In today’s reality of an overwhelming stream of social media and a flood of blog posts, it’s no mystery that fashion trends are now established by popularity through our devices.

No longer does the travel sequence of a new fad go from runway to magazine editor to consumer. The experts no longer write articles in print telling us the story or inspiration behind a collection and why it fits for the season. Instead, when a trend is born it lands directly on our Instagram feeds leaving us, as the consumers, to filter through, untangle, and absorb the initial impressions left in the “comments” section.

Embracing a trend is and has always been a personal decision. While it was never a fashion editor’s job to tell us whether we should or shouldn’t wear Birkenstocks, it did help to have her expertise and interpretation lure us closer to coming to a decision on how we felt about them.

Today, the immediate accessibility of a newly arrived trend has made it harder to decide what we like and what we don’t. And coveting everything that’s pinned, posted, or liked a million times is unrealistic. The pressure of agreeing to like something simply because of how many likes or shares it’s received is heavy.

But why? Choosing to wear something should never be dictated by anyone by yourself. Just because a fashion guru says she’ll be rocking culottes in the spring doesn’t necessarily mean you have to, too. Your taste, not to mention your body type, could very well disagree with a pair of culottes. And that’s fine.

Take an honest glance at your wardrobe, and find muses who inspire you.

Solidify your own style by curating your own interests. Navigating through the long index of fashion bloggers to edit your list down to the few you feel most connected to can be a very satisfying thing. Take an honest glance at your wardrobe, and find muses who inspire you. Don’t follow someone simply because thousands of other people do.

The French put it well when they say, “Bien dans sa peau,” literally meaning, to be ‘well in one’s skin’. Be confident in the boundaries of your sartorial comfort zone. Style isn’t about pushing the envelope, but about feeling good in what you put on everyday. It’s only when this happens that the congestion of social media’s opinions stops playing a part in your style.

In the impressive words of Inès de La Fressange, “You should dress to feel good, not to show off.”

How do you determine your own sense of style?

If you enjoyed this article, be sure to check out “What If I Wore It” on page 104 of Issue No. 9.