It is not only the constantly changing face of fashion that influences how we present our image to the world, but also our inner identities and personalities, because without people, fashion is nothing. Even if we buy the same skirt as 4000 other people, it is what we pair it with, the accessories, the hairstyle, the makeup and US that makes it our skirt and no-one else’s.

Some people who may fall into the trap of following the latest trends will struggle to come up with their own individual styles, and can sometimes appear a little more than mannequins advertising the latest hot labels. Our looks, as enhanced by our choices of hairstyle and clothing, can be a powerful way of expressing who we are and how we’re feeling. This means that finding our own individual style is often a lifelong journey, with experimentation, emotion, and the influences of fashion, all coming together to produce our very own signature look.

NEW YORK – NOVEMBER 19: Model Chanel Iman poses backstage at the Victoria’s Secret fashion show at The Armory on November 19, 2009 in New York City. (Photo by Bryan Bedder/Getty Images)

This requires some serious style experimentation!! YAY! Of course we have the fashion shows, the catwalks, the girls shopping trips, but there are also a few neat tools online:

• Blogs
  For detailed advice and style tips there are many good fashion and beauty blogs out there, which deal with choosing real clothing and beauty products rather than the latest catwalk drama. Search “top fashion blogs”, “top beauty blogs” or “top styling blogs” and bookmark your favourites.

• Also, try a search for “fashion style quiz”, which will turn up quite a few questionnaires which aim to predict which looks could work for you based on your lifestyle and personality – most of these are purely for fun rather than serious tools, but they can sometimes light a spark of inspiration.

• For a more serious, but also more complicated, online fashion tool try Polyvore where you can put together a look for free and experiment virtually to see if you can come up with a great new style combination for yourself.

• Your hairstyle is perhaps even more important to your look than your clothing, as it’s not really something you can change by a great amount from day-to-day. Some people love to change their hairstyles every few weeks, while many of us are a little more cautious and would be nervous about going out on a limb with a new style or a new hairdresser.

To help you out, there’s a great new service from Rock Pamper Scissors, the trendiest place to book hairdressers in Manchester and the rest of the UK. They have developed the first appointment style search feature in the hair and beauty industry. Which lets you browse through hundreds of different hairstyles, choosing from options such as your hair’s weight, colour, type and so on to find the look you want. Once you’ve narrowed your choice down, you can book an appointment online with a salon in your area, with the hairdresser already knowing your exact requirements from the choice you’ve made.

However much you want to experiment with different looks and hairstyles, remember that fashion is all about self-expression and enjoying how you look, not getting hung up on what’s on-trend and what’s so yesterday.

Play around, have fun, and show the real you to the world with pride!

*PR collaboration