing for an imaginary Instagram audience. So, I decided to try something radical (for me): I stopped letting influencers tell me what to wear.

my personal style experiment

This wasn't some highbrow wardrobe detox with a capsule closet and 10-piece Pinterest boards. No, this was messy, imperfect, and 100% me. Armed with clothes I already owned and some well-spent time on Pinterest, I decided to experiment with my style based on what I actually liked instead of what was trending.

I started by creating a Pinterest board dedicated to styles I genuinely felt drawn to. I pinned outfits that made me think, “Yes, I could actually wear that,” instead of “Wow, she looks great in that.” The subtle difference between those two thoughts? Life-changing. Suddenly, I wasn’t trying to look like anyone else. I was trying to feel like me.

I also wasn’t being as critical of my body. How many times have you said “I can’t wear that because I don’t look like her?” I bet it’s more than you’d like to admit. Me too, girlfriend. But when I removed the idea of trying to look like someone else or trying to be “on trend” I realized I was more accepting of how my body looked in the clothes I was wearing.

the results: rediscovering my closet