Cate Blanchett is one of the world's most stylish women. In her every-day street style, she manages to look elegant, chic, put together. And there are lessons in her intelligent style that are useful to know, no matter what your own personal style is.

When I work with my private clients, one of the first things we do is break down their own personal style so that it makes sense to them and informs how they dress and shop going forward. Part of that process involves looking at the styles of people that you find inspirational. So here I break down the style of Cate Blanchett into five lessons you can adapt to your own style:

“Modest” is anything but boring

Cate doesn’t often wear revealing outfits. Rather she strategically highlights her best features such as her arms, or long legs. And while she does occasionally wear sleeveless pieces to highlight her arms for example, she also highlights body parts in other ways - by wearing long, high-waisted trousers that elongate and emphasise her legs. Or long sleeves with a beautiful pleat, tuck, or cut-out that draw the eye to her elegant limbs.

Tailoring

Cate’s clothes are beautifully tailored.  And when I mention tailoring, I’m not talking about suits. What I mean is that she will absolutely have her clothes tailored or altered so that they fit her body perfectly. This can be seen in the fabulous jumpsuits that she wears. Jumpsuits are very hard to get to fit absolutely right. And yet she is often seen in the most fabulous jumpsuits as a casual look – and they look like they are made for her body.

The lesson here is to get your clothes altered to fit you perfectly and you will always look put-together.

Classics and Basics

Classic and basics don’t sound all that exciting, but you can see from Cate’s style that they form a big part of her wardrobe. The wide-leg trousers, the beautifully tailored blazer, the crisp cotton shirt or the silk blouse.

What keeps them interesting is in the details, the occasionally quirky styling techniques and accessories. Her sunglasses, her belts or shoes are where the personality comes through.

Trends

Cate still has fun with trends, but will only introduce them to her looks when it makes sense to do so. And it only makes sense to buy into a trend when it is consistent with your personal style or it can be incorporated seamlessly into your personal style. If you need to buy a whole new outfit to accommodate a trend, it is definitely not a good style choice for you.

Know what styles suit you and mix them up

You can see this rule at play with Cate’s wide-leg trousers. They are a common occurrence in her outfits, yet her looks are always fresh and interesting.

If you find a style that looks good on you or that just makes you feel good, it can be repeated in your wardrobe by investing in different fabrics, textures, colours, prints and design details. And mix up how you style them: dressy or casual with the change of a shoe or a top.

If you want to work with me on defining and developing your own personal style based on your own style muses, contact me here: