Candace Cameron Bure - Staying stylish: cultivating a confident look, style, and attitude

To my grandmothers

Grandma Jeanne:

You gave me an old, long velvet patchwork skirt when I was seven years old that I wore for three days straight and didnt want to take off. It was so ugly to everyone else, and yet I felt so cool and pretty in it. I think it was the very piece that started my love for style and fashion.

Grandma Helen:

All those years playing beauty parlor in your living room with your empty perfume bottles, soap tins, and brushes was my favorite time spent with you. It made me love being a girl.

Clothes might just be what we wear, but personal style helps us show who we are.

I have loved fashion ever since I was a kid. It has always been so much more than clothing to me. It was a little part of lifes big moments, like going back to school or finding the perfect outfit for an audition. It was a way to show my personality to the world. It was a way to feel beautiful and confident, to express myself, to stand apart from the crowd or to fit in seamlessly, to embrace every situation. In essence: it was an outward celebration of my inner self.

Even though my style has changed over the years, my belief that fashion is a way to express myself is one thing that has absolutely stayed the same. Clothes might just be what we wear, but personal style helps us show who we are.

FASHION HITS AND MISSES

My love of all things fashion began with colorful Converse sneakers and decorated denim. I loved to browse stores at the mall, searching for pieces that had a standout element to them, like ruffled bloomers I could pair with a pleated black-and-white checkered skirt or colorful argyle tights worn with a simple black shorts suit. One of my college-aged babysitters once taught me how to DIY my own pair of distressed jeans, cutting them in a particular way so theyd fray just right at every hole and using bleach and the water hose in my backyard to create an acid-washed rinse. After that, I added rhinestones by hand for an extra-special touch. I actually wore those jeans on an episode of Full House, as my real-life clothes often influenced what I wore on the show. I loved to be a part of the costume process, and it was fun to add custom touches to my wardrobe. It taught me how appealing individual style can be. Including that one special standout factor in every outfit is something I still try to do today.

Ive always found joy in trying new styles, but there were years when finding the right clothes became a lot harder.

Now, thats not to say that fashion has always come easily for me. Ive always found joy in trying new styles, but there were years when finding the right clothes became a lot harder. My teenage years were especially difficult. I was growing up, my body was changing, and suddenly it wasnt as easy to find things that fit me well. I started to notice that what looked good on other people didnt always look good on me. Some clothes seemed to highlight my flaws more than my assets. Dresses that looked beautiful on the rack were unflattering once I put them on. Shirts didnt hang right, and pants that fit my waist didnt fit in the thighs. It was stressful and disheartening to try on beautiful pieces and everyday clothes that just did not work for my body type and me. I would flip through pages of couture fashion magazines and wonder, How am I supposed to afford this? How can I wear this in my everyday life? Why cant I look like these models? Ill never be as tall or thin as they are.

What I needed to cultivate wasnt a closet full of high-end runway looks but a wardrobe that was as dynamic and versatile as my life.

FINDING INSPIRATION

As I grew up, I realized my line of thinking was all wrong. Not only were the expectations being set by society damaging, but the clothes themselves were unrealistic. Many of those haute couture items were never meant to be worn in real life, and they certainly werent representative of my actual life. Im a laid-back California girl who spends most of my days working on set, going to meetings, hanging out at home with my husband and kids, or meeting friends for dinner. What I needed to cultivate wasnt a closet full of high-end runway looks but a wardrobe that was as dynamic and versatile as my life. My style isnt just about looking good or wearing designer brands; its about looking like myself. I decided to throw out those magazines and started to look for inspiration in the world around me.

Inspiration wasnt hard to find. I started to notice outfits I saw women wearing on the street. I began to admire the way that women, both friends and strangers, wore clothes that seemed to highlight who they were and who they wanted to be. I really started paying attention to any detail that drew me in, whether it was the way buttons were arranged on a jacket or how a belt could pull together an entire outfit. I took note of textures I liked to wear and patterns that caught my eye as well as fabrics that were breathable over my skin. As I learned what I liked and what I didnt like, I slowly built a closet full of comfortable and flattering clothes that worked for me and my on-the-go lifestyle.